.jpg "Hartsville Preview Full Screen")
Palmetto Pigskin's Hartsville Preview:
2010 is a year of change for the Hartsville Red Foxes. They’re moving from AAAA to AAA. Three of their most productive players ever have graduated. And they’re even changing their uniforms, going to a simpler 1960’s look.
Coach Jeff Calabrese says this year begins a new chapter for Hartsville football. “I always felt we were a AAA program. We have great natural rivalries in AAA – with the last game of the year at Darlington and our longtime rivalry with Camden. We now get to play Lamar, Lee Central and Cheraw. It’s like it used to be, playing other Pee Dee teams.”
Hartsville makes the move without Dre Scott, the leading rusher in the history of Red Fox football. Quarterback Shawn Smith and running back Ronnie Jackson are also gone. So the spotlight falls on Eric Williams. The back partially tore his ACL last year and had surgery in the offseason. He’ll be 100% and ready to go for Week Zero. Calabrese likes a few other horses in his backfield as well. Ernest Wallace, Stephon Segars and Trey Rogers will also get carries. Calabrese has a quarterback battle on his hands with junior Isaiah Addison and sophomore Shaquille Johnson. On the offensive line, Luke Hudson is the only returning starter.
Calabrese calls his defense a “work in progress”. Seniors Byron McCullough and Stephen Segars both return at defensive end. The most productive defender coming back is linebacker Dexter Scarborough, who recorded 85 tackles and one defensive touchdown last year.
Now is an exciting time to be Red Fox fan. There are new rivalries, fewer trips to the beach, and less games against teams that have much larger student bodies. But, all that said, the schedule doesn’t get considerably easier, and Hartsville could have its hands full with Camden, Crestwood, Marlboro County and the rest of AAA Region VI.
