By Neill Kirkpatrick Special to the HSSR Orangeburg – In the game of football it is the skill players (QB’s, RB’s, WR’s) that are highlighted and talked about but every coach will tell you that it is who wins in the trenches, has the best chance of winning the game. The Strom Thurmond Rebels owned the trenches Saturday afternoon at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium on the campus of SC State University as they captured the schools second class AA state championship defeating the Hampton County Hurricanes 26-7. The championship was their third overall and improved their record to 3-5 in state championship game appearances. The Rebels finished the year 13-2/5-0. “This is honestly amazing. I have been doing this for long enough, I have been following the good lord long enough that I know he had a hand in this for our team. When you play Strom Thurmond Rebel football there is a brotherhood that expands beyond these young men. All the guys that came before that made Strom Thurmond football special. It was our job to continue to hold the standard,” said Rebel head coach Andrew Webb . Coach continued, “The key to us winning were the boys up front. Coach Addison did a great job of getting them ready to play. They have gotten better and they played outstanding again tonight.” The Hurricanes were in their first state championship game in just their third year of existence finished the year 11-4/4-0. “Strom Thurmond is a great football team and they were able to control the line of scrimmage. We felt all week that the team that did that would win the game and hats off to them they took it to us,” said Hampton County head coach Rob Hanna . “We also had five turnovers which is not what we do and you can’t win a game doing that against a team like Strom Thurmond. They made us pay for our mistakes.” The game started well for the Hurricanes. After their defense forced a three and out. The offense started at their 24 and moved the ball out to midfield where Jaylen Singletary ripped off a 57-yard touchdown run but the run was wiped out by an egregious penalty on the play. The flag wasn’t dropped until Singletary had reached the 10-yard line. The Canes regrouped and moved the ball down to the Rebel 24. The official’s then sent Singletary to the bench for what coach Hanna said was a mouth piece issue. It also caused a delay of game moving the ball back to the 25. On the next play Cane’s quarterback Tarell Grant took off around the left but as he neared the first down a Strom Thurmond came in with a hard tackle knocking the ball free. It was picked the Rebels Kalib Simpkins and he returned it 63 yards to the Cane’s 30. It was his first big game changing play of the game. After a holding penalty against the Rebel’s gave them a first and 20 at the Canes 40. Deonte Phillips took the hand off up the middle cut to the right and raced to the right pylon for a 40-yard touchdown run. The Rebels missed the PAT but led 6-0. The Rebel’s defense started to gain control of the line scrimmage causing a couple of penalties forcing the Cane’s into a fourth and 20. On the punt the Rebel’s ran over Cane’s punter Rafe Sullivan which liked a certain roughing the punter penalty. Somehow the official felt the hit wasn’t hard enough for the right call. The Rebel’s would take strike again when Bri’shaun Lee threw a beautiful pass down the left side that just dropped into the waiting hands of Simpkins for a 55-yard touchdown. This play was an example of why football is such a great game. Everybody on the play did their job, QB delivered the pass under pressure, the coverage was excellent, the ball was placed perfectly and the receiver finished it off. The Rebels were stopped on the two-point try but led 12-0. After Singletary had a 23-yard kickoff return to the Rebel 47. The Cane’s would move the ball to the Rebel 28 where on fourth and two Singletary was stopped for a one-yard game turning the ball over on downs. The ate of five minutes with no score. The Rebel’s took over at the their 14 and would move 86 yards in 9 plays eating up all but 24 seconds on the clock to take an 18-0 after being stopped on the two-point try, the drive was highlighted by a Lee to Simpkins 50-yard completion to the Canes’s 27. The rest of the drive was Deonte as he scored his second touchdown from the four. “Players make plays and Kaleb and Deonte have come up big for us all year,” said coach Webb. The Cane’s finally got a big play on the kick off when Tyler Davis returned 65 yards to the Rebel 10-yard line. On second down Grant hit Desmond Mathis with a 10-yard touchdown pass as time expired. Sullivan’s PAT made the score 18-7 heading into half team. The Canes would take the second half kick off and drive into Rebel territory but again the Rebel’s would turn them over on downs. The Rebels offense would had the game over to their defense after their next drive. They would drive 51 yards in 12 plays eating up almost seven minutes off the clock. Lee hit Sha Williams with a 11-yard touchdown pass. The Rebels converted the two-pointer making the score 26-7. The Rebel defense would end the next three Cane’s possessions with interceptions. Jaylen Collins would get two of the picks and Williams would and the other. Lee finished the game 5-7 for a 126 yards and two touchdowns while Phillips rushed for a game high 149 yards and two touchdowns. But the stars of the game for the Rebels were Hezekiah East , Amari McCellney , John Laster , Micah Warren, and Carter Boatwright . This group were physical from the start and they won the day for their team. The defensive front of Grayson Smith , Braylon Searles , Gardy Stone , and Kobe Windless also won the battle as they held the Canes to less than 200 yards and Singletary to 141. After the 57-yard run was called back they only allowed three runs of 10 or more yards the rest of the game. They allowed the Rebels linebackers Bryston Coleman and Mason Johnson to roam free and make tackles.

Larry Gamble HSSR, Photo Editor Orangeburg - The Class AA Championship placed Hampton County against Strom Thurmond in the cold rain at Oliver C. Dawson stadium. The Hurricanes could not outlast the Rebels as they took the state runner up trophy home after the 26-7 defeat.

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

Hampton County Senior Jaylen Singletary has rushed for 1555 yards and 24 touchdowns so far this season.

By Neill Kirkpatrick Special to the HSSR Varnville – The Hampton County Hurricanes had just dropped their third game in a row to Christ Church 40-35 and while they played a solid game against a quality opponent head coach Rob Hanna was frustrated with his team because of their lack of discipline and attention to detail. The Canes got the message as they ran over their region opponents by a combined score of 211 -12 to secure the top spot in region 5 AA and earn the right to host the first two rounds of the playoffs. “I feel like after our loss to Christ Church , the focus and preparation of the players has been much better,” said coach Hanna. “We had some new starters that hadn't had a lot of game experience but I feel they are caught up now.” Coach continued, “Anytime you get to host two playoff games, bring excitement for the postseason and we hope we can stay healthy, continue to improve and obviously get a little luck go our way and maybe make a long run to after Thanksgiving and into early December.” The Canes finished the regular season at 7-3 with the three losses coming against teams that will host first round playoff games and a combined record of 24-6. Coach Hanna feels those teams are the type of teams you face the further you go in the playoffs and he wanted his squad to be prepared for the challenge. One of the main reason for the Cane’s success has been the play of the offensive and defensive lines. They have controlled the line of scrimmage each with the offensive line paving the way for over 2900 yards on the ground. That road grading group of junior left tackle Charles “CJ” Williams , and sophomore left guard Cleavon Maxwell where the only two retuning starters. They were joined by first year starters senior center Hunter Lawson , junior right tackle Ty'Quavian Jones and sophomore right guard Jayden Frazier. Senior Jazmir Goines along with Williams and Maxwell have been very good at holding the line of scrimmage. Seniors, linebacker Malik Terry, and safety Tyler Davis have been solid in run support as they are two of the team’s top tacklers with 76 and 58, respectively. “They are a group that takes pride of being the most physical group on the field on Fridays. Also, with only 1 senior, a 10-game season goes a long way to the development of a unit when they are young, “ said coach Hanna. Senior Jaylen Singletary has been the major beneficiaries of the play of the offensive line as he has rushed for 1555 yards and 24 touchdowns. He is a very patent runner, who can reach max speed in two steps. He has been all state the past two years, once on defense and once on offense. Quarterback Tarell Grant has been a dual threat all year. He has thrown for 676 yards and 10 while rushing for 496 yards and another five scores. He had two runs of over 50 yards against Christ Church. On defense, he, and Singletary form one of the best cornerback combos in the state. Seniors Karinton Sabb and Desmond Mathis have been Grants top targets, each with 14 receptions for over 250 yards and four touchdowns. Mathis has also rushed for 205 yards and another four scores. The Hurricanes opened the playoff s with a 56-22 win over Lake City. Singletary led the way with 279 yards rushing and five touchdowns. The Cane’s will host Cheraw a 17-7 winner over Andrews.

Christ Church head coach Quin Hatfield.

Bulffton QB Aedan McCarthy led the Bobcats to a 31-7 win over Hampton County.

Chesterfield's junior Guard Marquan Blount.