By Neill Kirkpatrick Special to the HSSR Varnville – The Hampton County Hurricane football team has gone 20-5/7-1 since their inception in 2023 and like all schools they have graduated some talented players the past two years with several going to play in college so spring practice 2025 was about creating depth and finding new leaders. “Heading into spring practice we were looking to increase our eighth-grade participation and find depth throughout the lineup,” said head coach Rob Hanna. “We had a total of 66 guys participate in spring practices. With spring sports going on we were able to get in 14 practices with six being in pads. The guys worked hard and got better with each practice.” The Hurricanes will have to replace two of their leader from the past years in quarterback Chris Terry on offense and outside linebacker Mandrell Sanders on defense. “Both Chris and Mandrell did everything right for the past three years so it is tough to lose players like that from your team. They showed the commitment, drive and passion to their teammates and taught the young guys how to do it the right way,” said coach Hanna. Two juniors that are battling it out for the starting quarterback job are Tarell Grant and Jayvin Risher. They are both dynamic players that bring a different skill set to the Hurricanes offenses as they can make plays with their feet and score any time they have the ball. Grant has a strong arm and made a lot of progress during spring ball. Last season Grant had a team high 10 passes defended and made 29 tackles. “Tarell is an electric player with a totally different skill set then we had the past three years. He throws the ball very well and has the ability to take any play for a TD with his legs. He is one of the best athletes on the team,” coach Hanna said. Risher was the team’s second leading rusher last season with over 700 yards to go with 11 touchdowns. Defensively, he had 40 tackles and tied for the team lead in tackles for loss with 12. Coach said he is a true running back and the offense runs a little different when he is behind center. Wide receiver Karinton Sabb is a new weapon on the outside for the Hurricanes and he looked good during spring. Along the offensive line right tackle Ty'Quavian Jones adds depth to the offensive line while Cleavon Maxwell stood out at outside linebacker. “We are excited about this group of seniors and excited to be in year three of the program. We have been fortunate to win a lot of games in years one and two and hope we can continue to push towards being one of the best 2A programs in the state. We started a couple freshman and a lot of sophomores last season and hope that pays off for us the next couple of years,” said coach Hanna.

Hampton County girls track and field young but talented By Neill Kirkpatrick Special to the HSSR Varnville – The 2024 track and field season came to an exciting end for the Hampton County girls track and field as they rode to third place finishes and a fourth place in the relay races to finish in the top ten at sixth in the state AA meet. “We had a great finish last year at the State Meet but lost 12 Seniors who were all strong competitors. With a solid core returning, we want to keep improving and building back what we graduated,” said head coach Myrriah Hanna. “We have depth and numbers on our team. I am confident we will do well because of that.” Coach continued, “I feel like we are pretty steady across all events, but the area that has improved the most is the throws. The Hurricanes have depth as coach pointed out but they also return key runners in the sprints, middle distance and distance which will help develop the younger girls Junior Areyana Allen is back after finishing sixth in the 100 meters at the AA state meet last season when she set a new personal best of 12.56. She has already lowered her PR this year to 12.23 at the Iron Horse Stampede where she placed first. She is also the anchor of the 4x100 and runs the 200 with a personal best of 26.44. Taryn Hanna has been going to the state meet since she was an eighth grader in the 3200. The junior has become more of a middle-distance runner, running 800 and 1600 meters. She has also lowered her previous PR’s in both events; 5:44 in the 1600 and 2:34 in the 800. Freshman Chandler Gordon has been working hard since the 7 th grade to improve her 100-meter and 400-meter hurdle times and like her teammates has sent new PR’s in both events. In field events, sophomore Kya McQuire has been dominating shotput and has qualified for the Coaches Classic at Spring Valley with a put of 35.59 feet. She is also strong in disc with a toss of 101.60. A'Brionna Johnson is a sophomore, who is new this year and is one of the Hurricanes fastest girls on the team. She is running the 100-meter hurdles and has posted a time of 18.50 and runs the third leg on the 4x100. Two other newcomers are 7 th grader Mikah Taylor and 8th grader A'riyona Sanders. They have added depth in the sprinting events. Taylor runs the 100-meter hurdles and Sanders runs the 100 meters. “I have a very young team, with only five seniors graduating. These girls want to get better and always willing to step up and run an event for the team. They have been a very easy and hardworking group to coach,” said coach Hanna.

By Neill Kirkpatrick Special to the HSSR Varnville – The Hampton County Hurricanes won their second consecutive region championship in as many years as they finishes year two and the first year under new Head Coach Joshua James with a 20-6 record and 9-1 in region 5 AA. They advanced into the third round of the class AA playoffs losing in overtime to Andrew Jackson 59-54. “My style of play is more up-tempo offense and on defense I want my guys to be in your face. I think the team adjusted to my style of coaching very well and they got better every day. I’m very intense coach and I want my team to play with intensity on both ends of the court. We want to come out and win the first four minutes of the game,” said coach Jones. The Hurricanes will lose their two senior captains in Andre Williams and Joe Gittings but they will return their entire starting five. Williams and Gittings provided leadership and depth to the Hurricane lineup. Coach James returning five starter are Darius Brooks, Jaylen Singletary, Jaquan Solomon , and Desmond Mathis and forward Tyler Davis . Brooks was named to the AA all state team after averaging 17.7 points per game to lead the Hurricanes. He was second the team from behind the arc with 31 made threes. “Darius has been tremendous all year in leading the team. He can play the 1,2 or 3. He is one of the best guards in the state in my opinion,” coach Jones said. Solomon and Davis also averaged in double figures for the Hurricanes at 11.9 and 11 points per game, respectively. Solomon led the team in three’s with 50 while Davis did his damage in the paint. Davis led the team in rebounding with 93. Singletary and Mathis were demons on the defensive end for coach James as they combined for 74 steals. Singletary led the team in blocks with 8. “We are ahead of schedule with this team and we had a good year. I am excited for next year with the group I have returning but we’ll see if they are ready to put in the work to get better,” coach Jones said.

By David Shelton Senior Writer Moncks Corner – At long last, the regular season came to an end and the Class AA state playoffs are upon us. The brackets are set and the fans of the favorites are hoping to make plans in mid-December for Orangeburg and the state finals scene. Who are the favorites in AA? Is there a sleeper or two that may surprise everyone and get to the title game. Most of the time, the teams that survive the grind and reach the fifth week of the playoffs, the title game, are teams that everyone who follows the sport predicts will be there. Let’s have a little fun and handicap the AA field. My process is to list my top four teams in the Upper State bracket and top four in the Lower State, as I see it. Any team not in my top four would be considered a sleeper to make it through the bracket. But, it can be done. In the Upper State, my No. 1 team is Batesburg-Leesville . I know, shocker. The 10-0 Panthers have answered every challenge and have proven to be quite formidable. They allow seven points per game with a defense that has speed and physicality. Nearly half of the total points they have allowed in 10 games came in one game, to Abbeville, in a two-point win. Abbeville is the top-ranked team in Class A and their coach , Jamie Nickles , is a believer. “They are certainly capable of winning the state championship,” he said. Running back Amadre Wooden and quarterback Tanner Watkins are a solid one-two punch offensively. Wooden has rushed for more than 1,500 yards and Watkins has passed for more than 1200 yards. My No. 2 pick to win the Upper State is Clinton. The 7-2 Red Devils have lost only to Woodruff and Daniel. Each of those teams has just one loss this season. The tough non-region schedule makes me feel the Red Devils are battle-tested for close, big games. Quarterback Tashawan Richardson makes it all go for the offense with James Cook adding a major threat in the run game. My No. 3 pick in the Upper State is Fairfield Central . The Griffins lost their season opener to Ridge View and have won nine straight games since. The scouting report needs just one word – speed. The Griffins can run and are explosive. Running back Tydarion Grier has gained more than 1.400 yards and averages 9.3 yards per carry. And, my No. 4 is Saluda . The Tigers’ only loss came to Batesburg-Leesville and they would love another shot at their region rivals. Saluda is another of the top defensive teams in AA and defense wins championships. Tahe your pick as the favorite in the Lower State cause several teams have a shot. My No. 1 going in is Barnwell . While not flashy or dominant, the Warhorses are solid and athletic. Senior Cameron Austin is a great leader at quarterback and if they have success on the ground, game over. No. 2 is Barnwell rival Hampton County . Again, the Hurricanes run the football and have good solid play at quarterback. They made a good run a year ago and I think their confidence level is high. The last two favorite picks are difficult and I ended up with three teams for two spots. At No. 3 I am going with Cheraw . The 8-2 Braves are not great at anything but very solid at most. Running back Cam McClendon is a threat to score from anywhere and the defense gets after it pretty good. For No. 4, I am sharing the spot between Manning and Philip Simmons . Manning has just one loss, the season opener to Crestwood, but their schedule and region was not overly difficult.  Philip Simmons went undefeated in a tougher region and seems to be peaking at the right time. The Iron Horses have a veteran quarterback and they really play hard on defense. Class AA state playoff first-round pairings Upper State Pelion at Clinton Strom Thurmond at Chester Columbia at Batesburg-Leesville Andrew Jackson at Liberty Chesterfield at Fairfield-Central Ninety Six at Chesnee Landrum at Central Mid-Carolina at Saluda Lower State Academic Magnet at Barnwell Lake City at Timberland Edisto at Cheraw Andrews at East Clarendon North Central at Manning Woodland at Hampton Co. Mullins at Philip Simmons Kingstree at Whale Branch

By Neill Kirkpatrick Special to the HSSR Varnville - The Hampton County Hurricanes came into the 2024 season with a lot of unknowns as coach Rob Hanna had a young, inexperienced but talented group of players that just needed to get game experience. “At the beginning of the year, we were so young and inexperienced, but I feel as the year has gone on, we have rotated guys in and due to injuries, certain guys have had to step up and play significant snaps or change roles and it has allowed us to build depth at different positions, especially on the OL and DL,” coach Hanna said. The six-ranked Hurricanes grew up in a hurry as they won their first four contest of the year including knocking off AAAA Bluffton 14-7. After dropping a tough game to AAAA Hilton Head they went 3-1 in region 5AA losing only to region champ Barnwell in tightly contested game. Next up is the AA playoffs and a familiar foe in the Woodland Wolverines. Woodland (7-3,3-2) comes into the as the third-place team from region 6AA. Last season these two teams were in the same region with Hampton County winning in dominating fashion 66-0. The teams match up evenly with Hampton County averaging 31.9 points per game to Woodlands 29.3 while Woodland gives up 15.4 points per game to Hampton County’s 18.3. They had two common opponents in Colleton County and Whale Branch and both defeated them soundly. Each had an extra week to get ready for the playoffs, however, coach Hanna was not a big as it will be three weeks since his team has played. Coach told the HSSR, “It was not really that important, we had a week 10 bye already so an extra week actually hurts us more than helps us because we have had a long layoff. But we will be ready at game time.” When asked what his team needed to do to make another deep run in the playoffs coach replied, “Not let Hampton County beat Hampton County. We always believe we are in control of what we do in a game and determine the outcome. We need to prevent explosive plays on defense and make teams drive on us and on offense we need prevent turnovers, be patient and take what the other team gives us.” Senior quarterback Chris Terry has been his usual steady handed self, passing for 702 yards and 9 touchdowns while rushing for another 223 yards and three scores. He is also the Hurricanes punter averaging 34.3 yards. Junior Jaylen Singletary and sophomore Jayvin Risher have led the ground game rushing for 996 yards and 643 yards respectively. Singletary has rushed for 10 touchdowns and has caught four passes of which three have gone for scores. Defensively, he has 37 tackles, two picks and a fumble recovery. He also averages 17 yards per punt return. Risher has scored 9 touchdowns but he has also spent a lot of time in the other teams backfield as he is second on the team tackles for loss with 10, sacks three and quarterback hurries with 11. He has 37 total tackles. Terry’s top targets have been junior Tarell Grant and sophomore Jordan Bovain . Bovain leads the team in both receptions and yards with 14 and 247 while Grant has 13 catches for 157 yards. Grant has a team high 8 passes defended. The offensive line has been led by senior left tackle TJ Wright . He has mentored his young teammates in sophomores in right tackle Charles Williams , left guard Javon Holmes and right guard Cautey Taylor and freshmen Cleavon Maxwell . This group has gotten better each week. On the defensive side of the ball two-time All-State player Mandrell Sanders has been his dominating self all year and teams have run away from him all year. Despite that he leads the in tackles with 69, tackles for loss 10.5 and sacks 6.5. He has also seen time on the offensive side of the ball rushing for 98 yards and passing for 79 yards. Sophomore Malik Terry has been one of the young players that has gotten better every week and is second on the team in tackles with 57. He has 45 solo tackles and six tackles for loss. Tyler Davis , a junior, has been a ballhawk leading the Hurricanes in interceptions with four to go with one fumble recovery. He also has 29 total tackles. Junior Braydon Blake has stepped up his game. The linebacker is third on the team in tackles with 56. The winner of the Hampton County/ Woodland contest will take on the winner of the Manning/ North Central game. Manning is the region 7AA champion while North Central is the fourth team out of region 4AA