David Crane era set to begin for Belton-Honea Path football
Bears open season at home against T;L. Hanna on August 21
Honea Path – The Belton-Honea Path High School football program will be beginning a new era when it opens the 2026 season on August 21 at home against T.L. Hanna.
It will be the Bears’ first game under the guidance of veteran head coach David Crane. He takes over from Russell Blackston, who was relieved of his duties following an altercation with Oceanside Collegiate Academy at the conclusion of last year’s AAA state championship game loss.
Crane, who was hired in February after the position came open in December, came to Belton-Honea Path after spending the past seven seasons at Seneca. Crane’s best season with the Bobcats came last year when they went 10-2 and beat Lancaster in the opening round of the AAAA state playoffs before falling to A.C. Flora in the second round.
Crane was 43-39 at his alma mater.
Prior to taking the Seneca position, Crane was the head coach at Greenville for five years. Crane was 27-31 at Greenville, but went 11-2 and won the Region 1-AAAA championship in 2017.
Crane, who stqrted his head coaching career at Southeast Whitfield in Dalton, Georgia, is just the third head coach for the Bears since 1999.
He inherits a program that is the 2-time defending AAA upper state champion. going 27-3 during that time frame.
The Bears were undefeated entering last year’s title game against Oceanside Collegiate before losing 28-7. It was the second consecutive season in which Belton-Honea Path lost in the championship game to Oceanside College.
In the postgame handshake, a brawl broke out between the two teams. Blackston was relieved of his duties a few days later.
During his 15 years in charge of the Belton-Honea Path program, Blackston compiled a 147-45 record. The Bears were 50-6 in his last four years, winning at least 10 games each season. Belton-Honea Path had four other seasons in which it won at least 10 games under Blackston.
BHP WILL COMPETE IN NEW AAA REGION
While the Belton-Honea Path athletic teams will still be in AAA following the South Carolina High School League’s biannual reclassification, they will be competing in a completely new region.
The Bears will be part of the 6-school Region 2 with each of the other five schools being new region foes. The other Region 2 schools are Emerald, Legacy Early College, Palmetto, Powdersville and Wren.
Legacy Early College will not play football.
