Thomas Sumter-Wilson Hall scrimmage from 2004

I must admit, the Friday night lights of high school football still appeal to me.

One afternoon in the fall of 2005 when I was working at a trade publication near Washington, D.C., I started thinking about Friday night high school football.

At that time, it had been about a year since I roamed the sidelines with a stat sheet and clipboard. My last story before moving to the copy desk was about two private schools in a 20-minute preseason scrimmage.

During my short time covering prep football, I worked in the football crazy state of South Carolina. New high schools had stadiums that would make small colleges green with envy. Rural schools would have stadiums packed on Friday night. I remember one school that had a field with neatly trimmed grass and had it marked perfectly. I remember seeing every yard marker.

One of my favorite moments involved watching the game-changing plays unfold. It could be a sprint to the end zone by a speedy running back or a hefty lineman making an interception.

After retrieving the quotes and other bits of truth I needed from coaches and players, it was back to my office to file.

For me, it often involved taking a long time to total my statistics. Then while going through my quotes, I would write my story.

There was never a lot of time to write when coming back from a game. Pages had to get proofed and phones had to get answered.

However, once I got going with crafting the story on a tight deadline, the adrenaline rush always gave me a nice boost. It could also have been the coffee I drank.

Below is the final high school football story I wrote. It was published on August 21, 2004 in The (Sumter, S.C.) Item.

Wilson Hall shuts out Thomas Sumter 21-0 in Jamboree

Gators stop Sumter

By BEN LEDBETTER
Item Sports Writer

During the Wilson Hall football team’s 20-minute scrimmage with county rival Thomas Sumter at the Sumter High/Sertoma Club Jamboree at Sumter Memorial Stadium, the Barons looked like they were beginning on a return path to the SCISA 3A state championship game.

Thomas Sumter, however, looked like it was just trying to get its team to jell as the defending 3A champion Barons shut out the Generals 21-0.

“For the most part, we were pleased,” first-year Barons head coach Jamie Fidler said. “We sputtered. The thing I’m most disappointed in is penalties. We can’t have penalties. We’re a rushing offense and if we get penalties, we’re not going to make up ground.”

The Barons were flagged for three penalties for a loss of 18 yards, but did more than make up for the deficit on the field when speedy senior quarterback Derek Moore sprinted 77 yards to score the third and final touchdown for his team with 4:23 left.

Senior Chris McCoy had the other two for the Barons – a 1-yarder at the 13:45 mark and a 5-yard scamper with 8:43 left.

FIDLER

Fidler could see a lot of positives for his team Friday, but still saw some things that could improve before next week’s home opener with Robert E. Lee.

“It was obviously better than a controlled scrimmage,” Fidler said. “We got to run the plays on the field. The coaches weren’t out there with the kids. Our leaders got to run the huddle on both sides of the ball. For coaches, it gave us an opportunity to work the sidelines together, we’re a new staff working together. Overall, it was positive. We obviously have a lot to work on.”

For David Dowd, a first-year coach for the Generals and former head coach at Charleston Southern University, the preseason scrimmage was a chance for his players to learn.

“The scrimmage was good from the standpoint that our kids learned a lot of things tonight,” he said. “No.1, getting out of the huddle and getting plays in. We called a formation we wanted to run the very first play with our fullback over on the sidelines, and we’re lined up ready to run the play with 10 kids. So they’ve got to do a better job.”

Dowd said some of the team’s gaffes came from running the offense under the stadium lights on Friday night rather than at the practice field earlier in the week. The knowledge gathered will be of use next week when the Generals travel to play Laurence Manning.

“It’s a big difference between going out there in Dalzell and running it on the field and coming in here when you turn the lights on,” Dowd said. “I thought the effort was good. I think you take away a couple of big plays and we’re right in the thick of the thing. But, we’ve got to do a better job offensively at the same time.”