Prep Talk

A closer look: West Brunswick (N.C.) Trojans football

Head coach: Jimmy Fletcher, West Brunswick (N.C.)

On key position battles entering fall practice:
>>``The biggest thing for us is replacing the quarterback (graduated Ryan Hill). We have a lot of kids back. We are pretty excited to be honest with you.''
''I have got three kids working at the quarterback position -- Quan Bates, a junior; Cameron Smith, a sophomore; and Markel Jones, a freshman. Right now, Quan probably is the leader because he is a junior. He just has a little more experience. Markel is probably the most like Ryan, but we will see how it goes.''

A closer look: St. James Sharks football

Head coach: Billy Hurston, St. James

Hurston's best quote:
``You can't win until you learn how to win, and you can't learn until you win.``

A closer look: South Columbus (N.C.) Stallions football

Head coach: Jake Fonvielle, South Columbus (N.C.)

On key position battles for fall practice:
>>``As we go into the beginning of the season everything is up for grabs. I hope they all compete at every position -- it would make me happy.''

A closer look: Socastee Braves football

Head coach: Tim Renfrow, Socastee

On any changes to expect this season:
>>``We pretty much will be doing the same stuff. There will be some good position battles on the offensive line. That is probably our biggest battles.
``We are going to run the one back with double wings, and the [I formation] some.''

A closer look: North Myrtle Beach Chiefs football

Head coach: Denver Cromer, North Myrtle Beach

On the makeup of this year's team:
>>``We are going to be real young this year. We don't know who our quarterback is going to be. Right now it is about three candidates.''
The three QB candidates are sophomore Davis Trussell, senior Trace Mooney and junior Timmy Bellamy.

A closer look: Myrtle Beach Seahawks football

Head coach: Mickey Wilson, Myrtle Beach

On any changes that will be noticeable to fans since taking over for Scott Earley:
``Scheme-wise, there won't be much difference. We will base our defense out of the 4-3. Offensively, we will be exactly the same, we are going to throw as much as we can. The one place you might see a small difference is in special teams.''

A closer look: Loris Lions football

Head coach: Jimmy Longerbeam, Loris

On the running back situation:
>>``We feel like we have four kids capable of being the guy at running back and all four are sophomores -- Trey Wilson, Kentrez Hilton, Fred Bryant and Markeise Jackson. If I had to decide today, we would probably run that position by committee. That's probably what we will do going into the season.''

A closer look: Georgetown Bulldogs football

Head coach: Tyronne Davis, Georgetown

On the Bulldogs' offensive strengths:
>>``We are going to be more of an I backfield this year with Devante Geathers (a 6-foot, 180-pound sophomore), Tevin Johnson (sophomore) and Marcus Archie (senior) battling for the starting tailback spot.''

A closer look: Conway Tigers football

Head coach: Chuck Jordan, Conway

On the inexperience the Tigers will have at quarterback (the competition is now between senior D.J. Samuel and freshman Mychal Moody, neither of which has much varsity level experience entering the fall):
>>``The inexperience doesn't concern me. We are going to be the best we can be and whatever that means that is what we are going to do.''

A closer look: Carolina Forest Panthers football

Head coach: Drew Hummel, Carolina Forest

On any leftover baggage from an 0-11 season in 2008:
>>``Last year we knew was going to be tough for us. We knew we were going to be young and were going to have to play a lot of kids that weren't ready to play. We feel good that we have a lot of kids back that have experience from last year when they were forced to play.''