Hanahan – With a new head coach, Milan Turner, and a new way of doing things, the Hanahan High football team got off to a slow start in 2023. But, as the old saying goes, “it’s not how you start, but how you finish.
The Hawks sat with a 2-4 record heading into region 8-AAA play and most felt Hanahan would likely finish third in the region. But the Hawks had other ideas and went on a four-game winning streak to win the region championship. That streak included wins over Philip Simmons (undefeated at the time) and defending AAA state champion Beaufort.
Hanahan opened the AAA state playoffs against Aynor on Nov. 3.
“I give a tremendous amount of credit to our kids,” Turner said. “This group has been all-in since day one. They believed that we had a chance to be a good team. Even at 2-4, this team was playing hard and we were getting better. We just had to learn how to compete as a team, how to pick each other up. This team became a very close-knit unit and we were making less mistakes with each game.”
Senior running back Kevon Rivera has saved his best season for his final season. Rivera rushed for 1,786 yards and 24 touchdowns during the regular season, including four games with more than 200 yards. He topped 200 yards in the wins over Philip Simmons and Beaufort, and had more than 300 yards in the season-opener against Georgetown.
“Not only is he a great player, but he’s a great young man and a great teammate,” Turner said. “He loves this team and he loves representing Hanahan.”
Sophomore quarterback Julius Hippensteel made steady progress throughout the season, finishing the regular season with 1,818 passing yards and 19 touchdowns while completing 66 percent of his attempts.
Top receivers include Dru Goldsmith (49 receptions, 804 yards, 7 TD) and Landon Gomes (29-678, 9 TD).
Hanahan used a rotation of linemen on both sides of the ball and the units became a steady strength of the team. Those linemen include Rhett Bagwell, Jonathan Tumbri, Antwain Mitchell, CJ Van Hoy, Kam Raymond, Kalani Roberts, Tre Summers and Zac Connors.
Linebacker Jay Meadows led the team in tackles with 70 hits in the regular season. Hunter Gomes had more than 60 tackles.
In other fall sports at Hanahan, the volleyball team finished second in region 8-AAA and qualified for the state playoffs. The team posted a first-round win over Georgetown before losing to Gilbert in the second round.
The cross country teams participated in the region 8-AAA meet. For the girls team, Katelyn Bussell was the top finisher, checking in at sixth-place overall. Jade Ayers finished 17th and Laini Taylor was 26th. Elisea Meadows ran in 29th-place.
Logan Taylor earned all-region honors with a fifth-place finish on the boys side. Seth Parris was 17th, Jacob Clark was 18th, and Reece Keller was 21st.
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