Switching from wide receiver last season to wingback this season has been the best of both worlds for Bulloch Academy’s Ethan Lovett.

            “I’ve enjoyed the switch,” said the 6-0, 180-pounder. “I get to touch the ball more.”

            Last week against Edmund Burke Academy, the speedy senior rushed for a career-high 151 yards on just eight carries, scoring on Bulloch’s first play from scrimmage on a 79-yard option. He also caught two passes for 17 yards, with one being a three-yard TD. The Gators drubbed the Spartans 42-0 to improve to 6-1.

            So far this season, Lovett has tallied 479 yards rushing and scored six touchdowns. Through the air, he has hauled in nine passes for 79 yards and two scores.

            “Ethan has had a very solid season,” said BA head football coach Clint Morgan. “Going from a full-time receiver to a wing back can be a tough transition because you’re adding executing running plays to running pass routes.”

            Lovett especially likes the thrill of running the triple option with quarterback Jordan Walker.

            “As a wingback, I get to run wingback traps and the triple option,” he said. “I enjoy running the option more.

            “He and Jordan rep it (the option pitch) every day,” said Morgan. “Ethan has great hands. As a receiver, he catches the ball well. On the option, he can make those acrobatic grabs when Jordan pitches him the ball.”

            Lovett is also a linebacker in Bulloch’s 50-series defense and is the leading tackler on the team with 29 solo tackles, 20 assists, six tackles-for-loss and two fumble recoveries.

Girls: Blackburn fuels SCHS to title

            Senior Screven County first basemen Kate Blackburn has been a leader for the Lady Gamecocks for quite some time, helping her team reach the Elite 8 of the state playoffs twice in the last three years.

            Off the field, Blackburn is a 4.0 student and on the field, she is the team’s leadoff hitter.

            Her job is to get on base and get things started for the Gamecocks.

            “We preach to our first two or three hitters to get on base so four, five and six can drive them in and score some runs,” said Gamecock coach Billy Pollock.

            Blackburn finished Saturday 4-for-7 with a double, a stolen base and three runs scored. She also reached on an error and walked. In total she reached base six of the eight times she went up to bat.

            “We worked hard all week,” said Blackburn, “and I just went out there and did what we practiced. I didn’t really think about it. I just did my job.

            Her two-out double in the first game started the rally that put SCHS up in the 2-0 win over the Yellow Jackets

            The No. 1 seeded Gamecocks begin the sectional round Friday in Savannah against No. 4 Fitzgerald.