Belton-Honea Path dominates Region 1-AAA awards
By Dennis Brunson
hssr.com Associate Editor
Honea Path – Belton-Honea Path High School came up just shy of a football state title again this year. The Bears fell to Oceanside Collegiate Academy in the AAA championship game for the second straight season, this time by a 28-7 count.
Longtime Bears head coach Russell Blackston said he couldn’t be prouder of his team, the seniors in particular.
“I mean they finished 14-1, and I’m so proud of these guys and what they’ve been able to do,” he said. “They have 50 wins in their careers, and the sun’s going to come up tomorrow.”
The Bears dominated the awards for Region 1-AAA as well as its All-Region team. Junior Tajeh Watson-Martin was selected as the Region Player of the Year, senior Kylan Dixon was chosen as the Defensive Player of the Year, senior Keylan Dixon was the Lineman of the Year, senior Benji Ward was the Special Teams Player of the Year and Blackston was named the Coach of the Year.
Watson-Martin was selected to the All-Region team as both a wide receiver and defensive back. He had 58 receptions for 1,101 yards and 11 touchdowns while coming up with 27 tackles, two tackles for loss, one quarterback sack and four interceptions at cornerback.
Kylan Dixon, a defensive tackle, finished with 41 tackles, 14 TFLs and five sacks. His brother, Keylan, was the leader of an offensive line that helped the offense average 45.7 points per game. He was a 4-time All-Region pick.
Placekicker Ward scored 89 points, connecting on 80 of his 86 extra point attempts while going 3-for-4 on field goals with a long of 40 yards.
The other All-Region selections were senior Noah Thomas both at quarterback and punter, junior Brody Riddle at tight end, senior MJ Earl at running back, junior Jaden Glenn and senior Jacus Paul at wide receiver, senior center Brady Spearman and junior right tackle Carter Burgess on the offensive line, juior noseguard Kamation Glenn and senior ends Ty Rainey and Kanaza Bryant on the defensive line, senior Jakyri Anderson, junior Ty Dubose and senior KJ Miles at linebacker, junior strong safety Dee Chester at defensive back and senior free safety Grady Melton as a defensive all-purpose player.
Thomas threw for 2,221 yards and 33 touchdowns while rushing for 762 yards and 11 scores. As a punter, Thomas averaged 36.0 yards on 22 attempts.
Earl rushed for 1,246 yards nd 24 touchdowns, while Jaden Glenn had 25 catches for 339 yards and seven TDs, and Paul had 19 catches for 177 yards and four TDs.
On defense, Miles had 66 tackles and nine TFLs, Dubose had 78 tackles, two picks, three sacks and 11 TFLs, Melton had 35 tackles and two TFLs, Chester had 28 tackles, four picks and four TFLs, Anderson had 56 tackles and 10 TFLs, Rainey had 27 tackles, eight sacks and 12 TFLs, Kamarion Glenn had 28 tackles and 11 TFLs, and Bryant had 18 tackles, three sacks and nine TFLs.
