Raymer, Scott ‘star’ power for North’s defense

Posted: Wednesday, December 12, 2012 12:00 pm

By KEVIN WEAKS
Press Sports
Weakley County’s contingent certainly tried to be defensive.
The county’s duo — Devan Raymer of Dresden and Westview’s R.J. Scott — spent their time on defense with some special teams play mixed in as well at the inaugural Sports Plus West Tennessee
Football All-Star Game, held Saturday afternoon at Liberty Tech in Jackson.
While the South topped the North 27-0, Raymer and Scott impressed North head coach Scott Stidham of South Gibson County.
“Those two are great football players who come from outstanding programs,” Stidham said. “They’re well-coached, and both have such great attitudes. They had smiles on their faces all week, said “yes sir, no sir,” and you can tell they enjoyed working because they came to work every day and did an outstanding job.
“You can tell the kids who come from discipline programs, and those two certainly did.”
Raymer saw much of his time at safety and did a good job keeping the South’s receivers from getting behind him. He had a touchdown-saving tackle early in the game and also came up to lay a big lick on a South ball-carrier, sending him out of bounds.
“Devan is a physical football player,” Stidham said. “He’ll hit you. He’s a very coachable football player. I enjoyed coaching him.”
Following up on a season where he rushed for over 1,800 yards and took a direct snap out of the Lions’ wildcat formation on many occasions, Raymer was prepared for additional duties, as his coaches found out late in the week leading up to the game.
“He was our emergency third quarterback,” Stidham said. “We put him there (Thursday), and he can do that, too.”
Scott, meanwhile, did a solid job in man coverage, keeping South receivers from making too many plays in his area.
“R.J. can run and has great ball skills,” Stidham said. “When the ball’s in the air, he can run and make a play on it.”
The North team struggled offensively on the afternoon, gaining 123 yards on 35 rushing attempts and completing just 3-of-16 passes for 49 yards with a pair of interceptions.
The South, meanwhile, produced a balanced attack with 319 total yards on 53 plays — 154 yards rushing on 35 carries divided among seven backs and 165 yards passing with three quarterbacks hitting on 7-of-18 throws.
“Its a great honor for them just to be asked to be here,” Stidham said. “We’re so grateful for all the sponsors who made this first game possible. Hopefully, it will continue to grow and build because West Tennessee football needs this. We’re excited to be a part of the first one.”
Courtney Bush of Liberty led the South’s rushing attack with 61 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries, while Adam Craig from Northside hit on 4-of-7 passes for 109 yards. Jordan Lambert of Hardin County had three catches for 69 yards and a score.
The South led 14-0 after one period and 24-0 at the half.
After a scoreless third frame, the South added another field goal in the fourth.
Thanks to a 30-yard run by Union City’s Khiry Lewis, the North got inside the South’s five-yard line in the final minutes of the game only to be stopped on four plays.
“It was a blast,” Stidham said. “I got to meet several coaches and get to know them. We would love to have won, but just to experience this with a lot of outstanding kids and coaches was a lot of fun.” Published in The WCP 12.11.12

,