Batesburg-Leesville – Batesburg-Leesville High School’s Keira Fye won two events in the girls portion of the AA track and field state meet and Sawyer Ringer won one for the boys. Frye won gold medals in both the discus and the shot put. She won the discus with a throw of 40.77 meters and took the shot with a throw of 11.99 meters. Ringer claimed victory in the pole vault with a height of 3.95 meters. The Panthers boys finished in a tie for eighth with Marion with 26 points while the girls were 13 th with 21 points in the meet held at Spring Valley’s Harry Parone Stadium on May 16. For the boys, Ja’Quan Corley placed in two events. He finished second in the shot put with a toss of 14.6 meters and third in the discus with a throw of 45.61 meters. Braylen Davis finished seventh in the high jump with a jump of 1.85 meters. The B-L girls got their other point from Jayda Hinson . She finished eighth in the discus (27.74m). TANNER WATKINS ALL-STATE FOR BASEBALL Tanner Watkins was selected to the South Carolina Baseball Coaches Association’s AA All-State baseball team. Watkins, who helped Batesburg-Leesville to the AA state championship, had a .388 batting average and an on-base percentage of .492. He had five doubles, three triples and a home run among his 38 hits. He had 28 runs batted in while scoring 30 runs. Watkins was also selected to the All-Region 2-AA team. Joining Watkins on the All-Region team were Braydon Hallman and Tyler Kneece . Kneece was a standout on the mound. He started 11 games, working 52 2/3 innings. He finished with a 10-1 record and a 1.46 ERA. He struck out 51 while allowing 27 walks. Kneece had just a .200 batting average but had an on-base percentage of .413 by drawing 17 walks and getting hit by three pitches. He had six doubles, one home run and seven runs bated in while scoring nine times. Hallman batted .356 with an on-base percentage of .450. He had 10 doubles, two triples and three home runs while driving in a team high 34 runs. He scored 24 runs and had 10 stolen bases. Hallman also pitched in 10 games, starting four of them, and worked 27 innings. He had a 3-0 win-loss record and recorded one save. He struck out 31 batters while walking just nine and had a 1.56 earned run average. BOYS GOLF TEAM FINISHES THIRD IN STATE TOURNAMENT The Batesburg-Leesville boys golf team finished third in the AA .state tournament. The Panthers had a score of 652 in the 2-day, 36-hole tournament. Chesnee was second at 644 while Philip Simmons won with a score of 622. Leading the way for B-L was junior Jackson Shealy . He ha a score of 153, shooting a 74 in the first round while finishing with a 79. Junior Nathan Ott was just one stroke behind Shealy at 154. He had rounds of 79 and 75. Freshman James Sawyer shot a 171 (88-83) and freshman Michael Hendrix shot 175 (86-89). ZOEY ROWE SOFTBALL ALL-REGION PICK Senior Zoey Rowe was selected to the All-Region 2 softball team. Rowe had a .400 batting average with an on-base percentage of .468, She played both second base and third base in the field. She finished with 21 putouts.

Jay Hendrix Contributing Writer Columbia - The Batesburg-Leesville Panthers jumped out to a 6-2 lead after two innings and never looked back as they rolled to an 8-5 win in the Class AA State Championship’s third and deciding game at Founders Park in Columbia. The B-L faithful made the 30 mile trek to Columbia and created a home field advantage for the Panthers as they would celebrate their first baseball championship since 1949 and fourth overall. With an announced paid attendance of 1,271 the B-L fans made the Gamecocks home their own for the evening. The Panthers were led by junior Braydon Hallman who started and picked up the win as he pitched four innings and struck out nine while allowing three runs. Hallman also led the Panthers at the plate going 1-3 with three RBI include a huge two run double in the second inning. The Iron Horses led off the first with Alex Romanski getting hit by a pitch, stealing second and scoring on an RBI single to go up 1-0. In the bottom of the first Reese Boehnke scored on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Hallman to tie the game. The Iron Horses’ starting pitcher Nolan Clifford would struggle with his control early with three walks in the first inning, including a bases loaded walk to make it 2-1. B-L would add another run on a sacrifice fly from Gavin Parrish which scored Jack Bouknight to make it 3-1 at the end of the first. Philip Simmons would plate a run in the second as Peirce Mullen hit a seeing eye single up the middle and scored on a long double off the wall by Romanski to make it 3-2. In the bottom of the second the Panthers resumed their assault and would run Clifford from the game with just one out. Landon Soper led off the inning with an infield single to deep shortstop to bring up the top of the order. Soper would steal second and Boehnke then laid down a perfect bunt towards third base for a single to put runners on the corners with no outs. Hallman would then double to leftfield to score two to make it 5-2. Jack Bouknight’s RBI single up the middle would make it 6-2 and close the book on Clifford’s outing as he turned the ball over to Charlie Helms who would go the distance. In the third the Iron Horses would again manufacture a run after a leadoff walk to Kyle Bachmann was followed by a double down the leftfield line by Daniel Scarth to put two on. A looping single by Daniel Ebeling drove in a run to make it 6-3 and leave runners on the corners. Hallman would then battle his way out of the inning without any further damage thanks to fly outs as the Iron Horses left the bases loaded. The game would remain 6-3 until the fifth inning. B-L would turn to Soper in the top of the frame and the change of pace keep the Iron Horses off balance with a 1-2-3 inning. In the bottom of the frame the Panthers got back on the board with two more runs. Carter Bouknight led off with a single to centerfield and Preston Smith drew a walk. An error, on what looked like a double play ball, allowed a run to score and extended the inning. A fielder’s choice on another ground ball allowed the Panthers to extend the lead to 8-3 at the end of five. In the top of the sixth the Iron Horses would plate two runs of their own to make it 8-5 as Tajaun Gibbs drew a leadoff walk and the run scored on a two out single by Helms. Scarth would later drive in Helms but again the Panthers would work out of the jam as the Iron Horses left two runners on base to end the inning as Hallman made an acrobatic catch from his shortstop position on a ball down the leftfield line. In the top of the seventh the Iron Horses were unable to rally as the Panthers allowed just one baserunner before Hallman hauled in a soft liner for the final out as the Panthers won 8-5. On the night Scarth led all hitters as he went 3-4 with two RBI and Romanski went 2-3 with an RBI. For B-L seven different players collected a hit each with Hallman leading the way with three RBI. Hallman and Gavin Parrish each had doubles while Scarth and Romanski had doubles for the Iron Horses.

By: Jay Hendrix Special Writer Batesburg - The Batesburg-Leesville bats were kept in check until a three-run rally in the sixth inning turned a 1-0 Philip Simmons lead into a 3-2 B-L victory in game two of the Class AA State Championship series at Batesburg-Leesville. The win forces a decisive game three at Founders Park in Columbia on Saturday at 6pm. The pitching duel between B-L’s Carter Bouknight and Philip Simmons’ Peirce Mullen saw the two players go back and forth with only one run through five innings. Carter Bouknight would give way to Braydon Hallman who allowed a run in the seventh but struck out three as he claimed the win in relief. In the first inning the leadoff batter for Iron Horses, Alex Romanski , was hit by a pitch, stole second, advanced to third on a sacrifice and scored on a single from Daniel Scarth . That 1-0 lead would hold up until the sixth inning. Meanwhile, Mullen was perfect through three innings and then managed to strand three runners over the next two innings. B-L Head Coach Rob Bouknight stated “it was a very frustrating game for our guys. We didn’t strike out one time the whole game. We didn’t hit a lot of balls hard but everything was right at them and they were frustrated. We kept going and stayed the course and we found a hole here and there.” Carter Bouknight, a senior who has been the Panthers’ ace all season, battled through five innings and allowed just the one unearned run before turning the ball over to Hallman. Coach Bouknight stated “you can’t say enough about what he (Carter Bouknight) has done all year. He has been that guy all year. He told us in the third inning his arm was bothering him a little bit and we were ready to go to Hallman and he said ‘I’m not going to college to play ball, I want to finish it’ and he bought us two more innings.” In the critical sixth inning the Panthers jumped out quickly as the top of the order produced against Mullen on their third trip through the order. Reese Boehnke lead off with a walk. Tanner Watkins then laid down a bunt back to the pitcher but the throw to first was wide and Boehnke and Watkins ended up at third and second respectively. Hallman was then intentionally walked to load the bases. Jack Bouknight then battled back from an 0-2 count to rip an RBI single to centerfield to tie the game. John Sawyer followed with a sacrifice fly to centerfield to score another run and give B-L a 2-1 lead. With one out Tyler Kneece laid down a bunt to the pitcher who got the out at first but the throw home wasn’t in time as Hallman just beat the tag to make it 3-1 at the end of six innings. Head Coach Rob Bouknight pointed to the bunt as the biggest play of the night, stating “the bunt when we made the pitcher get off the mound and they threw it away would have to be the biggest moment.” The Iron Horses wouldn’t go away without a fight in the top of the seventh. Tajaun Gibbs singled to centerfield before Hallman retired the next two batters. The top of the order then came up and Romanski and Charlie Helms singled to leftfield, with Helms driving in Gibbs to make it 3-2. The final out came on a sharply hit line drive to centerfield with Watkins gloving it to seal the victory and force game three. Coach Bouknight, an alumnus of Batesburg-Leesville, is in his 13 th season as head baseball coach at B-L. When asked about how special it is to lead his alma mater to the state championship series he stated “it means the world. This program and the guys I played with meant the world to us. The community has always backed us. I hope our guys are realizing these guys they are playing with a truly their brothers and the support they get from the community is outstanding.”

SCHSL Championship Series got started on Saturday with 12 teams in each category striving to earn a state title. It's looking to be a wet week for most of the state, we'll see how the forecast holds up for these games to be completed. Softball 5/26 - Class 5A Div 1. - Byrnes @ Summerville 5/26 - Class 5A Div. 2 - Catawba Ridge @ St. James 6p 5/27 - Class AAAA - York @ Gray Collegiate 6:30p 5/27 - Class AAA - BHP @ Aynor 6p5/27 - 5/27 - Class AA - Saluda @ East Clarendon 7p 5/27 - Class A - Latta @ Lewisville 6p 5/28 - Class 5A Div 1. - Summerville @ Byrnes 5/28 - Class 5A Div. 2 - St. James @ Catawba Ridge 6p 5/28 - Class AAAA - Gray Collegiate @ York 5/29 - Class AAA - Aynor @ BHP 6p 5/29 - Class AA - Lewisville @ Latta 5/29 - Class A - East Clarendon @ Saluda 7p Game 3s (if needed) on 5/30 Baseball - Games Started Saturday, May 24 th with games 5/27, 5/29, and 5/31 5/24 - Class AAA - Southside Christian 14 , Oceanside 1 5/24 - Class AA - Philip Simons 5 , Batesburg-Leesville 3 5/24 - Class A - McBee 5 , LakeView 3 5/27 - Class 5A Div. 1 - Lexington @ James Island 6:30p 5/27 - Class 5A Div. 2 -Catawba Ridge @ Berkeley 5/27 - Class AAAA - Airport @ Seneca 5/27 - Class AAA - Oceanside @ Southside Christian 5/27 - Class AA - Philip Simons @ Batesburg-Leesville 5/27 - Class A - McBee @ Lake View 5/29 - Class 5A Div. 1 -Lexington@ James Island 6:30p 5/29 - Class 5A Div. 2 -Berkeley @ Catawba Ridge 5/29 - Class AAAA - Seneca @ Airport Game 3s (if needed) on 5/31

By Billy Baker Publisher Berkeley County — Batesburg - Leesville head baseball coach Rob Bouknight got right to the root cause of his team’s 5-3 loss, against host Philip Simmons in game one of the SCHSL AA state baseball finals, played on May, 24 in Berkeley County. “When you have 8 walks, and your defense makes three costly errors, you usually don ‘t win a baseball game, and that is what happened to us today, against a quality opponent who took advantage of those two things,” said Coach Bouknight. “Our challenge on Tuesday, at our place, is to throw strikes, and don’t make errors. If we improve on those two things we will be a much better team for sure.” Philip Simmons, on the other hand, got six innings of stellar pitching from senior lefty Nolan Clifford. He scattered five hits, allowed one earned run, and had seven strike-outs. Clifford came into the game as the school’s all-time strike-out leader (around 172). Philip Simmons was founded 8 years ago. After the game, Philip Simmons head coach Josh Kubisz shared some thoughts on his team’s game one win. “The fact that they had that many walks, and a few errors, and we only won by two runs let’s you know that they are a real good baseball team,” said Coach Kubisz. “Clifford had a good game on the mound, but honestly I do not think he had his best stuff today, but he still managed to get a bunch of outs and get his curve ball over for strikes,” said Coach Kubisz. “I still think he has a little more in him.” One concern for the Iron Horses is a freak injury to number two pitcher Pierce Mullen who tripped and fell as he rounded first base, on his solo home run, as the lead-off batter in the bottom of the fourth inning. Mullen did not return to the game and he was replaced by junior Braden Ward. “We fully expect Mullen to be ready to start the game on the mound on Tuesday,” said Coach Kubisz. “His injury appears to be minor and he should be ready to go in game two.” Mullin is 6-2 on the year. In 57.1 innings on the bump he has 76 strike-outs with a 2.93 ERA. “This was also Charlie Helm’s second save of the year and I can not think of a bigger one,” said Coach Kubisz. “He’s been a step-up leader for us his entire career with us.” Coach Kubisz hopes his teams improves on not popping up the ball so much in game two. “I think we can improve on not popping up the ball so much for easy outs like we did early in the game today,” said Coach Kubisz. “We were underneath the baseball on a lot of swings earlier in the game and we hope to correct that on Tuesday.” The Panthers are expected to throw ace pitcher Carter Bouknight on Tuesday. He is 7-1 on the season with a 1.80 ERA with 75 strike-outs in 57.1 innings of work. “He’s been one of our best guys all year so we need for him to have a good outing on Tuesday,” said Coach Bouknight. “Hopefully, we can catch some breaks on Tuesday that we did not get today. We left too many runners on base today.” B-L led 1-0 after the first inning. Right fielder Reese Boehnke led of the game by hit by pitch and he advanced to second on a stolen base. Two batters later Boehnke scored on an RBI single by Braydon Hallman to give the Panthers an early lead. Philip Simmons tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the third. Center fielder Alex Romanski drew a one-out walk and then Charlie Helms reached on a hit by pitch. Then a two-base error on an over-throw to first base on a ground ball hit by Kyle Bachmann brought Romanski in to tie the score. In the bottom of the 4 th inning the Iron Horses pulled away for a 4-1 lead. Mullin led off with a home run to make it 2-1. Second baseman Blake Johnson then drew a walk. Clifford reached safely on a bunt. Romanski reached safely on a fielder choice as Johnson was out trying to advance to third. Helm then drew a walk to put two runners on. Clean-up batter Daniel Scarth then delivered a single RBI, scoring Helms to make it a 4-1 lead for the Iron Horse. In the top of the 5 th the Panthers cut the deficit to 4-2. Second baseman Landon Soper reached on a one-out error and then right fielder Boehnke reached on a hit-by-pitch. Two batters later Hallman delivered an RBI single to score Soper to make it a 4-2 game. In the bottom of the 6 th Philip Simmons added an insurance run to the make the score 5-2. Helms delivered a one-out single and then stole second. Bachmann drew a walk to put runners on first and second with one-out. Scarth came through with an RBI single, scoring Helms to make it a 5-2 game. Helms relieved Clifford in the top of the 7 th . The Panthers got a lead-off single by Soper and then Boehnke walked to put two on with no-outs. Two batters later a single RBI by Jack Bouknight brought in Soper to cut the deficit to 5-3. The next B-L batter flew out to left field to end the game. For the game the Iron Horse collected five hits. Scarth led the way at the plate with two hits and two RBI’s. Other hitters were Helms, Bachmann, and Mullen each with one hit. Mullen had the big home run. B-L had seven hits. Hallman led the way going 3-for-four with two RBI’s. The other solo hits were contributed by J Bouknight, first baseman John Sawyer, center fielder Tanner Watkins, and Soper. Starting B-L pitcher Tyler Kneece worked 3.1 innings giving up two hits and four runs while striking out one batter. Other pitchers for B’L were Soper and Brody Lephart who combined to limit the Iron Horses to just one run while striking out two batters in the 2.2 innings they worked. Clifford was the winning pitcher for Philip Simmons and he allowed five hits and two runs while striking out seven. Helms worked one inning and picked up the save.

By Billy G. Baker Publisher  Batesburg —The Batesburg - Leesville Panthers (18-6-1) won their first two games of the 2025 AA baseball playoffs at homes with dominating 11-1 wins over Fairfield Central and Liberty on May, 6 and May, 8 and the Panthers can now enjoy the “sit back” as they await the winner between Liberty and Buford. Liberty will host the game with Buford at 2 pm on Saturday. The winner will advance to travel to Batesburg-Leesville on Monday May, 10 needing to beat the Panthers twice in order to advance. The HSSR was on hand for the Panthers 11-1 win over Liberty, and head B-L coach Chad Bouknight shared some thoughts after the win. “We swung the bats well tonight and after we got a head they had to take their starter out, and then they had to throw some guys who had not thrown a lot, and we were able to take advantage of that,” said Coach Bouknight who played high school baseball at Batesburg-Leesville. “We are taking the rest of the season game-by-game,” said Coach Bouknight. “I still do not know how good we are. In my opinion, we have not played up to our full potential yet, and that is a good thing. We started off the season with home and home games and we spilt with them and we are proud to have won 18 games. “There are a lot of good teams in the upper state AA like Mid-Carolina, Chesnee, Clinton, Andrew Jackson, and Strom Thurmond just to name a few so we have a lot of good teams in front of us,” said Coach Bouknight. “We just need to stay focused and keep improving. “Our lead-off is right fielder Reese Boehnke (19 RBI’s/4 doubles/2 triples & 9 SB) and average wise he might be hitting what he would like, but he is a good lead-off and if gets on base he can do a lot,” said Coach Bouknight. “Then our two-hole hitter Tanner Watkins is having a great senior season (.403/ 23 RBI’s/4 doubles/2 triples/1 HR) and I wish he was a junior, because if he were, he would have a really great chance at going somewhere, and we are still hoping that he does get an opportunity, but he is a kind of late bloomer.” Watkins also plays excellent defense in center field. Coach Bouknight calls three- hole batter, shortstop Braydon Hallman , (.319/19 RBI’s/2 triples/2 HR’s) a key leader of the team, who has been on the varsity since his freshman year. “He is probably our best arm also but he has had arm issues all season,” said Coach Bouknight. Coach Bouknight said the third base position has been platooned among several players this season. Carter Bouknight and Tyler Kneece hold down the position most of the time, depending on which one is pitching. Carter is batting .298 with 8 RBI’s. Kneece has six RBI’s, six doubles and one homer. Junior Preston Smith (.333) in the Panther catcher. “Preston has done a really good job for us behind the plate this year,” said Coach Bouknight. The team’s top hitter to date is left fielder Jack Bouknight who is the team’s clean-up batter and he hitting .443 with 12 RBI’s including six doubles and three triples. “Jack is having an outstanding season for us also,” said Coach Bouknight. Gavin Parrish is the team’s designated hitter batting .344 with 8 RBI’s including four doubles. The second baseman is Landon Soper and he is batting .353 with 12 RBI’s from the 9 th hitting slot. John Sawyer is holding down first base and he bats 5 th in the line-up with a .262 average including 14 RBI’s, four doubles, and one triple. The Panthers certainly have a solid pitching staff that could give them a deep run in the AA baseball play-offs. “We will likely start Kneece or Carter Bouknight on Monday but I still need to consult with my coaches on that,” said Coach Bouknight. The top four pitchers for B-L this season, innings pitched wise, are Kneece who is 7-0 with a 0.93 ERA with 37.2 innings of work and 45 K’s. C. Bouknight who is 4-1 with 37.1 innings of mound work resulting in 47 K’s and a 2.06 ERA. Landon Soper is 1-1 in 21.2 innings of work and he has 16K’s with an ERA of 1.64. Hallman is 1-0 with 14 K’s in 15.2 innings of work and he has a 0.89 ERA. In the win over Liberty, Hallman was 2-of-2 with 2 RBI’s including a two- run homer in the first inning that put the Panthers up 3-0 after the first inning. Boehnke also had two hits and one RBI while Jack Bouknight had two hits and one RBI also. Other Panthers with one hit each against Liberty were Watkins, Soper, Kneece, Parrish and Smith. Michael Lorick scored two runs and had one RBI. Against Liberty Kneece worked 2.1 innings on the mound allowing one earned run. C. Bouknight went 3.2 innings allowing one hit and striking out three. Trey Ulmer is the head coach of Liberty. They had three hits against B-L. Junior Cade Collins had a double, senior Ed Bledsoe had a single and one RBI, and junior Carson Garrick also had a hit. Garrick came into the game leading the team in hitting at .461 while TJ Borow was at .397 and Bledsoe came in at .377. Liberty used four pitchers in the game. They were Cade Collins , Caron Garrick , Caleb Collins and Nolan Oglesby .

Panthers' Gilliam selected AA All-State, Region 2 Player of the Year

Panthers win 12 straight games before falling to eventual AA state champion Clinton

By WORTHY EVANS Contributing Writer Columbia – With the 2024 football season drawn to a close, several Midlands teams had much to celebrate. Region 4-5A rivals Dutch Fork and Irmo reached the two SCHSL 5A state championship games in December. The Silver Foxes celebrated their ninth state championship after beating Summerville 35-21 in the Division 1 game and Irmo fell 34-31 against Northwestern in the Division 2 game. In November SCISA power Hammond won its eighth straight state championship with a 28-21 victory over Porter Gaud in the 4A final game. Richard Winn outplayed Laurens Academy 43-6 for the 8-man state championship, its first since 2014. Other notable playoff performances include Fairfield Central , which reached the 2A upper state championship game at Clinton , and Batesburg-Leesville , which had a surprising 12-1 season following its 5-6 effort in 2023. It was the Panthers’ first winning season since 2019. Dutch Fork claims ninth state championship The Silver Foxes made the regular season and playoffs look easy. With a roster heavy with 31 seniors hardened from a difficult yet successful 2023 state title win, Dutch Fork blew through the competition, never falling behind racking up six shutouts and outscoring opponents 474-73 going into the championship game. Summerville (13-1) gave the Silver Foxes a shock in the 5A Division 1 state championship game Dec. 13 when it went up 14-6 early in the second quarter. “Just stay the course,” Tom Knotts told the team by that point. “We knew there were some things we could do and we were shooting ourselves in the foot, we were letting our emotions take over, and we did some things really I thought were uncharacteristic of the way we played this year. We played in the first half like it was our first game of the year.” Dutch Fork did get things straight. Junior quarterback Ethan Offing connected with senior Boykin Bickley for a 19-yard touchdown pass, and then found Jalen Montgomery in the end zone for the game-tying 2-point conversion. B.J. Platts later powered into the end zone from eight yards out to give the Silver Foxes a 21-14 lead at the half. Offing found Bickley again for a 20-yard touchdown pass to make it 28-14 in the third quarter. After Summerville responded with a third-quarter touchdown, Platts’ 38-yard TD run with two minutes left in the game secured the win for the Silver Foxes. “This is a very deserving senior group,” Knotts said. “I wasn’t pleased with the way we won, we played with a lot of effort and the game just got a little chippy for my liking but we did come out with a ‘W’ which is always a great thing.” Two senior defenders, Georgia Tech commit and cornerback/strong safety Elgin Sessions and South Carolina commit Josh Smith made the South Carolina Football Coaches Association’s All-Classification All-State team. Four seniors, running back Maurice Anderson , offensive lineman Cayden McFadden , defensive back Derek Smith and wide receiver K.J. Smith were selected to the 5A All-State Team. Late FG lifts Northwestern over Irmo in 5A Division 2 final Much like its crosstown rival, Irmo (12-2) breezed through the regular season under the leadership of passing and running quarterback A.J. Brand . The Virginia Tech commit passed for 2,600 yards and 21 touchdowns, and rushed for 2,029 yards and 27 touchdowns this season. The Yellow Jackets’ only slip was a 24-14 loss at Dutch Fork Nov. 8 to close out the regular season. The Yellow Jackets beat Chapin and West Florence convincingly, then hung on to beat White Knoll 29-25 to reach the 5A Division 2 championship game against unbeaten Northwestern Dec. 14. The Yellow Jackets led 17-10 after a Matthew Fish field goal early in the third quarter, but Brand ran for a touchdown to tie the game. After Irmo forced a turnover on downs, Brand rushed 20 yards for another score to put the Yellow Jackets up 24-17 early in the fourth quarter. Irmo’s first and only lead of the game was short-lived. Quarterback Finley Polk connected with Kameron Vance for two touchdowns to take a 31-24 lead with about four minutes to go. Brand, who finished the night 12-for-17 in passing for 151 yards and two touchdowns, and with 21 carries for 168 yards and two scores, connected with Donovan Murph for the game-tying touchdown pass in the final minute. Murph, who committed to South Carolina Jan. 2, had eight catches for 123 yards and two TDs. Unfortunately for the Yellow Jackets, Polk led the team 70 yards to the Irmo 10-yard line in that time. Fish lined up for a 27-yard field goal and hit it as time expired. “I know they hurt and I hurt also,” Coach Brand said. “We’ve got a bunch of winners. We’ve got a bunch of playmakers and our playmakers made plays. Unfortunately, we didn’t get enough stops and that early turnover. “Sometimes you get the bear and sometimes the bear gets you, and tonight was not our night and they got us at the end,” he added. “There's something to be said about going perfect all year. It is what it is. I don’t want to take anything away from them, but I wish we could get a couple of those drives back.” Murph, who had 1,328 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns on the year, made the All-Classification All State team, along with offensive lineman Ryan Love and Brand. Brand was selected for the all-purpose spot because of his passing and running for 4,629 total yards and 57 total touchdowns. Irmo reached the Division 2 championship by eliminating region rival White Knoll 29-25 Dec. 6. The Timberwolves finished the season 8-6. Defensive back Devin Geronomi made the All-Classification All-State team. Quarterback Landon Sharpe made the 5A All-State team. Hammond’s game-winning drive clinches eighth straight state championship The Hammond football team edged Porter Gaud 28-21 in the closing minute of the game Nov. 22 to claim yet another state championship, but the Skyhawks’ eighth straight state title and 22 nd in school history did not come easily. After Porter Gaud’s game-tying score and a Hammond fumble that nearly spelled disaster, the 13-0 Skyhawks made good on Andrew Turner’s 23-yard touchdown pass to Michael Tyler with 45 seconds left. “Just so proud of this group, their resilience, their fight,” Hammond head coach Jon Wheeler said after the game. “We’ve been down at halftime in three of our last four state championship games. This team is battle-tested and they rise to the occasion.” Porter Gaud tied the game at 21 on Tony Brown’s 1-yard touchdown run—the first play of the fourth quarter. The Cyclones drained the clock on that 51-yard drive, using 15 plays to tie the game with just under 12 minutes to go. Hammond lost the football on the next possession, which set Porter Gaud on the Skyhawks’ 17-yard line. Poised to take their first lead of the game, the Cyclones actually had a touchdown play shortly after taking over, but the play was called back for a holding penalty. After that flag, the Hammond defense forced Porter Gaud so far back that it had to punt from the Hammond 38. “I don’t think I’ve ever been more proud of a defense because we were outmatched up front,” Wheeler said. “I’ve got to give credit to our defense for just fighting and fighting. I’m just so proud of them.” That stand gave the break that the Skyhawks offense needed to close out the game. They went 80 yards and drained the rest of the fourth quarter on the drive. When it came time for points on the board, Wheeler said he knew what play to run. “We haven’t tried a 40-yard field goal all year. Let’s put it in the hands of our senior quarterback, our senior offense, our skill players,” he said. “Let’s see if we can hit a pass and it’s déjà vu with Mike Tyler. And if we missed it, they’ve got 40 seconds and one time out, and they’re a running team, it’d go to overtime. Mike T and Andrew made a play, the offensive line protected, and that drive was unbelievable.” It was the second straight year that a Turner-to-Tyler connection won the state championship. Hammond beat Laurence Manning 28-21 in 2023. RWA claims first state football title since 2014 Richard Winn Academy’s surprise of a season ended on a happily unsurprising note Nov. 22 with a 43-6 victory over Laurens Academy at Wyman King Academy’s football field. Senior quarterback Charlie Bonds closed out his high school career rushing for 109 yards and two touchdowns, and passing for 155 yards and two scores. As head coach Paul Brigman explained, as Charlie Bonds and his fellow seniors go, so goes the team. “It’s the leadership that we got from those senior guys most of all. Charlie Bonds has been one of our best guys,” Brigman said. “Charlie has led the team from ninth grade on and this group’s been together for a long time. They’ve been a joy to coach and so receptive to coaching and just wanting to get better. In the end it turned out like we wanted it to. It was a great win.” The Eagles (12-0) ran straight through the regular season with none of their games even close. Richard Winn’s dominance throughout the year was reminiscent of the school’s back-to-back 2A state championships in 1995-1996 under head coach David Porter . “We got the ball and scored and went from there. It’s kind of our plan the whole time,” Bonds said. “We couldn’t have done much better, I’ll say that.” Bonds led the offense throughout the year. Bonds went 52-for-69 in passing for 1,406 yards, 23 touchdowns and no interceptions, and rushing 107 times for 1,226 yards and 22 TDs. FC falls to Clinton in 2A upper state championship Fairfield Central’s drive to reach a state championship game for the first time in 27 years fell one game short. The Griffins, who won 12 straight games after a season-opening loss to 5A Ridge View, fell 32-21 to Clinton Friday night at the Red Devils’ Wilder Stadium. “If you would have told me back in May that we would have made it to the upper state championship, I would’ve looked at you like you was crazy,” 14-year head coach Demetrius Davis said about his team’s surprise year in which the Griffins caught fire early and outscored opponents 587-199 going into the Clinton game. “This team played like heck. This defense played, and let me tell you, man, I’m super proud of these kids,” Davis added. Senior running back and Shrine Bowl pick Ty’Darion Grier , who had 1,983 rushing yards and 35 touchdowns going into Friday, led Fairfield Central with 212 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries. Quarterback Kaden Diggs , who had 655 passing yards and 607 rushing yards before Friday, had a 19-yard touchdown run and 76 yards on 13 carries. B-L falls to Red Devils in 3 rd Round Although falling 31-14 to Clinton in the third round of the playoffs Nov. 29, Batesburg-Leesville celebrated a reawakening of its football team that has won five state championships. Since going 8-8 in 2019, The Panthers have won 15 out of 34 games going into the 2024 season. Greg Lawson , in his third season as head coach of Batesburg-Leesville, saw his team blossom. The Panthers showed themselves to be prolific scorers, outscoring opponents 493-21 on the year. The defense threw six shutouts. Batesburg-Leesville won the Region 2-2A championship easily, and blasted Columbia 42-6 and Andrew Jackson 49-14 in the first two rounds of the playoffs. Only Clinton, which went on to rout Barnwell 35-6 in the 2A state championship game Dec. 12, got the best of the Panthers. At 12-1, Batesburg-Leesville’s record is the best since 2013, when the Panthers went 12-2 and won the 2A state championship under Jerry Brown. RNE’s Wilson claims Mr. Football title Will Wilson , a wily and prolific quarterback who singlehandedly led Richland Northeast to an 8-4 record, was selected as the 30 th recipient of the South Carolina Mr. Football award. He is the 11 th quarterback to win the award. Wilson received the recognition at halftime of the Touchstone energy Cooperatives Bowl at Myrtle Beach’s Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium Dec. 21. Wilson, a North Carolina State signee, completed 66.7 percent of his passes, throwing for 2,482 yards and 22 touchdowns, while rushing for 1,144 yards and 20 touchdowns. He missed two games after having his knee scoped. Other finalists for the award were Westside quarterback Cutter Woods , Rock Hill wide receiver Malik Clark , Belton-Honea Path running back Marquiese Henderson , and Gaffney offensive lineman Shed Sarratt . Midlands Top 10 1. Dutch Fork (13-0, 5-0 Region 4-5A) 2. Irmo (13-2, 4-1 Region 4-5A) 3. River Bluff (10-3, 3-2 Region 4-5A) 4. Batesburg-Leesville (12-1, 5-0 Region 2-2A) 5. Fairfield Central (12-2, 4-0 Region 3-2A) 6. Hammond (13-0, 7-0 SCISA Region 4A) 7. Camden (9-3, 4-2 Region 3-4A) 8. Ridge View (8-5, 5-1 Region 5-5A) 9. Newberry (7-4, 4-0 Region 4-3A) 10. AC Flora (8-4, 4-2 Region 3-4A)