Cornelius happy with East Clarendon’s start

Dennis Brunson • October 6, 2024

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By Dennis Brunson

hssr.com Associate Editor

Turbeville – The East Clarendon High School athletic program is making its second foray in school history into the AA classification. It’s been so far, so good for the football program, according to head coach Larry Cornelius.

“I feel like we’re in a good spot right now,” said Cornelius, whose team was off to a 4-2 overall start and was 1-1 in Region 7. “We lost to Manning (15-12) on special teams play. We’ve been very competitive, competitive in all of our games. We’re still trying to take it one game at a time.”

East Clarendon moved up from Class A after the South Carolina High School League’s biannual reclassification. It became a member of Region 7 with Manning and Lake City, who came down from AAA, AA holdovers Kingstree, Marion and Mullins and SCHSL newcomer Atlantic Collegiate Academy.

East Clarendon opened region play against the two former AAA schools, Lake City and Manning. The Wolverines topped Lake City 28-12 before falling to Clarendon County School District rival Manning. The Monarchs won the game on a 68-yard punt return for a touchdown by Jeffery Ceasar with 5:55 remaining in the game.

East Clarendon was off on October 4. It was to play host to Kingstree on October 11 before traveling to Mullins on October 18. It is scheduled to play at home against ACA on October 25 before closing the regular season at Marion on November 1.

The Wolverines returned 10 of 11 starters on defense, and it hasn’t disappointed.

“I thought our run defense would be good and we've proven that case to be the case,” said Cornelius, who led East Clarendon to a 5-6 record and its first playoff victory in years last season. “We’ve only had one game where they ran the ball good on us (a 21-20 loss to Lakewood). The surprise for me is the play of our pass defense. That was a problem last year, we’re allowing around 50 yards a game in that area.”

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By David Shelton • July 30, 2025

By David Shelton Senior Writer Charleston – First Baptist School has new leadership within its football program and athletic department for the coming 2025-26 school year. Kevin Mapp was hired as the new head football coach in the early spring and Jay Godbolt was hired as the new athletic director at the start of the summer. Mapp has extensive coaching experience on both the college and high school levels while also working in law enforcement. First Baptist is his first head coaching position. Mapp last coached defensive linemen at James Island Charter High and has had coaching stints at James Madison, Hampden-Sydney, Georgetown, Marshall, Missouri State and Coastal Carolina. Mapp graduated from James Madison and was a defensive lineman on the 2004 Division I-AAA (now FCS) national championship team. “Coaching has always been my passion,” Mapp said. “Ever since I was playing, I wanted to be a coach. I have always found a way to coach while working in law enforcement. I’ve been fortunate to have had the opportunities to do both.” Mapp has been with the Charleston County police department for the last 10 years. He took some time away from coaching to start a family. “I felt like First Baptist was the perfect fit for me and my family,” Mapp says. “It’s a great opportunity at a great place. The kids here work hard and there is a lot of support from the administration. I’m excited to be the head football coach at First Baptist.” Mapp has hired coordinators on both sides of the ball. Will McCombs , once the head coach of the program, will call the offensive plays. Chris Hart comes over from James Island as the defensive coordinator. “Our numbers are improving and the kids are working hard,” Mapp said. “I feel like we can be a competitive team. It’s year one of the building process.” Godbolt has been a coach and athletic director in the Charleston area for nearly two decades. As the boys basketball coach at Charleston Collegiate, Godbolt coached three state championship teams. He also has been a coach and athletic director at Lowcountry Leadership Academy. Godbolt has more than 450 career victories as a head basketball coach. Current First Baptist basketball coach Antoine Saunders was Godbolt’s assistant at Charleston Collegiate.