Singletary and defense lead Cane’s to Orangeburg By Neill Kirkpatrick Special to the HSSR Varnville – Not only was Friday night’s AA playoff semifinal game between two top five teams in the state (HSSR) it could also have been called the “Watermelon Bowl” as you had Central in Pageland (The Watermelon Capital of World) and Hampton County (Home to longest continuous Watermelon Festival in the State) battling to represent the lower state in next Saturday’s AA state championship game. The fifth ranked and home standing Hurricanes scored touchdowns on their first four possessions and never looked back as they defeated the top ranked Eagles 43-22 to advance to the school’s first ever football state championship game. “Our word of the week was ‘Preparation.’ If we prepared the right way to stop their offense and to attack their defense we felt we had a good chance to come out on top. I’m proud of the guys for the way they executed the game plan and thrilled for next week,” said Hampton County head coach Rob Hanna . Hampton County (11-3/4-0) will play Strom Thurmond (12-2/5-0), a 15-13 winner over Fairfield Central . While this is the Cane’s first trip to the state finals it is the Rebels 8 th trip with the last being in 2005 when they won the AAA state championship. Central (11-2/4-1) came into the game looking to go to their 12 th state championship game and get win number five. Central head coach Jonathan Eason said, “It was an off night for us against a good team. I give them lot of credit. They came out and executed and made it tough on us. I’m proud of they way we fought all night until the game was over. I’m happy I was able to coach these seniors. They won 21 games the past years and we will build on that in the off season.” Hampton County started the game exactly how they wanted to as they drove 58 yards in 9 plays to take and 8-0 lead. Senior All State running back Jaylen Singletary carried the ball on every play and finished the drive with a 9-yard touchdown run. He also added the two-point conversion. The Eagles tied things up on their first possession as the took 9-plays to go 62 yards. Senior Ashten Wilson had three carries for 40 yards to move the ball down field. Junior quarterback Dwayne Louallen II scored a three-yard run and the two-point try was good and we were tied at 8. The Cane’s next drive started by going backwards. The Eagle defense stuffed the Cane’s running game on the first two plays. Facing a third and 14, Canes quarterback Tarell Grant connected with Jaz’mir Goines for 13 yards bringing up a fourth and one. Goines picked up the first down on a sneak and then Singletary gave the Cane’s a lead they would not relinquish when he went 48-yards around the left side for a touchdown. Rafe Sullivan added the point after and the lead was 15-8. The Canes defense imposed their will on the Eagles offense the rest of the half allowing only 52-yards and turning over the Eagles on downs twice. Leading the charge on defense was Goines, Malik Terry , Tyler Davis, and Braydon Blake to name a few. Meanwhile, The Canes would extend the lead on their next two possessions. First, Grant would connect again with Goines for a 31-yard touchdown pass and the second was on a 75-yard run by Singletary. He would finish the first half with a 193 yards rushing and three touchdowns. Those two scores and two PAT’s made it 29-8 at the half. Central received the second half kickoff. Scoot Colyer returned the kick 25 yards to set up the Eagles at their 47. Three in complete passes left the Eagles in a fourth and ten. Louallen II only picked up five yards and for the third time the Cane’s defense turned the Eagles over on downs. Singletary would score his fourth touchdown on the night when he scored from the four capping a 45-yard drive. Sullivan added the pat and the lead was 36-8. Central finally crossed the goal line again with 8:59 to go when Louallen II scored his second touchdown of the night on a one-yad run. Wilson added the two-pointer and the score was 36-16. The Canes, who were playing a lot of second teamers, fumbled on their next possession and it was recovered by the Eagles. Louallen II would hit Aiden Short with a pass of 28 and 26 yards moving the ball to the Cane’s 11. Wilson would end the drive with an 11-yard touchdown jaunt. That cut the lead to 14 at 36-22 with 4:33 to go. On the night Wilson would tally 93 yards on 11 carries and the one score. Coach Hanna put back in his first team and Singletary put an end to any Eagle comeback hopes as he ripped off a 48-yard touchdown run for the final score of the night. He finished the game with 273 yards and five touchdowns. “I just went out there and did my thing. I let my running do the talking. My O-line is awesome. We made a connection and a bond outside of football that has made us stronger. That makes them block that much harder for me. When you love someone, you will do anything for them,” said Singletary after the game. “We had one senior and one returning starter along the offense line when the season started but they have played together for 14 games now. They know if they just give Jaylen a crease he will make a play,” said coach Hanna about his offensive line.

By Dennis Brunson hssr.com Associate Editor Sumter – Trying to figure out who the best football team is in the South Carolina High School League’s AA classification has not been an easy task. Records have been distorted with teams like defending state champion Clinton and defending runner-up Fairfield Central playing up in non-region games and taking losses. Then you have tough regions like Region 2 with Strom Thurmond , Batesburg-Leesville and Saluda locking up in epic battles. Then there is Region 4. It has the team with the best record among the contenders in Central with a 9-1 record after the first round of the state playoffs. However the Eagles didn’t even wn the region title. They lost to Andrew Jackson , which is the region champion. They could meet again – for the state championship – since Region 4 is a hybrid region. AJ is in the upper state bracket and Central is in the lower state bracket. Another region team, Cheraw , is still alive in the lower state bracket. So you know how we figure all of this out, right? By letting the playoffs play out. With one week in the books, let’s try to figure out who will be playing for the state title on Saturday, December 6, at South Carolina State’s Oliver C. Dawson Stadium in Orangeburg beginning at 4 p.m. Here we go starting with the upper state second round: Saluda at Clinton Fairfield Central at Andrew Jackson Batesburg-Leesville at Chester Liberty at Strom Thurmond These are all teams that have been consequential in AA in the last few years. You have four region champions in Region 1 Clinton, Region 2 Strom Thurmond, Region 3 Chester and Region 4 Andrew Jackson. There are three second-place teams in Fairfield Central, B-L and Liberty. Saluda finished third but it lost to both Thurmond and B-L in overtime and dropped a 1-point decision to Ninety Six . While the Tigers will put up a strong fight, Clinton shoul come away victorious with running back Javen Cook leadin the way. Fairfield Central is 8-3, while AJ is 7-4 with one of thosef losses coming to the Griffins by a 35-0 count. The Volunteers won’t be able to make up enough of that gap. Batesburg-Leesville has rebounded from a slow start and is 8-3. Chester started the season 1-3 but has won six of its last seven to go to 7-4. Running back Amadre Wooden and wide receiver KD Whitt should provde enough plays to give B-L a victory. Strom Thurmond is 9-2 and Liberty is 8-3. Playing in Region 2 should be enough to push the Rebels past Liberty. The quarterfinal games are: Fairfield Central at Clinton Batesburg-Leesville at Strom Thurmond Fairfield and Clinton will meet again in the playoffs only one round earlier. The Red Devils will win again because of their overpowering running game. Thurmond and B-L faced off in their region opener with the Rebels coming away with a 28-26 overtime triumph. They took Region 2 with an undefeated record, but it will come to an end with a Panthers victory. The upper state title game will be: Batesburg-Leesville at Clinton This could be a very quick game as both teams love the running game and rightfully so. Two of the best running backs in the state will play in B-L’s Wooden, the school’s all-time leading rusher, and Clinton’s Cook. They will be toting the rock on a regular basis. Somehow, some way, the Panthers are going to come out victorious and advance to the title game. The four second-round games in the lower state are: Cheraw at Hampton County Timberland at Manning East Clarendon at Central Atlantic Collegiate at Philip Simmons These are four games that are intriguing as well but in a different fashion. Save Central – which again, didn’t win its region – each has had something to overcome. After losing three straighr games, including its first two Region 4 contests to Central and AJ, Cheraw is on a 4-game winning streak and is 7-4. Hampton had a 3-game losing streak of its own but has reeled off five straight wins to claim the Region 6 title. The losses all came to solid to strong teams in higher classes though, and the Hurricanes should be victorious. Manning, which played for the lower state title last year, started 0-2 and lost its Region 7 opener. However, the Monarchs won the rest of their region contests and are on a 6-game winning streak. Timberland is 9-2 but finished second in Region 6 after losing to Philip Simmons 22-0. This will be a slugfest between two teams who methodically run the ball and play tough defense. Manning will be victorious. East Clarendon is 9-2 but finished third in Region 7 with losses to Atlantic Collegiate and Lake City . Central is 9-1 with the lone loss coming to AJ by a 21-20 count. With the exception of a 34-27 win over Cheraw, all of the Eagles’ wins have come in blowout fashion. They will pick up their 10 th win. Atlantic Collegiate, in just its second year of football, has had something of a magical run in the second half of the season. The Armada lost its first five games, albeit against a murderous non-region schedule. However, ACA went 4-2 in Region 7 to finish second and opened with a home win over Woodland . Philip Simmons is on a 9-game winning streak after losing its first two. The Iron Horses will ground the Armada’s season. That means the quarterfinal games are: Hampton County at Manning Central at Philip Simmons Hampton County will have too much offensive firepower for the Monarchs. Central will have to make the almost 3-hour drive from Pageland to Charleston , but the trip back will be a little shorter after a victory. The lower state title game will have: Central at Hampton County Central will make an almost identical trip to Varnville to take on the Hurricanes the following week. Again, the Eagles will be celebrating on the return ride home. And your state title game will be: Batesburg-Leesville vs. Central These are two historically strong programs where their hometowns generally shut down on Friday nights. The Eagles, led by the likes of Dwayne Louallen Jr. , Ashten Wilson , Marques Allen and Taveon Moore , will be too hard for the Panthers to handle. Central will be a state champion for the first time since 2010. First Round Friday Upper State Clinton 56, North Central 7 Saluda 33, Mid-Carolina 13 Andrew Jackson 34, Ninety Six 16 Fairfield Central 50, Chesnee 21 Chester 50, Blacksburg 6 Batesburg-Leesville 42, Eau Claire 0 Strom Thurmond 49, Chesterfield 0 Liberty 35, Pelion 14 Lower State Hampton County 56, Lake City 22 Cheraw 17, Andrews 7 Manning 48, Academic Magnet 7 Timberland 46, Barnwell 8 Central 56, Kingstree 6 East Clarendon 14, Lake Marion 0 Philip Simmons 57, Whale Branch 12 Atlantic Collegiate 14, Woodland 0 Second Round November 14 Upper State Saluda at Clinton Andrew Jackson at Fairfield Central Batesburg-Leesville at Chester Liberty at Strom Thurmond Lower State Cheraw at Hampton County Timberland at Manning East Clarendon at Central Atlantic Collegiate at Philip Simmons

Chesterfield's junior Guard Marquan Blount.

Eagles have between 75-80 athletes out for spring football practice

Softball winless in first four region games; baseball starts 2-4

Caden Edmond selected to the AA All-State team

Central High's senior golfer Braelyn Oliver

Central HS senior baseball player Cooper Catoe

Coker College commitment Cade Edmond averaging double-double