St. James gets best of Socastee in battle of S.C. 707 rivals

For just the third time in its 12 years of existence, the St. James High School football team claimed victory over Socastee in the annual Battle of 707 on Friday night as the Sharks topped the Braves 18-8 at Braves Stadium.

The Sharks (3-2) did most of their dirty work on the ground, racking up 185 yards rushing on 40 carries. Sharks senior running back Jamarius Faulkner did a majority of the damage as he legged out 80 yards on 16 carries, followed by junior Jay-Mion Pressley with 73 yards on 19 carries.

Although the ground attack of the Sharks was what controlled the pace of the game, it was from the arm of senior quarterback Zach Werba that sparked the most excitement from the traveling fans from St. James when he hit wide receiver Jackson Hurston on a screen pass that saw the senior juke and dodge a couple of Braves defenders before streaking into the end zone on a 86-yard scamper at 5:47 in the third quarter.

“It means a lot to these kids to get this win,” Sharks coach Robby Brown said. “I knew it was going to be a tough game and our kids worked hard. It’s the first time we’ve beat Socastee in like 10 years so this was a big-time win in a great atmosphere.”

St. James played well on the offensive side of the ball, racking up 424 yards of total offense, but it was the Sharks defense that really took it to Socastee (1-5), holding the Braves to a staggering -10 yards on the ground on 19 carries, including seven rushes for a loss. The Sharks added two sacks, forced a fumble and intercepted an overthrown Socastee pass with 1:35 left to put the nail in the Braves’ coffin.

“They really dominated the line of scrimmage,” Braves coach Doug Illing said. “They were really getting in on the pass rush and we had to take what they gave us. They’re a good ball team and they made fewer mistakes than us and the team who makes fewer mistakes wins games. We feel like we’re the better team, but they were better tonight.”

And then there were the mistakes. The referees definitely earned their money Friday night as it neither team was able to garner consistent momentum. Just as each team would put together a few decent plays in a row, the yellow flags made an appearance.

“There were some very immature penalties and we got to learn to control our emotions,” Illing said. “It was just a lack of discipline on our part and it’s really my fault.”

Brown’s Sharks had trouble gaining momentum as well as they suffered from a slew of penalties themselves, beginning on the opening kickoff and never slowing throughout the game.

“We held a lot and we got a lot of unsportsmanlike penalties too,” Brown said. “I kept telling the kids to keep their hands inside the framework, but every time we got going something would happen. They were just drive killers.”

There were some bright spots for the Braves on Friday as sophomore quarterback Hunter Illing passed for 195 yards, going 17-for-32 with a touchdown, Socastee’s lone score with :14 remaining in the third quarter. Illing hit junior Hudson Cooke in the corner of the end zone on second-and-eight from the 8-yard-line, also lobbing a 2-point-conversion to senior Taylor Karnap to round out the Braves’ scoring attack.

Sharks QB Zach Werba threw for 239 yards on the night, going 13-for-19 including the 86-yard screen. He also sneaked in a touchdown from a yard out on a QB keeper on a first-and-goal at 5:11 in the second quarter.

“Our goal tonight was to take what they gave us,” Brown said. “It’s a huge win anytime you can beat your rival. It’s a big win and it gives us a lot of momentum going into regional play next week.”

The Sharks host Region VII-AAA rival Georgetown on Friday. Socastee has an open week to regather before traveling to Carolina Forest for its Region VI-AAAA opener.

This story was originally published September 26, 2015 at 1:37 AM with the headline "St. James gets best of Socastee in battle of S.C. 707 rivals."