By WORTHY EVANS HSSR Contributing Writer Columbia - For the Fairfield Central football team Friday night, there was nothing better to get over a season-opening shutout loss on the road than coming home and getting a shutout win over a traditional opponent. The Griffins made a switch up at quarterback, enabling junior Kamauri Jones to play most of the snaps under center, while senior Kaden Diggs lined up as a receiver and made an impact at that position. Jones was 8-for-17 for 194 yards, a touchdown and an interception, and Diggs made 3 catches for 81 yards and a score as Fairfield Central shut out Union County 35-0 at E.K. McLendon Stadium Friday night. Dre Walker , who caught a short pass from Kenyon Douglas and raced it to the end zone to complete a 52-yard touchdown pass play, had four catches for 104 yards on the night. The Griffins’ 124 rushing yards on 42 attempts pushed their total yards number to 318. The win puts the Griffins’ 40-0 shutout at 5A Ridge View Aug. 22 in the rear-view mirror. “We were able to bounce back. Last week was probably one of the worst losses we’ve had since I’ve been here. We’ve been shut out a couple of times but I can’t remember the last time,” head coach Demetrius Davis said. “The kids bounced back. We’ve still got a couple of kids who’ve been out, (senior linebacker) Doug McLeod’s out, our (senior) starting left tackle Marley Swaby is out, but hopefully we can get them back in a couple of weeks.” Union (0-2) finished the night with 167 total yards, with 51 yards on the ground and 116 through the air. Fairfield Central limited the Yellow Jackets’ offense to 14 rushing yards in the first half and zero passing yards in the second half. Fairfield Central (1-1) stopped Union at midfield in the opening series, then needed only one play to get on the scoreboard. Quarterback Kenyon Douglas was the first of four Griffins under center in the game, and his first play was a pass in the flat to Dre Walker , who turned on the jets and completed the 52-yard touchdown pass play at the 9:22 mark of the first quarter. Later, Union knocked out a 14-play drive that only went 25 yards and ended then the Yellow Jackets turned the ball over on downs. The Griffins needed just three plays to go up double digits. Kamauri Jones took the field as quarterback and hit Kaden Diggs in the end zone from 34 yards out with 1:20 left in the first quarter. Early in the second Diggs scored on a 7-yard touchdown run. Jones connected with Ty’Quarius Shannon for the 2-point conversion to make it 21-0. The Griffins struck again when Douglas rumbled into the end zone on a bootleg to make it 28-0 midway through the second quarter. Union knocked out a quick drive in the final minute of the half, moving to the Fairfield Central 10-yard line with 4.4 seconds left. Yellow Jackets quarterback Qa Brannon fired at frequent target Myson grant in the end zone, but Grant dropped the ball and the teams broke for the locker room. After a scoreless third quarter, Douglas scored his second touchdown of the night on a 2-yard run early in the fourth quarter. Diggs rushed for 697 yards and 12 touchdowns and threw for 736 yards and three scores as the Griffins went 12-2 and reached the upper state final last year. Moving Diggs to wide receiver not only showed the athleticism of the senior to play multiple positions, it also opened up the quarterback job to Jones, who completed four passes for 56 yards in 2024. “We think that Kaden Diggs does a lot to the receiving corps for us,” Davis said. “We were able to put Kamauri in there and put Kaden in at receiver and that helped out a lot. Kudos to them guys.” Fairfield Central travels to 1A C.A. Johnson—44-18 victors over Branchville last week—Friday. The Griffins play host to Lewisville Sept. 12 before going on the road to play a tough Newberry team that finished 7-4 last year and have outscored its two opponents, Union County and Mid-Carolina, 107-14. This years Griffins have a lot of talent, but need in-game experience, Davis said. The next three games should give the team lots to grow on before opening Region 4-2A against Mid-Carolina Oct. 3. “We’ve got a lot of young kids, a lot of ninth graders,” Davis said. “No.27 ( Martez Harrison ) is a ninth grader, No.14 ( Calen Kulp ) is a ninth grader, and they played well for us tonight. We’ve just got a lot of young men that don’t have a lot of Friday night experience. If we can get these kids better each week, hopefully we can be able to make some noise come region.” Union County 0 0 0 0 – 0 Fairfield Central 13 15 0 7 – 35 First Quarter F - Dre Walker 52 pass from Kenyon Douglas (Sidney Wilson kick) 9:22 F - Kaden Diggs 34 pass from Kamauri Jones (kick failed) 1:20 Second Quarter F - Diggs 7 run (Ty’Quarius Shannon pass from Jones) 10:21 F - Douglas 12 run (Wilson kick) 5:33 Fourth Quarter F - Douglas 3 run (Wilson kick) 10:32 UC FC First Downs 10 18 Rushes-yds 23-51 42-124 Passing yds 116 194 Att-Com-Int 29-9-1 19-9-1 Fumbles-lost 1-1 0-0 Penalties-yds 5-31 9-71 Punts-avg 3-27.3 2-11.0 Individual Statistics RUSHING UC - Qa Brannon 12-23, Dreshaun Mills 11-29. FC - Kenyon Douglas 21-60, Derek Cammon 10-38,Kaden Diggs 7-27, Kamauri Jones 3-(-7), Dre Walker 1-6. PASSING UC - Qa Brannon 9-29-1. FC - Kamauri Jones 8-17-1, Kenyon Douglas 1-1-0, Kaden Diggs 0-1-0. RECEIVING UC - Myson Grant 4-39, A.J. Shaw 3-54, Zion Taylor-Jenkins 2-23. FC - Dre Walker 4-106, Kaden Diggs 3-81, Ty’Quarius Shannon 1-14, Kenyon Douglas 1-(-7).

Chesterfield's junior Guard Marquan Blount.

Williamsburg Academy's Caden Morris at the FTC Jamboree.

Dutch Fork defensive end Julian Walker recorded 50 tackles, 19 TFLs, 11 sacks in the 2024 season.

By Billy G. Baker Publisher  Batesburg —The Batesburg - Leesville Panthers (18-6-1) won their first two games of the 2025 AA baseball playoffs at homes with dominating 11-1 wins over Fairfield Central and Liberty on May, 6 and May, 8 and the Panthers can now enjoy the “sit back” as they await the winner between Liberty and Buford. Liberty will host the game with Buford at 2 pm on Saturday. The winner will advance to travel to Batesburg-Leesville on Monday May, 10 needing to beat the Panthers twice in order to advance. The HSSR was on hand for the Panthers 11-1 win over Liberty, and head B-L coach Chad Bouknight shared some thoughts after the win. “We swung the bats well tonight and after we got a head they had to take their starter out, and then they had to throw some guys who had not thrown a lot, and we were able to take advantage of that,” said Coach Bouknight who played high school baseball at Batesburg-Leesville. “We are taking the rest of the season game-by-game,” said Coach Bouknight. “I still do not know how good we are. In my opinion, we have not played up to our full potential yet, and that is a good thing. We started off the season with home and home games and we spilt with them and we are proud to have won 18 games. “There are a lot of good teams in the upper state AA like Mid-Carolina, Chesnee, Clinton, Andrew Jackson, and Strom Thurmond just to name a few so we have a lot of good teams in front of us,” said Coach Bouknight. “We just need to stay focused and keep improving. “Our lead-off is right fielder Reese Boehnke (19 RBI’s/4 doubles/2 triples & 9 SB) and average wise he might be hitting what he would like, but he is a good lead-off and if gets on base he can do a lot,” said Coach Bouknight. “Then our two-hole hitter Tanner Watkins is having a great senior season (.403/ 23 RBI’s/4 doubles/2 triples/1 HR) and I wish he was a junior, because if he were, he would have a really great chance at going somewhere, and we are still hoping that he does get an opportunity, but he is a kind of late bloomer.” Watkins also plays excellent defense in center field. Coach Bouknight calls three- hole batter, shortstop Braydon Hallman , (.319/19 RBI’s/2 triples/2 HR’s) a key leader of the team, who has been on the varsity since his freshman year. “He is probably our best arm also but he has had arm issues all season,” said Coach Bouknight. Coach Bouknight said the third base position has been platooned among several players this season. Carter Bouknight and Tyler Kneece hold down the position most of the time, depending on which one is pitching. Carter is batting .298 with 8 RBI’s. Kneece has six RBI’s, six doubles and one homer. Junior Preston Smith (.333) in the Panther catcher. “Preston has done a really good job for us behind the plate this year,” said Coach Bouknight. The team’s top hitter to date is left fielder Jack Bouknight who is the team’s clean-up batter and he hitting .443 with 12 RBI’s including six doubles and three triples. “Jack is having an outstanding season for us also,” said Coach Bouknight. Gavin Parrish is the team’s designated hitter batting .344 with 8 RBI’s including four doubles. The second baseman is Landon Soper and he is batting .353 with 12 RBI’s from the 9 th hitting slot. John Sawyer is holding down first base and he bats 5 th in the line-up with a .262 average including 14 RBI’s, four doubles, and one triple. The Panthers certainly have a solid pitching staff that could give them a deep run in the AA baseball play-offs. “We will likely start Kneece or Carter Bouknight on Monday but I still need to consult with my coaches on that,” said Coach Bouknight. The top four pitchers for B-L this season, innings pitched wise, are Kneece who is 7-0 with a 0.93 ERA with 37.2 innings of work and 45 K’s. C. Bouknight who is 4-1 with 37.1 innings of mound work resulting in 47 K’s and a 2.06 ERA. Landon Soper is 1-1 in 21.2 innings of work and he has 16K’s with an ERA of 1.64. Hallman is 1-0 with 14 K’s in 15.2 innings of work and he has a 0.89 ERA. In the win over Liberty, Hallman was 2-of-2 with 2 RBI’s including a two- run homer in the first inning that put the Panthers up 3-0 after the first inning. Boehnke also had two hits and one RBI while Jack Bouknight had two hits and one RBI also. Other Panthers with one hit each against Liberty were Watkins, Soper, Kneece, Parrish and Smith. Michael Lorick scored two runs and had one RBI. Against Liberty Kneece worked 2.1 innings on the mound allowing one earned run. C. Bouknight went 3.2 innings allowing one hit and striking out three. Trey Ulmer is the head coach of Liberty. They had three hits against B-L. Junior Cade Collins had a double, senior Ed Bledsoe had a single and one RBI, and junior Carson Garrick also had a hit. Garrick came into the game leading the team in hitting at .461 while TJ Borow was at .397 and Bledsoe came in at .377. Liberty used four pitchers in the game. They were Cade Collins , Caron Garrick , Caleb Collins and Nolan Oglesby .

By WORTHY EVANS Contributing Writer Columbia – With the 2024 football season drawn to a close, several Midlands teams had much to celebrate. Region 4-5A rivals Dutch Fork and Irmo reached the two SCHSL 5A state championship games in December. The Silver Foxes celebrated their ninth state championship after beating Summerville 35-21 in the Division 1 game and Irmo fell 34-31 against Northwestern in the Division 2 game. In November SCISA power Hammond won its eighth straight state championship with a 28-21 victory over Porter Gaud in the 4A final game. Richard Winn outplayed Laurens Academy 43-6 for the 8-man state championship, its first since 2014. Other notable playoff performances include Fairfield Central , which reached the 2A upper state championship game at Clinton , and Batesburg-Leesville , which had a surprising 12-1 season following its 5-6 effort in 2023. It was the Panthers’ first winning season since 2019. Dutch Fork claims ninth state championship The Silver Foxes made the regular season and playoffs look easy. With a roster heavy with 31 seniors hardened from a difficult yet successful 2023 state title win, Dutch Fork blew through the competition, never falling behind racking up six shutouts and outscoring opponents 474-73 going into the championship game. Summerville (13-1) gave the Silver Foxes a shock in the 5A Division 1 state championship game Dec. 13 when it went up 14-6 early in the second quarter. “Just stay the course,” Tom Knotts told the team by that point. “We knew there were some things we could do and we were shooting ourselves in the foot, we were letting our emotions take over, and we did some things really I thought were uncharacteristic of the way we played this year. We played in the first half like it was our first game of the year.” Dutch Fork did get things straight. Junior quarterback Ethan Offing connected with senior Boykin Bickley for a 19-yard touchdown pass, and then found Jalen Montgomery in the end zone for the game-tying 2-point conversion. B.J. Platts later powered into the end zone from eight yards out to give the Silver Foxes a 21-14 lead at the half. Offing found Bickley again for a 20-yard touchdown pass to make it 28-14 in the third quarter. After Summerville responded with a third-quarter touchdown, Platts’ 38-yard TD run with two minutes left in the game secured the win for the Silver Foxes. “This is a very deserving senior group,” Knotts said. “I wasn’t pleased with the way we won, we played with a lot of effort and the game just got a little chippy for my liking but we did come out with a ‘W’ which is always a great thing.” Two senior defenders, Georgia Tech commit and cornerback/strong safety Elgin Sessions and South Carolina commit Josh Smith made the South Carolina Football Coaches Association’s All-Classification All-State team. Four seniors, running back Maurice Anderson , offensive lineman Cayden McFadden , defensive back Derek Smith and wide receiver K.J. Smith were selected to the 5A All-State Team. Late FG lifts Northwestern over Irmo in 5A Division 2 final Much like its crosstown rival, Irmo (12-2) breezed through the regular season under the leadership of passing and running quarterback A.J. Brand . The Virginia Tech commit passed for 2,600 yards and 21 touchdowns, and rushed for 2,029 yards and 27 touchdowns this season. The Yellow Jackets’ only slip was a 24-14 loss at Dutch Fork Nov. 8 to close out the regular season. The Yellow Jackets beat Chapin and West Florence convincingly, then hung on to beat White Knoll 29-25 to reach the 5A Division 2 championship game against unbeaten Northwestern Dec. 14. The Yellow Jackets led 17-10 after a Matthew Fish field goal early in the third quarter, but Brand ran for a touchdown to tie the game. After Irmo forced a turnover on downs, Brand rushed 20 yards for another score to put the Yellow Jackets up 24-17 early in the fourth quarter. Irmo’s first and only lead of the game was short-lived. Quarterback Finley Polk connected with Kameron Vance for two touchdowns to take a 31-24 lead with about four minutes to go. Brand, who finished the night 12-for-17 in passing for 151 yards and two touchdowns, and with 21 carries for 168 yards and two scores, connected with Donovan Murph for the game-tying touchdown pass in the final minute. Murph, who committed to South Carolina Jan. 2, had eight catches for 123 yards and two TDs. Unfortunately for the Yellow Jackets, Polk led the team 70 yards to the Irmo 10-yard line in that time. Fish lined up for a 27-yard field goal and hit it as time expired. “I know they hurt and I hurt also,” Coach Brand said. “We’ve got a bunch of winners. We’ve got a bunch of playmakers and our playmakers made plays. Unfortunately, we didn’t get enough stops and that early turnover. “Sometimes you get the bear and sometimes the bear gets you, and tonight was not our night and they got us at the end,” he added. “There's something to be said about going perfect all year. It is what it is. I don’t want to take anything away from them, but I wish we could get a couple of those drives back.” Murph, who had 1,328 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns on the year, made the All-Classification All State team, along with offensive lineman Ryan Love and Brand. Brand was selected for the all-purpose spot because of his passing and running for 4,629 total yards and 57 total touchdowns. Irmo reached the Division 2 championship by eliminating region rival White Knoll 29-25 Dec. 6. The Timberwolves finished the season 8-6. Defensive back Devin Geronomi made the All-Classification All-State team. Quarterback Landon Sharpe made the 5A All-State team. Hammond’s game-winning drive clinches eighth straight state championship The Hammond football team edged Porter Gaud 28-21 in the closing minute of the game Nov. 22 to claim yet another state championship, but the Skyhawks’ eighth straight state title and 22 nd in school history did not come easily. After Porter Gaud’s game-tying score and a Hammond fumble that nearly spelled disaster, the 13-0 Skyhawks made good on Andrew Turner’s 23-yard touchdown pass to Michael Tyler with 45 seconds left. “Just so proud of this group, their resilience, their fight,” Hammond head coach Jon Wheeler said after the game. “We’ve been down at halftime in three of our last four state championship games. This team is battle-tested and they rise to the occasion.” Porter Gaud tied the game at 21 on Tony Brown’s 1-yard touchdown run—the first play of the fourth quarter. The Cyclones drained the clock on that 51-yard drive, using 15 plays to tie the game with just under 12 minutes to go. Hammond lost the football on the next possession, which set Porter Gaud on the Skyhawks’ 17-yard line. Poised to take their first lead of the game, the Cyclones actually had a touchdown play shortly after taking over, but the play was called back for a holding penalty. After that flag, the Hammond defense forced Porter Gaud so far back that it had to punt from the Hammond 38. “I don’t think I’ve ever been more proud of a defense because we were outmatched up front,” Wheeler said. “I’ve got to give credit to our defense for just fighting and fighting. I’m just so proud of them.” That stand gave the break that the Skyhawks offense needed to close out the game. They went 80 yards and drained the rest of the fourth quarter on the drive. When it came time for points on the board, Wheeler said he knew what play to run. “We haven’t tried a 40-yard field goal all year. Let’s put it in the hands of our senior quarterback, our senior offense, our skill players,” he said. “Let’s see if we can hit a pass and it’s déjà vu with Mike Tyler. And if we missed it, they’ve got 40 seconds and one time out, and they’re a running team, it’d go to overtime. Mike T and Andrew made a play, the offensive line protected, and that drive was unbelievable.” It was the second straight year that a Turner-to-Tyler connection won the state championship. Hammond beat Laurence Manning 28-21 in 2023. RWA claims first state football title since 2014 Richard Winn Academy’s surprise of a season ended on a happily unsurprising note Nov. 22 with a 43-6 victory over Laurens Academy at Wyman King Academy’s football field. Senior quarterback Charlie Bonds closed out his high school career rushing for 109 yards and two touchdowns, and passing for 155 yards and two scores. As head coach Paul Brigman explained, as Charlie Bonds and his fellow seniors go, so goes the team. “It’s the leadership that we got from those senior guys most of all. Charlie Bonds has been one of our best guys,” Brigman said. “Charlie has led the team from ninth grade on and this group’s been together for a long time. They’ve been a joy to coach and so receptive to coaching and just wanting to get better. In the end it turned out like we wanted it to. It was a great win.” The Eagles (12-0) ran straight through the regular season with none of their games even close. Richard Winn’s dominance throughout the year was reminiscent of the school’s back-to-back 2A state championships in 1995-1996 under head coach David Porter . “We got the ball and scored and went from there. It’s kind of our plan the whole time,” Bonds said. “We couldn’t have done much better, I’ll say that.” Bonds led the offense throughout the year. Bonds went 52-for-69 in passing for 1,406 yards, 23 touchdowns and no interceptions, and rushing 107 times for 1,226 yards and 22 TDs. FC falls to Clinton in 2A upper state championship Fairfield Central’s drive to reach a state championship game for the first time in 27 years fell one game short. The Griffins, who won 12 straight games after a season-opening loss to 5A Ridge View, fell 32-21 to Clinton Friday night at the Red Devils’ Wilder Stadium. “If you would have told me back in May that we would have made it to the upper state championship, I would’ve looked at you like you was crazy,” 14-year head coach Demetrius Davis said about his team’s surprise year in which the Griffins caught fire early and outscored opponents 587-199 going into the Clinton game. “This team played like heck. This defense played, and let me tell you, man, I’m super proud of these kids,” Davis added. Senior running back and Shrine Bowl pick Ty’Darion Grier , who had 1,983 rushing yards and 35 touchdowns going into Friday, led Fairfield Central with 212 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries. Quarterback Kaden Diggs , who had 655 passing yards and 607 rushing yards before Friday, had a 19-yard touchdown run and 76 yards on 13 carries. B-L falls to Red Devils in 3 rd Round Although falling 31-14 to Clinton in the third round of the playoffs Nov. 29, Batesburg-Leesville celebrated a reawakening of its football team that has won five state championships. Since going 8-8 in 2019, The Panthers have won 15 out of 34 games going into the 2024 season. Greg Lawson , in his third season as head coach of Batesburg-Leesville, saw his team blossom. The Panthers showed themselves to be prolific scorers, outscoring opponents 493-21 on the year. The defense threw six shutouts. Batesburg-Leesville won the Region 2-2A championship easily, and blasted Columbia 42-6 and Andrew Jackson 49-14 in the first two rounds of the playoffs. Only Clinton, which went on to rout Barnwell 35-6 in the 2A state championship game Dec. 12, got the best of the Panthers. At 12-1, Batesburg-Leesville’s record is the best since 2013, when the Panthers went 12-2 and won the 2A state championship under Jerry Brown. RNE’s Wilson claims Mr. Football title Will Wilson , a wily and prolific quarterback who singlehandedly led Richland Northeast to an 8-4 record, was selected as the 30 th recipient of the South Carolina Mr. Football award. He is the 11 th quarterback to win the award. Wilson received the recognition at halftime of the Touchstone energy Cooperatives Bowl at Myrtle Beach’s Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium Dec. 21. Wilson, a North Carolina State signee, completed 66.7 percent of his passes, throwing for 2,482 yards and 22 touchdowns, while rushing for 1,144 yards and 20 touchdowns. He missed two games after having his knee scoped. Other finalists for the award were Westside quarterback Cutter Woods , Rock Hill wide receiver Malik Clark , Belton-Honea Path running back Marquiese Henderson , and Gaffney offensive lineman Shed Sarratt . Midlands Top 10 1. Dutch Fork (13-0, 5-0 Region 4-5A) 2. Irmo (13-2, 4-1 Region 4-5A) 3. River Bluff (10-3, 3-2 Region 4-5A) 4. Batesburg-Leesville (12-1, 5-0 Region 2-2A) 5. Fairfield Central (12-2, 4-0 Region 3-2A) 6. Hammond (13-0, 7-0 SCISA Region 4A) 7. Camden (9-3, 4-2 Region 3-4A) 8. Ridge View (8-5, 5-1 Region 5-5A) 9. Newberry (7-4, 4-0 Region 4-3A) 10. AC Flora (8-4, 4-2 Region 3-4A)