Pickens coach James Reynolds has a sideline talk with his players.
Courtesy photo
The Pickens football team has enjoyed a 3-2 overall record over their bye week. Team captains Carter McCollum, Brayden Powell, Walker Kelley and Landon Pace have stepped up to lead the way as captains this season.
McCollum, a senior running back, has hit the 1,000-yard rushing mark (1,070 yards) and has 10 touchdowns. He’s hauled in 4 catches for 93 yards and a touchdown, along with averaging 214 yards a game on the ground.
Sophomore QB Brooks Dow has a 68 percent completion percentage, sophomore wide receiver David Bolden has 4 TDs and 2 two-point conversions on the season. Pickens senior Landon Pace returned to QB when Dow was out with an injury in the Walhalla loss and led the team to victory over Liberty with 117 yards rushing and 3 touchdowns.
Defensively for Pickens, they have been led by Wyatt Kelley, Cole Evans, and Zach Gainey. Kelley has 42 tackles and 5 tackles for losses. Evans has 43 tackles, and Gainey steps in with 37 tackles and 4 TFL.
Pickens coach James Reynolds, meanwhile, took some time recently to answer a couple of questions about his football team and their successful start to the season.
Q: Can you talk about where your football team is at right now?
REYNOLDS: Currently our team has been waiting to play since the hurricane hit. We got back together for some optional practices starting on Thursday October 3 and have been working to get back into playing strength. We had an important win over Blue Ridge in our first region game, and we’re looking forward to playing again soon.
Q: How have you and your team handled the time off due to the recent hurricane?
REYNOLDS: We had many players and families heavily impacted by the storm. Our players overall did a fine job of stepping up for their families and neighbors in the days following the storm.
Q: Is there a lineman or someone on defense that you feel gets overlooked a lot? Can you talk about that player and what he’s meant to your team?
REYNOLDS: Kade Maxey is great player who has become a selfless teammate. Kade plays all positions on our defensive front, and fills in when needed on the offensive line. He was unable to play against Blue Ridge, but we’re looking forward to getting him back soon. Cam Wilson, a sophomore wide receiver, has been an excellent worker in the weight room and the practice field all season. Cam does many things to help our team – consistent effort at wide receiver, snapper on special teams, and gives our defense a good look at scout team QB in practice.
Q: What advice would you give to an up-and-coming junior high football player who wants to play varsity football one day on Friday night?
REYNOLDS: Just love the game, or fall in love with the game and let that shine through in all you do. Players who truly love the sport will always find a way to be successful and have great experiences on their high school team.
Q: You have really built up your coaching staff. Can you expand on that and how your assistants have helped this season?
REYNOLDS: We all had to take a hard look in the mirror after last season and separate what was out of our control from what we honestly could have done better. We’ve addressed those issues and we attack them here every day in an effort to improve our program daily. We’ve also built enough enthusiasm here to attract more coaching talent to our staff and those additions here have been integral to our team.
Q: They often say that they really good teams have players who are like assistant coaches and leading the way. Can you talk about some of the leadership on your team that has played a big part this season?
REYNOLDS: Our confidence comes from our preparation in the weight room, hill sprints, sled drives, and hard practices. Our players have embraced those things and you can see it in them in the games where we’ve had success. Our leaders get loud about reminding the team of what we’ve done to get there when times get tough in games.
Q: Beyond the game of football, you have a lot of good things happening at Pickens High School like a booster club. What do you have coming up (projects etc) that you’d like to talk about?
REYNOLDS: It’s been a challenging fall with some curveballs thrown our way. But, our administration and teachers, led by our new Principal Lauren Corn, have met every challenge with enthusiasm and faith. It’s a great time to be at PHS and our community has been tremendous in their support. The crowd especially at our first game was phenomenal and made it an unforgettable night. We hope to have more and more of those moments as we move forward.
Reach Jeff Holt at 864-855-0355.