Mistakes overshadow offensive output in Socastee’s opening defeat

Socastee didn’t have much of a problem moving the ball against West Brunswick (N.C.).

However, the Braves had trouble getting out of their own way in a season-opening 43-28 loss to the Trojans in a contest that started Friday night before being suspended in the second quarter and then completed Saturday.

While Socastee piled up over 400 yards of offense, turnovers and penalties proved costly against what has become a regular foe from across the state border.

“When you play a good ball team, you can’t make mistakes like that,” Braves coach Doug Illing said.

On offense, Socastee accumulated over 400 yards. Hunter Illing, the coach’s nephew, completed 19 of 30 passes for 283 yards and Edward Tucker ran 17 times for 89 yards and three scores to lead a rushing attack that gained 120 yards.

“We moved the football really well,” Doug Iling said. “We had a lot of positives. The kids fought hard. They executed well at times, offensively and defensively. We were able to create some takeaways and get some stops. We’ve just got to be a little more disciplined and hold on to the football a little more.”

It was a bit of a breakout game for Tucker, who was injured much of last season and did his damage despite playing with a cast after suffering a broken wrist in the preseason.

“He’s a tough kid,” Doug Illing said. “We really thought he could be a big part of it. The way he prepared in the offseason and the way he looked in spring, we figured he was geared up to to have the opportunity to have a really good year. He’s not disappointing. It’s kind of what we expected him to be capable of.”

Socastee will host North Brunswick (N.C.) – a team new to its schedule – in its home opener Friday night. After turning the ball over multiple times and piling up 75 yards in penalties, Doug Illing knows what his team needs to do to progress.

“We’ve just got to tighten up a little bit,” the coach said. “It’s a very inexperienced group we’ve got. They’ve got to learn how to play the game the way it’s supposed to be played. We just played a little sloppy tonight. The more we play the better we’re going to get. That’s how you get experience. We had some positive and we’ll try to build around them. We had some negatives and we’ll try to use them as a learning experience.”

This story was originally published August 20, 2016 at 10:15 PM with the headline "Mistakes overshadow offensive output in Socastee’s opening defeat."