It’s not likely one will find Greer’s Calvin McCoy taking many plays off this season.
On either side of the ball.
If Friday night’s 45-31 win over Woodmont was any indication, the Jackets plan to deploy the senior standout early and often — and at multiple positions.
McCoy was the star in Greer’s season-opening win. The senior running back rushed 28 times for 207 yards and three touchdowns. Playing cornerback on defense, McCoy came away with two interceptions, including the game-sealing pick with 38 seconds to play.
“This is my senior season, so the mindset is all about winning,” said McCoy. “If I have that mindset, I can help everyone out here, anywhere on the field.”
“We’re trying to pace him a little bit on defense for now, for important situations and plays,” said Greer head coach Will Young. “But he’s someone that you want on the field as much as possible. And he’s in really good shape, works out extremely hard. He’s one of our most well-conditioned players. If anyone can do it, he can.”
McCoy finished with 207 yards on the ground, 27 yards receiving, three rushing TDs, and two interceptions.
In a game delayed for nearly two hours by lightning in the area, McCoy and sophomore quarterback Xavier Sammet stole the show for Greer. Sammet was effective in his own right on Friday night, passing for 173 yards and three touchdowns, all three to different receivers — Terrell Jackson, Cooper Trauger, and Tyler Hanson.
“I had some butterflies coming into this game, not going to lie,” said Sammet. “But I had confidence in my offensive line, my receivers, my defense. Everybody did a great job today. This is our team.”
The Jacket offensive line provided good protection all night, allowing Sammet plenty of time to operate. He also rushed for 130 yards on the evening, showcasing his ability as a dual-threat quarterback.
“That’s who I’ve been for a while now,” said Sammet. “Being both a good passer and runner has been in the DNA for a while. But you’ve always got to work for it, still.”
Sammet finished his season debut with 173 yards passing, 130 yards rushing, and three passing TDs.
Greer did struggle throughout the night to stop Woodmont’s offense. Woodmont racked up 412 total yards as a team, scoring on over half of its possessions and averaging just over eight yards gained per play.
It’s something the Jackets will look to fix during non-region play next week vs. Union — and ahead of a daunting Sept. 11 matchup at Byrnes.
“We’ve got to get a little better up front, and obviously, defensively, there’s a lot of work to be done after tonight,” said Young. “We’ve got to tackle better. We took some really poor angles in the second half, so we’ll get those corrected.”
McCoy will certainly be vital in all of Greer’s contests this season. Priority number one for the Jackets will be to get him going quickly.
That will be music to McCoy’s ears, as he’s set a clear goal for his senior year: he wants to break the all-time school single-season rushing record. He’s motivated to do so, and a big reason is who his running backs coach is: former Greer star RB Quez Nesbitt, the current record-holder.
“I won’t lie, I’m definitely trying to go for the [single-season] rushing record,” said McCoy. “My running back coach [Nesbitt] has the record. I’ve got to go get that. Learning from Quez, I’m learning from the best. So when I come out here, I can come out and play my best.”
Friday night was a good start for McCoy.
“We’re going to take tonight’s game and put it towards next week,” said McCoy. “Because there was a lot of talking going on out here tonight. But we can’t let that get into our minds. If we do that, it’s going to go in the tank.”
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