Laurence Manning wants to do more than play in SCISA AAAA football title game
Swampcats looking to snap Hammond's string of consecutive state championships at 6
Manning – Laurence Manning Academy quarterback Tyler June isn’t happy to be back in the SCISA AAAA football state championship. Well, maybe unhappy isn’t the right way to describe how he feels. The Swampcats need to be in the game against Hammond on Friday for June to become a happy man, so let’s say he isn’t content with being back.
“Getting back to it means nothing to me honestly,” June said following Laurence Manning’s 48-21 victory over Porter-Gaud in a semifinal game on November 10. “ I want to get out there and win.”
The time is nigh for June and the Swampcats. They will do battle with the Skyhawks on Friday at 7 p.m. at Charleston Southern University’s Buccaneer Field in North Charleston.
Hammond rolled to a 52-0 victory in last year’s game, which was the first ever AAAA championship game. The Skyhawks have won six consecutive SCISA state titles.
This will be the second meeting between Laurence Manning and Hammond this season. The teams faced off on September 8 with the Skyhawks winning 20-6.
That dropped the Swampcats to 2-2 on the season, but they’ve rolled off eight straight victories entering the title game.
Laurence Manning head coach Will Furse knows his team doesn’t have an easy task at hand.
“The big thing is scoring points against them,” said Furse, who is in his second season as head coach . “No one has done it (in SCISA) very much. Defensively, they get off the blocks and make tackles. That sounds simple, but I wish it was as easy as it sounds (for us to stop them).
“We’re going to have to play our best game of the year to give ourselves a shot to win.”
Since the loss to Hammond, Laurence Manning has been dominant on both sides of the football. They have averaged over 40 points a game, finishing under 30 just once in a 23-14 win over Porter-Gaud. Defensively, they are allowing 16 a game over that stretch.
“Our guys really rallied around each other,” Furse said. “We had great practices in a bye week to reset where we were. We’ve been playing extremely well. We want to keep momentum going into this weekend.
“I think we’re playing together more. Our offensive line has improved tremendously. The defense is more sure of themselves.”
After splitting time with freshman Grainger Powell for the first half of the season, June took over at quarterback. The senior 4-year starter has completed 74 of 109 passes for 1,188 yards and 17 touchdowns against no interceptions. He has carried the ball 60 times for 511 yards and 10 touchdowns.
When he wasn’t playing quarterback, June was lined up at wide receiver and had seven catches for 80 yards.
June has a bevy of wide receivers to choose from in his ball distribution. His favorite is senior Josiah Burson, who has 34 catches for 675 yards and 11 touchdowns. Another senior wide receiver is Jackson Brunson with 24 catches for 213 yards and five touchdowns.
Seniors Layne Bowen and Noah Tanner split time at the other wide receiver slot. Bowen has eight catches for 96 yards and two scores while Tanner has four catches for 138 yards and two scores.
Laurence Manning does a good job of incorporating its tight ends, senior Bryson Hodge and junior Drew Ferriell, and senior running back Ian Harris into the passing game. Ferriell has eight catches for 194 yards, Hodge has seven catches for 125 yards and a score, and Harris has eight catches for 155 yards.
Harris has come on strong down the stretch in running the football. He has rushed for 832 yards and seven touchdowns on 134 carries.
Seniors Thomas Sumpter and Bryson Smith spell Harris in the backfield. Sumpter has carried the ball 44 times for 253 yards and a score, while Smith has 43 carries for 231 yards and eight scores.
Opening the holes up front are junior Nik Ambroggio at left tackle, junior Dillon Smith at left guard, senior Herman Holland at center, senior Bryce Manlove at right guard and senior Jack Wellborn at right tackle.
The Swampcats have a lot of veteran talent on the defensive unit. Their 3-man front has junior Gavin Brown at noseguard with Hodge and junior Nate Hawthorne at the ends.
Hodge leads the team in tackles for loss with 20 among his 68 tackles. He’s recorded seven quarterback sacks, two safeties, forced two fumbles and recovered two fumbles. Hawthorne has 37 tackles, five sacks, six TFLs and a sack, and Brown has 25 tackles, two sacks, two forced fumbles and a TFL.
Junior Jeremiah Burson is the middle linebacker, Bryson Smith is the weakside linebacker and Ferriell and senior Chappell Brogdon are the outside linebackers.
Jeremiah Burson leads the team in tackles with 98 and sacks with nine. He also has 11 TFLs, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery. Smith is right behind in tackles with 90 to go with six sacks, seven TFLs and one FF. Brogdon has 66 tackles, 14 TFL, one sack, one interception, one FF and one FR, while Ferriell has 50 tackles, five sacks, two FFs and six TFLs.
The secondary has Sumpter and Tanner at the cornerback slots with Josiah Burson and Brunson as the safeties. Brunson has 71 tackles, a sack, nine TFLs, two FRs, one FF and an interception, Josiah Burson has 40 tackles and a team high three picks, Sumpter has 31 tackles, and Tanner has 17 tackles and an INT.
The Swampcats are strong on special teams with Mills Lee handling the placekicking duties (41 of 47 on extra point attempts) and Tanner serving as the punter. Sumpter has returned both a kickoff and a punt for a touchdown, and Josiah Burson has returned a kickoff for a score.
Harris believes the Swampcats have a chance to win a state title.
“We just need to try and keep our heads focused and come out with a win,” he said. “If everybody plays to the best of our abilities, we can have it.”
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