Oceanside Collegiate rallies to beat Gray Collegiate 35-28 for AA football state title

         Orangeburg – It’s hard to imagine having a worst start to a football game than Oceanside Collegiate Academy had in the AA state championship contest against Gray Collegiate Academy on Thursday.

         The problems actually began before the game started when the Landsharks found out that 2-way standout line starter Ben Britton would not be allowed to play in the game. Then OCA found itself in a 14-0 hole less than halfway through the first quarter.

         Never fear though when 14-year-old freshman Aiden Manavian is your quarterback. Manavian, who became the starter at quarterback when 2-year starter Edward Reidenbach went down with an injury in the regular-season finale, threw for 367 yards and two touchdowns to lead Oceanside to a 35-28 victory at South Carolina State’s Oliver C. Dawson Stadium.

         While Manavian’s performance may have come as a shock to those seeing him for the first time, it didn’t surprise Landsharks head coach Chad Wilkes. Still, Wilkes said he sometimes joins in and marvels at the youngster.

         “I think the stats are going to speak for themselves,” said Wilkes, who guided OCA to the state title after losing in the title game last season. “Some of the plays he makes, I’m literally just like a fan. I’m literally amazed at some of the things he can do. He has these elite traits that I would put up against any quarterback his age in the country.

“We’re just really, really lucky to have him. For a freshman to bring this school its first state championship, that’s really something special. He deserves it. That’s how good he is. That wasn’t a fluke, that wasn’t a fluke. We knew that was coming.”

Manavian wasn’t perfect, tossing two interceptions and losing a fumble early in the game. However, he completed 31 of his 43 pass attempts for 367 yards and the two TDs.

Nine of those passes came after Gray had tied the game 28-28 on a 14-yard touchdown run by running back BJ Montgomery with 5:47 remaining in the fourth quarter. Manavian connected on six of those as he led OCA on an 11-play, 71-yard game-winning scoring drive.

His final pass came with Oceanside facing fourth down and six yards to go at the War Eagles 26-yard line. The Landsharks initially lined up to have placekicker Nate Sturm attempt a 42-yard field goal. After GCA called a timeout to try and ice Sturm, Wilkes changed his mind and sent the offense back on the field.

Manavian, who was sacked 10 times, hung in the pocket and connected with wide receiver Will Virgilio for a 25-yard gain to the 1. Virgilio took a snap out of the Wildcat formation on the next play to score with 1:26 left in the game. Sturm added the extra point to make it 35-28.

Wilkes said Oceanside wasn’t trying to bait Gray into calling a timeout before putting his offense on the field.

“I I know it probably seemed like that, but we were 100 percent going to kick it,” said Wilkes, whose team finished with a 12-2 record. “I even went out to the kicker and said, ‘We’re good, right?’ But that was right on the edge of his range.

“So I sent him out there, and I said, ‘What are we doing?’ We’ve got Aiden at quarterback We’re just going to go for it.’ He pulled the trigger like he always does and made it happen.”

“We thought they were going to kick a field goal,” said Gray head coach Adam Holmes. “We call a timeout to ice him a little bit. They go for it, a gutsy call by them. They get a first down and they get that touchdown.”

Gray, which finished 14-1 in games against South Carolina schools, didn’t go away easily. The War Eagles drove to the OCA 24 with just over 30 seconds to go. However, GCA could get no closer than the 23, turning the ball over on downs when quarterback John Tyler Waller’s pass fell incomplete with nine seconds remaining.

Virgilio, a junior, caught seven Manavian passes for 91 yards and had five carries for five yards with two touchdowns. Virgilio said it is special to win the title this year after losing to Abbeville last season.

“We’ve been working so hard for so long,” Virgilio said. “To actually do it is incredible. We came up short last year, and it’s the worst feeling ever. To come up and win it this year is absolutely incredible.”

The Landsharks advanced to the title game without other injured performers besides Reidenbach. Just before the start of the game though, OCA found out Touchstone Energy Cooperatives Bowl selection Ben Britton would not be allowed to play.

         Britton, who recently committed to play collegiately for Army, was kept from entering the stadium because of a social media post he made earlier in the day. The decision to not allow Britton into the stadium was made by South Carolina State police, according to reports.

         Wilkes said he and his team found out just before kickoff.

         ‘Yep, and we won anyway,” Wilkes said.

         Gray Collegiate has gone through its own adversity this year when its six Region 4 foes chose to forfeit their games to GCA in protest of what they felt was competitive imbalance. Gray is a charter school while the other Region 4 teams are all public schools.

         Interestingly, Oceanside is a sister charter school to GCA, marking the first time two charter schools have played for a football state title in South Carolina.

         The War Eagles received the opening kickoff and promptly marched down the field 70 yards in six plays for a touchdown, Zai Offord, who is committed to S.C. State, ran 28 yards on a reverse on the first play on what will be his home field for a first down at the OCA 42. After picking up another first down, Waller connected with wide receiver Jamarius Lockett for a 32-yard touchdown pass. Placekicker Junior Gonzales added the extra point to make it 7-0 with 9:30 left in the first quarter.

         Oceanside got itself in the 2-touchdown hole on its first possession when Manavian was sacked at the OCA 16 and fumbled the football. Gray’s Ethan Raysor picked up the loose ball and returned it to the 4. Montgomery ran in for the score on the next play and Gonzales added the extra point to make it 14-0 with 6:26 still to go in the opening quarter.

         The impression was that a rout was in the making, but Oceanside didn’t panic.

         “We’ve been here before, we can get it done again,” said junior defensive back Grayson Freeling when asked what was the thought of the team after the early deficit. “We had to fight back. We knew it was going to be a dogfight from the start. We worked our hardest and got it done. There’s no better feeling.”

         The Landsharks drove as far as the Gray 11 on the ensuing possession. However, the drive stalled and Sturm’s 35-yard field goal attempt hit the right upright. However, the OCA defense forced a 3-down-and-out series, forcing the game’s first punt.

         Oceanside started at its 42 and put together a 9-play scoring drive that ended with Virgilio’s first 1-yard TD run. Sturm added the extra point to make it 14-7 with 4:53 remaining in the second quarter.

         That would be the halftime score, but it wouldn’t take the Landsharks long to tie the game in the third quarter.

         On third and 2 from the OCA 46, Manavian connected with Trey Brown for 19 yards and a first down at the Gray 35. Manavian went up top again on the next play, connecting with wide receiver Gavin Gaspar for a touchdown to make it 14-14 with 10:13 remaining in the third quarter.

         The Landsharks took the lead for the first time when defensive lineman Max Moorman intercepted a Waller pass and returned it 22 yards for a touchdown with 4:58 left.

         The War Eagles wasted little time in tying the game. Blaine Redmond returned the kickoff 50 yards to the OCA 26. Waller connected with wide receiver Zion Job on the next play to make it 21-21 with 4:40 to go.

         Oceanside responded with a 9-play, 70-yard scoring drive. Manavian hooked up with Gaspar again, this time for a 36-yard score, with 33 seconds left in the third quarter. Gaspar had eight catches for 125 yards and the two scores.

         CJ Moskos added seven catches for 71 yards for OCA, while Logan Hamilton had five catches for 43 yards and Brown had three catches for 28 yards.

         The Landsharks limited Gray Collegiate to 261 yards of total offense. Senior linebacker Miles Robinson led OCA with eight tackles, a sack and two tackles for loss. Along with the Pick 6, Moorman had six tackles and two TFLs. Moskos also had six tackles.

         Waller completed 9 of 20 passes for 118 yards and the two touchdowns while rushing for 68 yards on 13 carries to lead the War Eagle offense. Offord had three catches for 23 yards, while Lockett has two catches for 43 yards and Job two for 38.

         Montgomery, who came into the game with 1,183 yards, was limited to 48 yards on 15 carries.

         Defensive tackle Trequan “Mo” Singleton had a huge game for the Eagles, finishing with seven tackles and five of the sacks. Linebacker Kaine Williams had nine tackles and two sacks, while cornerback Justin Pauling had eight tackles, as did Redmond.

         With the six wins by forfeit, Gray Collegiate scheduled four games against such national powers as IMG Academy and Clearwater out of Florida and St. John’s of Washington, D.C. Despite coming up short of the ultimate goal, Holmes had nothing but praise for his squad.

         “They’re amazing, a great group of kids,” said Holmes, whose team finished 15-4 overall. “They didn’t let any of this stuff really bother them. It bothered me more than it did them. They just worked through it, played as a team

“At the end of the day you’re playing for a state title. We all wanted to come here and win. That was our goal from the get-go. I’m proud of this group of guys, the way they fought, the way they battled, the way they fought through everything we faced this year. We just came up a little bit short.”

Wilkes said the Landsharks answered the call on Thursday just like it had done all season.

“That’s what they do,” he said. “They’ve done that ever since I’ve been here. We coach them hard. It’s not an easy place to play, it’s not an easy program to play in, and that’s why we do it. We build them for moments like this, and it takes a certain type of kid with a certain type of heart to be able to take it, and they do it every day. This is the reward for it and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”