Michael James ready to carry the load for Socastee against former teammates at Conway
Michael James might have a few flashbacks to last season’s high school football practices on Friday.
It’s not that the senior running back has seen stars too many times, he’s just a newcomer to the Socastee program after moving from Conway over the summer.
Now, he’ll face his former teammates in a matchup of 1-1 teams jockeying for position in a tough Region 6-5A.
“I’ve got some friends and family on the team, so facing them will be (different),” James said. “It will be like being back in practice or a spring game type of situation.”
James is the bell-cow running back for Socastee, tallying 121 yards on 35 carries this season. His fourth quarter performance a week ago against St. James, when he scored two touchdowns, gave the Braves their first win in the Ben Hampton coaching era.
“He’s 220 (pounds) so he’s a load in the backfield,” Hampton said of his leading rusher. “We’re looking for him to get downhill and deliver as many hits as he takes from the backfield. Let’s get three or four yards and see what happens. As the game goes on, he seems to get better as the defense gets tired, that’s when you’ll pop (a long) one.”
While he didn’t break off any long runs - 24 yards is his longest carry of the season - James outlasted a tough St. James defense and powered his way into the end zone. He credits his off-season work of early morning workouts for the ability to run stronger as the game goes on.
“I felt like for the first three quarters, we were evenly matched but then in the fourth quarter I was freed up to make some plays, which I think goes back to my conditioning,” he said. “I feel like I’m ahead of a lot of guys (in the area) because of how hard I worked in the offseason. Not playing really put everything in perspective, football was gone for a while. Now, we’re just glad to play.”
While James knew he was coming into a new situation by transferring schools, the rest of the Socastee program felt the same sense of urgency with a new coach coming into the fold.
“We’re building and growing,” Hampton said of his team. “We’re behind the 8-ball because, just like everybody else, we didn’t have a spring ball. Unlike most other programs, we didn’t have a spring ball and we’re trying to implement a new offense and defense. We’re not using that as an excuse.”
Building a program in the state’s largest classification is a challenge, especially when the schedule includes powers like Carolina Forest, strong programs like Conway, and tough up-and-coming teams like St. James.
“We’re a hodgepodge of athletes right now on offense, we’ve got guys playing up front who have never played the position before and guys who transferred in from other school or states,” Hampton said. “Our defense is flying around and making plays, that unit has a good bit of cohesiveness with a few years of playing together. We’re going to continue to grow as the season progresses.”
With a lot of unknowns going into each game, Hampton knows he can give the ball to James and find a steadying presence for his young offense and, if all goes according to plan, he’ll be running stronger at the end of the game than he did at the beginning.
Week 3 Schedule
Waccamaw at Aynor
Carolina Forest at Sumter
Socastee at Conway
C.E. Murray at Green Sea Floyds
Georgetown at Loris
West Florence at Myrtle Beach
North Myrtle Beach at Wilson
Lamar at St. James
