By Thomas Grant Jr.
Irmo football closed out the preseason with two scrimmage victories over Lowcountry schools.
On Monday, the fifth-ranked Yellow Jackets rolled past Goose Creek 49-14 at home. Senior quarterback AJ Brand threw five touchdowns, two to fellow All-State selection wide receiver Donovan Murph.
Four nights later, Irmo headed to Ashley Ridge High School for the Dorchester County Showdown Jamboree. It was appropriately titled as Irmo was pitted in a Top Five scrimmage matchup against third-ranked Summerville.
Once again, the tandem of Brand and Murph helped the Yellow Jackets come out victorious again by a 17-14 score.
Tucker Williams opened up the scoring for Irmo with a 25-yard field goal. The Green Wave answered back with a touchdown pass by Jaden Cummings to Keshaun Washington.
Brand and Murph hooked up for the first time on an 8-yard touchdown pass play to put Irmo up 10-7. After a 40-yard touchdown pass from Cummings to Jaiden Kelly-Murray, the Yellow Jackets’ duo of Brand and Murph connected on a 36-yard score with 40 seconds left for the victory.
Irmo opens the regular season at 7:30 p.m. Friday at home against Oceanside Collegiate Academy. It’s the first-ever meeting between the Yellow Jackets and last year’s Class 2A champions who moved up to Class 3A.
This is also the first of two visits to Irmo in the next four weeks for the Landsharks. On Sept. 21, they will travel down the road to face top-ranked and defending Class 5A champion Dutch Fork.
The Silver Foxes closed out the preseason last Friday at the seventh annual WRHI Football City USA Kickoff in Rock Hill with a 15-14 loss to fourth-ranked Northwestern. They will open the season Aug. 30 at Spartanburg.
Photo by Thomas Grant Jr.
