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Patrick Henry sits at 7-0 and atop High School Sports Report SCISA Class A Sweet 16 poll

Dennis Brunson hssr.com Associate Editor • Oct 04, 2023

Patriots have games left against Dorchester, Branchville, Thomas Heyward

            Estill – The Patrick Henry Academy football team is treading on some uncharted ground at the moment. The Patriots are 7-0 on the season and ranked first in the latest High School Sports Report SCISA Class A Pick 6 poll.

 

           Needless to say, PHA head coach Joe Gray Peeples doesn’t mind the location.

 

           “This is kind of new territory for us,” said Peeples, who took the job last summer as Patrick Henry was transitioning from decades in 8-man football to 11-man. “We had some success last year when we won four in a row. We knew we could compete with anybody, and we rolled to this year with the skill players and we’re following through with that.”

 

           While the Patriots were averaging over 40 points a game through six contests, Peeples thinks the best is yet to come.

 

           “I don’t think we've played our best football on the offensive side yet this season,” said Peeples, whose squad got an unexpected bye last week when The King's Academy had to forfeit due to a lack of players from injuries.”

 

           Senior quarterback Hugh Fairey leads the offense. He completed 57 of 104 passes for 1,059 yards and nine touchdowns through six games. He also rushed for 531 yards and seven TDs on 59 carries.

 

           Fairey’s twin brother, Forest Fairey, is the leading receiver. He had 25 catches for 556 yards and six touchdowns. Senior Al-Tariq Johnson had 10 catches for 247 yards and two TDs, and junior Mikell Tucker Mathis had 10 cagtches for 180 yards and a score.

 

           Mathis is the second leading rusher with 344 yards and eight touchdowns on 54 carries.

 

           “I think we have right at over 1,000 yards rushing (1,091) and 1,200 passing (1,190),” Peeples said. “You can’t divide it up much better than that. We try to do both and take what the defense gives us.”

 

           The Patriots are having to make due without the left side of their offensive line for the rest of the season. Left guard senior Nathan Corley and left tackle junior A.J. Jarrell suffered season-ending injuries.

 

           Senior Wyatt Greene is now at left tackle with senior Allen Berg at left guard.

 

           “We’ve been very fortunate to have some depth,” Peeples said. “This is the time of year where it starts to help you out, to have some viable alternatives.”

 

           Senior linebacker Hance McCrary leads the defense with 30 tackles to go with five tackles for loss. Mathis has 29 tackles, a team high seven TFLs, two interceptions and a fumble recovery, senior defensive end Andrew Searles has 29 tackles and one TFL, and Berg has 20 tackles and five TFLs.

 

           PHA plays at Dorchester on October 6 and travels to Branchville High School on Oct. 13. After an off week, it closes the regular season at home against defending Class A state runner-up Thomas Heyward Academy.

 

           “That game’s building up to see who will be the top dog,” Peeples said. “Our whole deal has been to have homefield advantage in the playoffs.”

By Billy Baker 17 May, 2024
By Billy G. Baker Publisher Moncks Corner — In a Lower State AAAAA softball play-off game continued from a second inning rain-out the night before, (May, 15), between Berkeley (19-9) and Chapin (22-8) , the home standing Stags won a pitcher’s duel 2-0 to advance to play Summerville on May, 17. The Stags have a tall order on their plate needing to defeat the top-ranked Green Wave twice in order to advance. The state championship series is scheduled to begin on Monday at the upper state champion s home field. Game two will revert back to the lower state’s team home field on Wednesday. If a third game tie-breaker is needed it will be played at neutral site on Friday (May, 24). After the win Berkley head coach Kelly Dillon shared some thoughts with the HSSR. “In my tenure at Berkeley this is our third trip to the Lower state finals and I am so proud of my team and the adversity they have overcome this season,” said Coach Dillon. “We have had some adversity with the weather and we lost one of our key players to an injury recently ( Savannah Scott ) and we have remained tough and focused on our goals anyway. “We played small ball in the bottom of the 6th because when you need just one run to win you play to win,” said Coach Dillon. “I am very thankful; for a great bunting team. Every time I have asked for it to be put down, they have put it down so I am very proud to our commitment to the cause.” ( Courtlyn Cox delivered a perfect bunt that advanced the runner into scoring position in the bottom of the 6 th inning.) “We know we have a challenge going over to Summerville on Friday needing to win two games and you never know what might happen,” said Coach Dillon. “We are hungry and we are on a mission and we are playing moment to moment so we hope to at our best on Friday.” Chapin head coach Cal Sayger is wrapping up his 7 th season at Chapin. ”we have been fighting the weather all during the play-offs,” said Coach Sayger. “We just made too many mistakes in this game tonight. We have the program on sound footing. We have won back-to-back region titles and I very proud of the commitment all of our players have made to the success tour program.” Coach Sayger is saying good bye to four seniors. They include pitcher Aspen Mayers , Ella Maychiva k, third baseman Andree Dircks , and outfielder Alexia Evans . “These girls have been in the program since the e8th grade a d they will be missed,” said Coach Sayger. The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the 6 th inning. The Stags Rileigh Ballentine led off with a single to center field. Courtlyn Cox’s Sac bunt moved Ballentine over to second base. She moved over to third, on a passed ball, while Brooklyn Moon was batting. Moon singled in Ballentine for the first run of the game. Ansley Riddle then doubled, barely missing a home run against the fence in deep center field. This hit put runners at second and third with one-out. An RBI ground-out by Camden Valicek scored Moon to give Berkeley all the runs they would need to win the game. Berkeley pitcher Reese Watson worked all seven innings, allowing only four hits. Watson’s six strike-outs in the game now gives her 201 on the season in 120 innings pitched with an ERA of 1.20.
By Larry Gamble 17 May, 2024
Pinewood Prep claims the 2024 SCISA 3A Boys Soccer Championship
By Roger Lee 17 May, 2024
Pinewood Prep claimed the 2024 SCISA 4A Girls Soccer Championship. 
By Dennis Brunson hssr.com Associate Editor 17 May, 2024
Game 2 on Friday at 6 p.m. at West Florence
By Larry Gamble 17 May, 2024
Larry Gamble Photo Editor, HSSR SCISA Softball Championship play kicked off on May 13th, 2024, with teams playing an intense two days of games hoping to make a sweep to victory in the best of three game series to crown State Champion this week. The HSSR photojournalist was at Colleton Prep for their home stand in the Softball Championship Game 2 against Clarendon Hall on May 15th. Clarendon Hall won Game 1 at home 6-1 on Monday. For Game 2, they were on the road home hoping for a sweep to close the deal for the State Title. In a tense, pitching duel game, the Saints managed hold off the determined War Hawks in a 3-2 victory to earn their third state title. More photos from this game are available by following this link or the one below. High resolution prints and digital downloads from this event are available at www.LarryGamble.com by clicking this link to the photos.
By Larry Gamble 16 May, 2024
Larry Gamble Photo Editor, HSSR SCISA Softball Championship play kicked off on May 13th, 2024, with teams playing an intense two days of games hoping to make a sweep to victory in the best of three game series to crown State Champion this week. The HSSR photojournalist was at Laurence Manning for their home stand in the Softball Championship Game 2 against Hammond on May 14th. LMA won a very exciting Game 1 at Hammon 5-4. For Game 2, the Swampcats were home hoping for a sweep to close the deal for the State Title. LMA won 9-0 to earn another State Championship. More photos from this game are available by following this link or the one below. High resolution prints and digital downloads from this event are available at www.LarryGamble.com by clicking this link to the photos.
By Dennis Brunson hssr.com Associate Editor 16 May, 2024
AAAAA, AAA. AA, Class A series set to begin on Monday, AAAA on Tuesday
By Larry Gamble 16 May, 2024
Larry Gamble Photo Editor, HSSR SCISA Baseball Championship play kicked off on May 13th, 2024, with teams playing an intense two days of games hoping to make a sweep to victory in the best of three game series to crown State Champion this week. The HSSR Camera was at Pee Dee for their Baseball Game 1 against Hilton Head Christian. HHC went on the win 3-1 in Game 1 at Pee Dee. for Game 2, the Pee Dee traveled to Hilton Head Christian where HHC won 12-4 to sweep the series and win the State Title. More photos from this game are available by following this link or the one below. High resolution prints and digital downloads from this event are available at www.LarryGamble.com by clicking this link to the photos.
By David Shelton 16 May, 2024
S ummerville - Ashley Ridge rallied from an early 4-0 deficit, scoring two runs with two outs in the top of the seventh to beat Summerville, 5-4, forcing a decisive game for the AAAAA Lower State title. Summerville led by 4-0 after two innings but Ashley Ridge scored a run in the third and two in the fifth to close to within a run. With nobody on and two outs, down to their last strike, Ashley Ridge got hits from Ryan Bruno and Cooper Godsave to keep the inning alive. Andrew McLaughlin then delivered a two-run single to give the Swamp Foxes a 5-4 lead. McLaughlin had two hits in the game. Summerville managed only three hits with Banks Knight delivering a two-run bloop single to give the Green Wave their 4-0 advantage. After game one, inclement weather moved in and it was decided to play the championship game on Thursday at Summerville at 6:30 p.m. The winner will play Lexington in the best-of-three state championship series beginning on May 18.
By Dennis Brunson hssr.com Associate Editor 16 May, 2024
Lexington, Laurens, Hanahan, Southside Christian will play for state titles
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