Commercial Roof Repair in Cane Bay, SC

Cane Bay High School’s football team didn’t win its last time beneath the lights, but did give the coaching staff plenty film to coach off of.

Cobras coach Russell Zehr believes that will help them get better as the season inches along. The 6-3 loss to West Ashley on Sept. 2 provided plenty lessons to learn.

“First, West Ashley’s defense is really good,” Zehr said. “They run a 3-3 stack, which nobody runs. It’s different trying to prep for and they’ve got some athletes that if you don’t block them, they’re going to make the tackle.”

Cane Bay, which was coming off a 30-20 victory against Ashley Ridge on Aug. 26, also didn’t help itself by producing a losing grade in terms of execution. It seemed to Zehr most every time the Cobras began to gain steam in flew a flag to squash the momentum.

“We had 11 or 12 penalties and eight of those were on the offense,” Zehr said. “We’d get going and then have a hold or illegal shift or we’d jump offsides. Seems like we fizzled out every time we got in scoring position. It was just one of those nights where you don’t win, but you learn from your mistakes. Looking back at it on film, we didn’t play bad. We just made some stupid mistakes at bad times.”

Cane Bay’s first test out of an open date will be Sept. 16 against the undefeated James Island Trojans, who have been lighting up scoreboards so far this season. James Island rolls into Cane Bay, the third home game in a row for Cane Bay (1-1).

Film sessions were eye opening during the open date.

“We tell our kids all the time not paying attention to details and the little things will get you beat,” Zehr said. “They don’t believe it until they see it firsthand. The West Ashley game was one of those we could have won if we had taken care of the little things. You’ve got to worry about those things in practice so you can do them in the game. Hopefully we’ll get a lot of things cleaned up before James Island.”

The Trojans have lined up against St. John’s, Stall, First Baptist and Bishop England.

“We’ll have our hands full,” Zehr said. “They have a really good running game. It’s basically power football out of the gun. The quarterback can keep it and hurt you and they have enough of a passing game to keep you honest. They do a lot of stuff but it’s stuff we’ve seen. It was a good time to have an extra week to work on us.”

Cane Bay is 5-0 all-time against James Island and won, 18-8, last season. Cobras quarterback Jabari Grant has rushed for 151 yards and passed for 102 more, accounting for two touchdowns. Running back TJ Wright has 201 rushing yards and two scores. Receiver Brody Roberts has grabbed three passes for 64 yards and a touchdown.

SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (WCIV) — Last weekend, Cane Bay grad Kaleb Frost played his first college football game. A freshman defensive back for Mercer, the Bears beat Morehead State. Kaleb was on the field for his freshman debut.

This week, only his second college football game ever. It may be his most memorable. It will be for his dad, RaShan.

“I’m getting a chance to see my own son blaze his own path,” says the elder Frost, a pastor in North Charleston.

Their paths are quite similar, yet, noticeably different. But, paths cross. Dad, a military kid, growing up all over the place.

“Auburn was the first place I chose and left on my own terms. When I left, I left with two degrees and got into college football coaching.”

It’s been love for War Eagle ever since for RaShan. He’s constantly wearing the clothes. He’s constantly doing the chants, and he raised his kids the same way. He always roots for Auburn. Well, almost always. Did we mention, this week, Auburn’s opponent, is Mercer?

“He grew up an Auburn fan, wanted to go to Auburn and play at Auburn- even though that opportunity wasn’t available to him, the opportunity for him to go on opposite sideline, you don’t take for granted. It gives him opportunity to be on the field and see what life is like in Jordan Hare.”

We all understand what this game is about. A home game, a “should-win” for the big SEC school. A nice paycheck for the smaller SOCON school. But memories made for all. Especially, for this Summerville family that will absolutely be in Alabama this weekend.

“I’m telling them, enjoy the moment. Enjoy every opportunity, 'cause these things don’t happen very often. Look at it like a proud dad. See him do his thing at my old school. I’m not playing, so it doesn’t matter what I do. I’m the old guy.”

So the only question that remains- what does dad wear?

“As a dad, I was so proud of him because it was a dream that he wanted. Whatever my sons want to do, I will back them 100 percent. I’m going to wear Mercer shirt, I may have an Auburn hat, but a Mercer shirt for sure.”

The season opener for Cane Bay and Ashley Ridge produced the typical theatrics their football matchups have become known for. As usual, it came down to the final few minutes.

In the end, the Cobras emerged with their sixth straight victory in the series, 30-20, Friday night at Cane Bay High School. The previous five clashes were decided by a total of 21 points, including two by three points each last season. One of those was on a last-second field goal and the other in double overtime.

The coach on the winning sideline was expecting the type of game it was.

“I thought it would be even closer than this,” Cane Bay coach Russell Zehr said. “I figured it would be another three-point game and it would come down to the last drive.”

Zehr was almost right. The Cobras did need a late score, though.

Cane Bay running back TJ Wright scored on a 20-yard scamper up the middle with 2:51 left to give the Cobras their two-score lead and Cobras defensive back Brody Roberts picked off a pass moments later to seal it. Wright also scored on a 9-yard run in the first half and finished with 130 yards on 18 carries.

Cobras quarterback Jabari Grant ran and threw for Cane Bay’s other two touchdowns in the first half as it built a 23-6 lead. Grant passed for 79 yards and ran for 54 more yards.

Cane Bay went for 360 yards of total offense in the game while Ashley Ridge produced 322 yards.

“One of the things we wanted to do was make our offense harder to defend,” Zehr said. “We’ve been seeing man coverage outside and nine men in the box. People have to loosen up when you prove you can throw it. They have to respect the pass. If they don’t, you have to be in position to make them pay. I feel like our passing game is coming along.”

Cane Bay (1-0) hosts West Ashley on Sept. 2 and Ashley Ridge (0-1) hosts Conway.

Cane Bay kicker Lawson Thorn was true on a 39-yard field goal to cap the Cobras’ first drive of the game but Ashley Ridge quarterback Xavier-Proctor Floyd connected with receiver Matthew Phillips on a 55-yard scoring strike with five seconds left in the period to send the Foxes out of the first quarter with a 6-3 lead.

Proctor-Floyd completed 17 of 29 pass attempts for 177 yards in the game and rushed for 34 yards. Phillips and Derrick Salley both finished with 60 receiving yards. Quintin Birk led the AR rushers with 53 yards.

The Cobras surged ahead with 20 points in the second quarter, going 70 yards to score on Grant’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Roberts to start a string of three straight scores. Thorn’s extra point made it 10-6.

Cane Bay’s next drive was 46 yards and produced another touchdown when Grant scored on a 15-yard run with 6:26 left in the first half. The extra point was no good.

Ashley Ridge moved across midfield on its next drive but coughed it up and Cobras defensive lineman Emilio Campo recovered the fumble at the Cobras 40 with under five minutes remaining in the first half. Cane Bay then went 60 yards to go up 23-6, scoring on Wright’s 9-yard burst up the middle on fourth and 2 with 2:09 left in the half.

Ashley Ridge fought back to get within one score on TJ Wilson’s 1-yard run in the second quarter and Christian Garland’s 3-yard run in the third quarter.

Cane Bay drove 76 yards after a punt to ice it on Wright’s second touchdown run with under three minutes left. The possession before, he had a 54-yard scoring run wiped out for holding.

Note: Deon Jackson is a member of the South Carolina Corps of Cadets Class of 1999; he also earned degrees through The Citadel Graduate College in 2005 and 2013. (Photo courtesy: Grace Beahm Alford, The Post and Courier)

More than a decade later, Superintendent Deon Jackson still remembers the feeling he had when he was named principal of the yet-to-be-built Cane Bay Middle School.

It was early summer in 2011. Jackson was still 10 years away from becoming the first African American superintendent in Berkeley County. After the obligatory handshakes and congratulatory pats on back, Jackson hopped into his car and made the short drive from district headquarters in Moncks Corner to Cane Bay Boulevard.

What he found at the construction site left him speechless.

“It was just a slab of concrete, the beginnings of a foundation, nothing else, nothing vertical,” Jackson said. “I remember thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, what have I gotten myself into?’”

As the head of the fourth-largest school district in South Carolina — with more than 36,000 students — Jackson admits there are moments when he has similar feelings to that first time he saw the school construction site.

But then he remembers why he got into education.

“You do it for the students, that’s the ‘why,’” he said. “I think that’s how you stay in touch with the mission. We do this for the students, to try and make a positive impact on their lives.”

Just a year into his new role, Jackson understands the challenges that face one of the fastest-growing school districts in the state. Coming out of a pandemic, the district is facing historic growth, funding issues, new attendance lines and construction headaches.

School board Chairman David Barrow can’t think of anyone better suited to face the challenges in front of the district than Jackson.

“Deon has a vision,” said Barrow, who hired Jackson as an assistant principal at Timberland High School in 2006. “He’ll lead us into the future. He’s going to lead Berkeley County where it needs to be. He’s the right person at the right time for this job.”

That sentiment is shared by Willis Sanders, who spent more than four decades in the district as a teacher, principal and administrator.

“Deon unites people and brings them together in a common cause,” Sanders said. “He builds relationships, builds teams and is very goal-oriented. People are drawn to him because he cares.”

Super agent

In the mid-1990s, when Jackson was going through grueling two-a-day preseason practices as part of The Citadel football team, he wasn’t dreaming about becoming a future school superintendent.

He was more interested in merging his two major interests — finance and athletics. Jackson wanted to become the next super sports agent like Scott Boras or David Falk.

“When I started to research what was required to become an agent, it was a lot more involved than I thought,” Jackson said with a chuckle.

His journey from student-athlete, to teacher and coach, to principal and finally administrator began along the Interstate 77 corridor. Jackson borrowed a friend’s car for a job interview and was hired to work as an assistant football coach and physical education teacher at Lancaster High School.

He spent two years in Lancaster before moving back to the Lowcountry to get his master’s degree in educational administration.

“I was dating my wife at the time and driving back and forth between Lancaster and Charleston was starting to wear on us,” he said.

He got a job at Goose Creek High School coaching defensive backs under Chuck Reedy, taught one P.E. class and worked as an administrator the rest of the day with former Principal John Fulmer.

“Deon was very smart, very organized and related to everyone,” Reedy said. “He had all the attributes you’d want in someone leading young men. I knew the sky was the limit for Deon. If he had stayed in athletics, he would be a head coach or an athletic director by now.”

It’s still Jackson’s favorite job.

“Best job I ever had,” Jackson said. “I got to do everything I loved. I got to coach, I had an administrative role, and I was in the best shape of my life.”

Barrow lured Jackson away from Goose Creek to become an assistant principal at Timberland High School.

“I told Deon that if he stayed at Timberland, he’d be a principal in five years,” Barrow said. “I was wrong. He became a principal in four years.”

In 2010, Jackson took over at St. Stephen Middle School, where he experienced a culture shock.

“The last time I was in middle school I was 12 years old,” Jackson said. “I had been working at high schools, big high schools with large enrollments, and this was a totally different experience.”

St. Stephen had about 250 students at the time and Jackson learned to wear many hats.

“It was a small staff, so I was involved in everything,” he said. “From instruction, to curriculum, to programing, everything. That experience taught me to put myself in everyone’s shoes and see what they were up against.”

Two years later, the doors at Cane Bay opened as Jackson created a school from scratch.

“I think his job at Cane Bay more than any other job molded him into the administrator he is today,” Barrow said. “He built that school from the ground up. Working with contractors, teachers, parents, students, everything and everybody. He created something out of nothing.”

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - Week 2 of high school football kicks off on Thursday. Check back here for scores, highlights and more!

9/3

Grayson 28, Ft. Dorchester 0 - At C1N Showcase in Atlanta: Patriots get shutout on the road 1-1

9/2

Summerville 38, Berkeley 6 - Live 5 Game of the Week: Green Wave move to 2-0, Stags drop to 1-2

Sumter 31, Goose Creek 14 - Gators drop second in a row 0-2

Wando 34, Stall 0 - Warriors are back even on the season 1-1, Warriors still winless 0-2

West Ashley 6, Cane Bay 3 - Wildcats stay undefeated 3-0, Cobras fall to 1-1

Lexington 28, Stratford 14 - Knights drop first game 0-1

Ashley Ridge 23, Conway 7 - Swamp Foxes split their first two games 1-1

White Knoll 35, Colleton County 14 - Cougars fall to 1-2

Beckham 34, Bishop England 7- Bengals stay undefeated 3-0, Battling Bishops drop to 1-2

James Island 53, First Baptist 6 - Trojans jump to 3-0, Hurricanes split first two games 1-1

Philip Simmons 45, Georgetown 15 - Iron Horses jump to 2-1

Woodland 50, Bluffton 31 - Wolverines win second straight 2-0

Oceanside Collegiate 28, Carolina Forest 24 - Landsharks improve to 2-1

Academic Magnet 27, Burke 6 - Raptors start season 2-0, Bulldogs drop to 0-2

Military Magnet 24, Palmetto Christian 16 - Eagles get in the win column 1-2, Eagles start campaign 0-2

Denmark-Olar 47, St. John’s 7 - Islanders still winless on the year 0-3

Cross 14, Timberland 6 - Trojans now 2-1 on the season, Wolves take third straight loss 0-3

Porter-Gaud 41, Camden Military Academy 6 - Porter-Gaud improves to 2-1

Ben Lippen 30, Pinewood Prep 27 - Pinewood Prep can’t get in the win column this week 0-3

Thomas Heyward at Northwood Academy (0-2)

Colleton Prep 53, Branchville 22 - Colleton Prep starts year 2-0

Dorchester Academy 42, Conway Christian 20 - Dorchester Academy jumps to 3-0

St. John’s Christian 14, Calhoun Academy 8 - St. John’s Christian moves to 2-1

9/1

Baptist Hill 18, North Charleston 14 - The Bobcats improve to 2-0 on the season while the Cougars drop to 1-2

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