Falcons, Silver Foxes meet in Darlington County Clash

The Darlington Falcons christened their new home with a 14-7 win over McBee last week, their first victory of the season.

Now they’re hoping to carry some of that momentum to a Friday night showdown against county rival Lamar in the Morning News Game of the Week.

“It was good to get the win,” Darlington coach Justin Danner said. “We were excited and our fans were excited to get to experience the new stadium for the first time.

“But now we have to focus our attention on giving our best effort Friday night again.”

The Falcons (1-1) have averaged 12 points a game, and have been hurt by not taking care of the ball, Danner said.

“Ball security is something that we’ve been stressing,” Danner said. “We want to be able to have the type of ball control that can win football games, and I think the team is starting to jell.”

Time of possession will be key against a team like the Silver Foxes, whose offense relies on a strong ground game and ball control as well.

“(Jerrod Dargan) is a special kid, but I think they have a good group of running backs,” Danner said. “For us, it’s about remaining on our assignments, getting 11 guys to the football and knowing that they can hurt us running and passing.”

After an opening game loss to Cheraw, Lamar (2-1) has rattled off two straight wins, including their 14th straight against rival Timmonsville last week.

“We’ve got nowhere to go but up,” Lamar coach J.R. Boyd said. “We played a lot better in the second half (against Timmonsville) and that’s something we’re going to have to continue to improve on each game.”

Darlington will present a big challenge to the young Silver Foxes, Boyd said, especially defensivley.

“They’re very fast off the ball, athletic, and no one has been able to block (Brandon) Knox at linebacker that we’ve seen on film,” Boyd said. “Timmonsville was able to take advantage of one side of our defensive line last week, so that’s something we’ll have to shore up.

“They also run a lot of different formations, which is something our kids will have to adjust to this early in the season.”

Lamar has rushed for 659 yards thus far. Dargan has carried the brunt the load with 339 yards on 51 carries while Anthony McAllister has added 134 on 26 carries.

“We just have to keep maintaining our blocks and making sure our running backs have enough time and enough lanes to run through,” Boyd said. “We have to make sure we move the ball and get first downs.”