Pageland – At this time a year ago, Central High School had had its football head coach in
place for just over a month with the start of the season less than a month away. And while the start of the
season was still a few months away, Eagles athletic director Mitch Leaird didn’t have a boys basketball
head coach secured yet either.
Fast forward a year and things are much different for the school as it heads into the new school
year. Central had strong seasons under football coach Shane Griffin and boys basketball coach Desmond
Sowell. Both of them are returning this season along with all of the varsity head coaches from last year.
Leaird, who graduated from Central and is beginning his fourth decade working for his alma
mater, likes the staff he has assembled.
“I’m very excited about our coaching staff for the 2023-2024 school year,” said Leaird, who will
be entering his 10th year as athletic director. “I’ve always felt that stability is very important within a staff.
This year each of our head coaches for all sports returns in the same capacity that they served last year.
This is very important because they’ve already developed the relationships and philosophies for their
programs to be successful for the upcoming school year.”
Griffin led the Eagles to a 6-5 record and a berth in the AA state playoffs in his first season.
Central finished second in Region 6 and dropped a tough 13-7 decision to Wade Hampton in the first
round of the playoffs,
“We were one touchdown away in two or three games where we could have been 8-4 or 9-3,”
Griffin said. “We were right there on the cusp. If we get these guys to really drive and finish games
there’s a good possibility to do some big things.”
Leaird is excited to see what Griffin might be able to do with a year under his belt to go along
with a spring practice and a regular summer routine.
“It’s very comforting knowing that our head football coach and staff are in place moving into the
2023 season,” Leaird said. “At this time last year, we were just naming Shane Griffin as our head coach
and he was trying to assemble his staff.
“Coach Griffin and his staff did a tremendous job of getting our kids ready to play that first game (a
63-0 win over the Carolina Bobcats of Charlotte) in such a short amount of time. This year, players and
coaches are much more comfortable because everyone’s had a year under their belt to learn the system
that Coach Griffin has in place.”
The boys basketball team also finished second in region play and completed the year 17-6 overall.
The Eagles reached the second round of the state playoffs.
The volleyball team had a new head coach last year as well. Kylie Sims, who had been the junior
varsity head coach, led the Lady Eagles to a 4-14 record.
Ariesha Short will return as the girls basketball head coach, Randy Cryster is the boys golf
coach, Steve Middleton is back as the softball coach, Trent Strickland returns to coach baseball and
Billy Blakeney returns as the boys track and field coach.
Joel Dale, the pastor of First Baptist Church in Pageland, returns as the girls track coach along
with serving as the cross country coach for both the boys and the girls.
All Rights Reserved | The High School Sports Report 1986-2021