BHP On Top In AAA But Undefeated Teams Like Marlboro County & Woodruff Are In The Hunt
Loris RB Deuce Stephens
HSSR AAA Football Rankings (Ranking After Week “6” Games, Oct. 4)
1. BHP - 5-1 (203-103)
2. Marlboro County-6-0 (226-65)
3. Woodruff-5-0 (217-139)
4. Mountain View Prep 5-0 (256-70)
5. Loris 5-1 (242-61)
6. Dillon-4-2 (188-103)
7. Swansea- 5-1 (159-179)
8. Orangeburg-Wilkinson-4-1 ((163-57)
9. Fox Creek- 4-1 (206-60)
10. Keenan-4-2 (160-122)
11. Broome- 3-3 (151-225)
12. Oceanside Collegiate 3-3 (134-181)
13. Aynor 4-2 (193-162)
14. Hanahan 3-4 (147-187)
15. Newberry 2-3 (176-128)
BHP On Top In AAA But Undefeated Teams Like Marlboro County & Woodruff Are In The Hunt
By Billy G. Baker
Publisher
Moncks Corner — The Loris Lions (5-1) have moved up to number five in the latest HSSR AAA ranking following a mild upset win over Dillon (4-2) on October 4th, 30-27, which was the first time the Lions had defeated the tradition rich Wildcats since 1968.
After the win Loris head coach Greg Mance told the HSSR, “A key to our win was the team’s ability to rally together after going down 14-0 in the first quarter,” said Coach Mance. “Our 8—yard drive with five minutes left in the game was huge also.
“It was a great win over our program,” said Coach Mance, now in his 5th season with the Lions. “Hopefully, the win will springboard our program to the next level.”
Loris pulled off this historic win with a balanced offensive attack rushing 40 times for 149 yards led by junior Khalid Sherman (11-for-51 with 2 TD’s of 13 & 5 yards) and sophomore Deuce Stephens (5-6, 195) contributed (13-for-39, 8-yard TD). Lions junior quarterback Gerald Moon (6-0,170) completed 10-0f-18 passes for 135 yards to keep many drives alive when the team went to the air more in the second half. Sherman scored the game winning touchdown on a five-yard run with 3:29 left in the game.
The literal difference in the game was a 31-yard field goal by Loris’s place kicker William “Jagger” Suggs in the second period after Dillon led 14-0 after the first quarter.
Another key to the Loris win was their ability to convert first downs three times on fourth down and four times on third down.
Stephens leads the Lions in rushing after six games with 489 net yards on 67 rushes including seven touchdowns. Roderick Purcha is next on the rushing index with 315 yards on 41 carries including five touchdowns. Sherman has netted out 263 yards on 28 carries with four touchdowns. As a team Loris has rushed for 1,344 yards on 179 carries averaging 7.5 yards per carry and generating 20 combined touchdowns.
Through the air, Moon has completed 50-of-91 for 822 yards and 11 touchdowns. To date, his top receiving targets have been Quantez Dyson (14-350-5 TD’s) and Jacobien Grim-Lewis (11-175-5 TD’s).
Coming into the Dillon game the Loris defense was led by DL Javon Johnson (5-11,2 30) with 38 tackles, 12 TFL, and five sacks. Jr DT Damarea Thurmond (6-3, 310) had 33 tackles and six TFL, and senior LB Pat Bellamy (5-10, 210) had had 31 tackles and three TFL. Suggs has made three field goals this season and he has converted 27 extra points.
Through six games Loris has defeated teams by the combined score of 232-60. The Lions only loss was to Socastee 14-13. Dillon defeated Socastee, 27-7 earlier in the season.
The region 5-AAA championship is still wide open with Dillon hosting Marlboro County (5-1) at home on October, 18th while Loris travels to Marlboro County on October, 25th.
Speaking hurricane impacts, the Oct. 4th game between Union County and Mountain View Prep, is rescheduled to November 1st according to Maxpreps. Next up for MVP, they face Chapman on Oct. 11th and Union Co. travels to Broome.
The next four team two-through-five in AAA are Marlboro County who moves up to number two after a 41-8 region win over Aynor last week. Woodruff (5-0) moves up to number three and did not play last week. Loris is now ranked 5th in AAA, one spot ahead of 6th ranked Dillon. Swansea (5-1) did not play last week and they slip one spot to number seven.
With the majority of the upstate football teams missing the past two weeks, due to the damage left by from Hurricane Helene, not many region games have been played. The HSSR projects that BHP will win Region 1-AAA, while Region 2-AAA is wide open with Palmetto, Powdersville, and St. Joseph’s each having 2-3 records going into region competition.
In Region 3-AAA it appears to be a battle looming between Woodruff (5-0), Mountain View Prep (5-1) and Union County (2-4), after their upset region win over MVP last week. Region 4-AAA appears to be a region battle between Swansea (5-1), Fox Creek (4-1) and Keenan (4-2) while Region 6-AAA favors Oceanside Collegiate with North Charleston (4-2), Orangeburg Wilkinson (4-1) and Battery Creek in the hunt also. Oceanside Collegiate defeated Hanahan 49-7 in region action last week while Battery Creek defeated North Charleston 47-13.
