the 2026 Touchstone Energy Bowl will be played on Saturday, December 12, at Myrtle Beach High School’s Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium with the kickoff at noon.

By WORTHY EVANS Contributing Writer Columbia - With Gray Collegiate Academy’s volleyball team entering the second half of Region 4-AAAAA play, the War Eagles (18-4, 5-0) are in the driver’s seat for a region title, provided they can hold off Blythewood (11-11, 4-1).  “We’re rolling around this time of year, in the second half of region play,” head coach Shonda Wallace said. “We’re looking to finish strong.” Gray last won a championship in 2023, back when the War Eagles were at the AA classification. Now in AAAAA, the War Eagles are excelling. The team lost Courtney Burgess , who now plays at Virginia Tech , and two other seniors. Burgess had 219 kills (3.3 kills per set), 57 blocks and 53 aces last year as the team went 22-5 and a second-place (13-1) finish in Region 4-AAAA. While Burgess left, five out of six starters returned and, with two transfers, have brought the program to a higher level. “Fans will always wonder if we’re as good (without Burgess) because we lost an impact player,” Wallace said. “But I think we’re just as good if not better with our returners and transfers. We’re playing really well together.” The team showed its togetherness early. Gray started the season using a 6-2 offense (two setters, back row only; six hitters) until one of the setters, sophomore Ela Perez , broke her arm. The War Eagles had to return to a 5-1 offense (one setter; universal) with senior Colby Branham as the setter and didn’t miss a beat “She’s used to running the 5-1 from league volleyball and a lot of the girls were used to playing in that offense,” Wallace said. “She’s our setter, and setters don’t get a lot of the glory but they do a lot of the work. They’re the ones who touch the ball every single time. Branham is getting close to 1,000 career assists since becoming a starter in 2025, with 806 as of Oct. 2. Middle hitters Sadie Williamson , a sophomore, and junior Olivia Ford provide a dynamic boost as well as hitting efficiency. Williamson has 96 kills to Ford’s 95, and Ford has 35 blocks to Williamson’s 32. Junior Libero Haylen Lawson battled injuries last year but has played steady, with a team-leading 206 digs to go with 22 aces and 43 assists. Junior Emily Burgess , Courtney’s sister, is a jack-of-all trades on the court. She has 126 kills, a team-leading 163 rotation points, 243 service attempts, 154 digs, and 246 service receptions. “She does everything for us,” Wallace said. “She has to hit, serve, play defense, and she does all of it well.” Junior transfer Peyton Capps , who leads the team in kills with 163 and has 12 blocks, 92 digs and 151 service receptions, provides an extra punch in the lineup. “She is a super dynamic offensive player,” Wallace said. “Really solid for us and adds to the culture.” Senior outside hitters Brianna Jones (31 kills, 29 blocks) and Sasha Hughes (23 kills, 12 blocks) have come into their own this year. “Brianna’s a 6-footer and right-side attacker, and I enjoy seeing the strides she has made,” Wallace said. “She embodies what the right side does, she has to block at the net and she has to put the ball away.” Hughes, who has been on Wallace’s teams since she was a freshman. “She was an integral part in the 6-2 offense, but when the team had to go back to the 5-1, she had to take a lesser role,” Wallace said. “It’s just the way the offense had to change. She has been extremely patient and learned to be OK with her new role, which is when we need her on the court as an offensive threat. She has been such a good teammate through it all.” With just a few games left in the season, Wallace appreciates the team’s focus at this point in region play. “Our goal from the beginning of the year was to win region, but it’s a game-by-game process,” she said. “we’re playing our best volleyball of the season and we’re working to solidify all of our goals that we wanted to reach by the end of the season.”

South Carolina has another outstanding staff coaching our 2026 Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas Sandlapper team.

Dutch Fork senior QB Jaxon Knotts returns after passing the 2,000-yard mark last season.

Charles (Chaz) Breland of Class A Bamberg-Ehrhardt is the only kicker/punter on the publication’s 2027 Top 100 Football Prospects list.

Gray Collegiate’s Jack Armstrong (6-2, 265), a Citadel commit, plays on the offensive line as well, and had 37 tackles, eight for loss, two sacks and three hurries for the War Eagles in 2025.

James Island junior wide receiver Raphael Suiu with the reception against Gray Collegiate Academy.

By WORTHY EVANS Contributing Writer Columbia – Gray Collegiate Academy head football coach De’Angelo Bryant didn’t waste time talking about Chambers, N.C.’s 50-21 win over the War Eagles in the season opener Aug. 21. “They killed us,” Bryant said. “They did a good job with extended plays and once they got us to a point where their offense was on the field longer than we were. They did a good job of sustaining drives and taking big chunks of the field.” The Cougars put up 478 rushing yards and five touchdowns on the ground, and a whopping 637 yards of total offense. Gray only mustered 60 total rushing yards, but sophomore quarterback Xavier Wright had a decent passing night, going 16-for-30 for 216 yards and a touchdown. He had two interceptions. Wright, who passed for 2,202 yards and 28 touchdowns to eight interceptions in his freshman year, returned under center after having limited practice since sustaining an off-field injury over the summer “He’s not really taken any snaps in a month and a half, and last week he was shaking off the rust,” Bryant said. "He made plays throughout the course of the game, and in time he’ll be able to do all of the different things to be successful.” Bryant added that Wright is working hard to avoid a literal sophomore slump. “It’ one of the hardest things to avoid,” he said. “But he’s still humble and still hungry. A wonderful young man.” Wright connected with the team’s top receiver, senior Corey Gleaton , eight times for 142 yards and a touchdown. Gleaton had 52 catches for 1,243 yards and 12 TDs last year. Last week the War Eagles notched a 27-0 shutout over River Bluff. Trevon Williamson had 227 yards and two touchdowns on 28 carries, and Xavier Wright was 8-for-17 in passing for 140 yards and a touchdown. Royce Williamson had three catches for 54 yards and a score, and Gleaton caught a 54-yarder. The schedule isn’t getting easier. With the Gators game in the books, this week Gray Collegiate faces Lowcountry power James Island (1-0) which reached the AAAAA lower state championship game last year. Besides Wright working hard at getting his play back on track, Bryant said the offensive line is a little banged up, but the team as a whole is dedicated to getting better game by game. “It’s one of those deals where we don’t use the word ‘losing,’ we use the word ‘learning.’” He said. “We’re trying this week and every week to focus on us and not our opponents: to do the things we can do to get better. This week (preparing to face River Bluff) the guys have responded well. We’ve changed a couple of different things and we practiced a lot of high-pressure situations this week as well.” Next on the schedule comes Spartanburg academy Mountain View Prep Sept. 11, defending AAAA defending lower state champion South Florence Sept. 18, and defending AAAAA state champion Dutch Fork Sept. 25 to round out the non-Region 4-AAAAA slate. “That’s a really good James Island football team coming to us, and we’re looking at a coming rivalry between us and Mountain View, and then Dutch Fork. The next three weeks are going to be a great opportunity to challenge us before we get into the region.” In getting through the season, Bryant said he is glad to have this bunch of War Eagles rather than any other team. “We have a great group of young men. When you talk to the character of the team, it’s no question,” he said. “Some teams have better athletes and more stars, but I wouldn’t trade these guys for the world. They’ve seen every challenge and they are just as eager to win.”

De'Angelo Bryant says this about his team and losing 16 seniors from last year's team, "I really like our guys. From a talent standpoint, there’s still some holes, but I think our guys will fill them.”