WILLIAMSTON — Palmetto High School football Coach Jody LeCroy said he wasn’t surprised at his team’s 40-14 win against Walhalla last weekend, but admitted it could be a whole different story on Friday against Wren.

“Maybe (I was surprised) at the lopsidedness of the score, but I felt it was a game that we could win and should win,” LeCroy said about the Mustangs’ win against Walhalla. “We just got on a roll, and things just started going our way.”

When Palmetto hosts Wren on Friday, the Mustangs’ goal is not to stop the Hurricanes, but to limit their offense, LeCroy said.

“It’s going to be a challenge trying to slow them down,” he said. “You don’t stop them. Hopefully we can keep the ball on offense, and limit the amount of plays on their offense, because they’re going to score some points.”

LeCroy said Wren quarterback Austin McCaskill is “as good a high school quarterback as is out there,” and added that it’s going to be hard to put the brakes on him.

“The only thing that we stress with our kids is that we don’t really worry about the score. We worry about playing hard and getting better,” he said.

Last year alone, McCaskill rushed for 500 yards, passed for more than 3,000, and completed 215 passes.

“He’s continued to be the leader on the field, and make good decisions, and get us in good plays,” he said.

Wren went 9-2 in the regular season but then lost to James Island. Despite the solid season, Hurricanes football Coach Jeff Tate said he doesn’t believe his team will be overconfident.

Last year was the Hurricanes’ first winning season since 1996, and it was the first time they had won the region title since 1980, he said.

“They were excited, but there’s a difference between excitement and arrogance,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Mustangs will likely once again have to rely mainly on their rushing game.

“We don’t throw the ball a lot,” LeCroy said. “We just try to set up the pass with play action off the run, and when we do throw hopefully we can play it can score. We don’t throw much during the game, so hopefully we can catch you off guard and get behind you.”

“They’re physical, they tackle well,” Tate said. “They’re strong, and they’re big kids. Their object is to get the ball, and keep it away from us. We’re going to have to attempt to stop them from running the football.”

Palmetto senior quarterback Hunter Green has a deep bone bruise, and the Mustangs hope to get him back within the next two weeks.