Hanahan Hawks
Daniel senior Jace Grass delivers a pass behind the protection of junior Koda Crocker.
Hanahan junior QB Tripp Gallus (6-5, 230) having strong early season results this year.
Kingstree senior QB Randy McFadden scored the Blazers final TD in 48-20 loss to Hanahan. Photo courtesy of Cyril Samonte.
Hanahan High School running back Nevaehus Gourdine (right) scores on a short touchdown run while Hawks quarterback Tripp Gallus (2) celebrates.
By Rob Gantt Special to the HSSR HANAHAN - Two Berkeley County football programs locked horns in a controlled scrimmage Thursday, Aug. 6, and both team's leaders came away somewhat pleased with what they saw. Hanahan coach Milan Turner and Stratford coach Dennie McDaniel were less concerned with the scoreboard and more focused on the small things as the Hawks and Knights battled on the turf at Hanahan's Hawk's Nest facility by Bowen's Corner Elementary. "I'm very pleased with our effort," McDaniel said. "Our attitude has to get a bit better. We had some plays where we broke down in some stuff. We've just got to get out of our feelings and play the next play. That's a young team for you. We've got some maturing to do. We'll do that in the early part of the season. Overall, I thought it was a pretty good performance for a young team." The Class 5A Knights are replacing quite a few starters off a squad that won 10 games and advanced to the third round of the playoffs in 2025. The Knights figure to be able to build around their front seven on defense. Offensively they were hit hard by graduation, though. In terms of returning impact players, the Class 3A Hawks are in a better situation on offense. They bring back a three-year starter at quarterback in big junior lefty Tripp Gallus (6-5, 231). A few other playmakers are back, too, including receivers Grayson Mathes and Quamel Grant . Turner's bunch finished 6-6 in 2025. "For me, I want to see a physicality and a toughness from our kids," Turner said about the first scrimmage. "I told them before we started. I said be violent between the whistles. We know they're going to make some mistakes and obviously we want to try to minimize those. We want to see things like running to the football, all the things that don't take talent. Those are the things I have to see. If I don't see those, we've got a lot of work to do. I feel like we saw that." During Hanahan's opening set of offensive plays, Gallus hooked up with Mathes for an 81-yard touchdown pass on a tunnel screen and Grant over the middle for an 80-yard scoring strike. Stratford defensive lineman Kermit Davis got the Knights on the board with a sack and fumble return for a tally. When the situational scrimmage moved to red zone work, Knights running back Malachi Breland reached paydirt twice, while quarterbacks Dathan Haywood and Caleb Lott tossed touchdowns to Denzel Lazo and Jayden Lee. The Hawks recorded three scores from the red zone, with running back Xavier Sabback scoring on the ground and Gallus distributing his third and fourth touchdown tosses to Jesiah Smith and Evan Knight. During goal-line possessions, which capped the scrimmage, Breland crossed the goal line for the third time and Haywood hooked up with Tyrese Simmons for a score. Sabback capped the scoring for the Hawks with a touchdown run out of the wildcat formation. Earlier, Stratford defensive back Jayden Judge and Hanahan safety Landon Hubler snagged interceptions. Mathes snuffed out Stratford's first drive with a pick in the end zone. The Hawks host Cane Bay Friday, Aug. 14, in a scrimmage. "Now, it's about shrinking the amount of mistakes," Turner said. "We've got tape of this. We want to identify those mistakes: what were mental errors, what were physical errors and what did us as coaches do. Maybe it was us that didn't put our kids in position to be successful." Stratford suits up in the Moncks Corner Lions Club jamboree Aug. 14 at Berkeley High School. "It's going to be a quick opportunity for us," McDaniel said. "We've only got two quarters but we want to make it as game-like as possible. I want to see us clean up the silly penalties and get better at just playing the next play."
By Rob Gantt Special to The HSSR HANAHAN - Making solid contact at the plate and, with it, winning games has become contagious for Hanahan High School's softball team. The Hawkettes completed a dominant run through the district tournament Wednesday, May 13, with a 10-0 victory over visiting Georgetown High School . Hanahan took control from the outset, plating eight runs in the bottom of the first inning. The Hawkettes, who won for the 11th time in 12 games, finished off the victory by mercy rule with single runs in the fourth and fifth innings. "We've been talking about it since Friday, that we need to get right on it from the start," Hanahan coach Katrina Bezdek said. "I think it took us a little bit more time in our other games because we hadn't played for a while. Now that we're playing more consistently, they were really fired up. They jumped on it first thing." The Hawkettes, who have tallied 60 runs in their past five games, recorded six hits in their initial set of hacks. Infielder Camryn Fowler sparked the scoring with a RBI single. After going up 3-0 on a wild pitch and fielder's choice groundout, Hanahan pitcher Maggie Priddy dropped a RBI single into shallow right field to make it 4-0. Outfielder Briar Mros and infielder Dria Tolbert then connected on two-run triple to make the home team's advantage a very comfortable 8-0. "That first inning, it felt like it was everyone pretty much," Bezdek said. The uprising was plenty of run support for Priddy, who hurled a one-hitter for the Hawkettes with five strikeouts. "We decided to go with Maggie because they hadn't seen her yet, and I thought she threw really, really well," Bezdek said. "She was hitting her spots. She was moving the ball, and then our defense backed her up." First baseman Aubrey Cribb singled in Hanahan's ninth run in the bottom of the fourth inning and Tolbert ended the game with a RBI double in the fifth inning. Mros, Tolbert and Riley each collected two hits for Hanahan. Mros scored three times from the leadoff spot. The Hawkettes also blanked Marlboro County (14-0) and cruised by Georgetown (12-5) in their first two district games. The postseason district title was the eighth for Bezdek. Hanahan (19-6) hosts Dillon High School in the first game of the Lower State tournament Friday, May 15. "It feels like every year we play Dillon," Bezdek said. "They're always good competition. The way we're playing right now, I feel like our confidence is growing. That's going to be the key going into the next round." Dillon secured its district crown with a 3-0 win over Waccamaw Wednesday. The Wildcats (14-12) also knocked off Battery Creek (8-0) and Silver Bluff (9-6) in their district.
By Rob Gantt Special to The HSSR HANAHAN - Gratification delayed is certainly better than gratification denied. The Hanahan Hawks baseball team needed a second game May 11 to finally put away Aynor High School , 10-6, for the district championship in the Class 3A playoffs at HHS. Following Aynor's 6-3 victory in game one that forced a decisive clash, Hanahan came out hot in game two. The Hawks erupted for five runs in the bottom of the first, then added a single run in the second inning and added four more in the bottom of the third inning to seize control. "It's been a long day for sure," Hanahan coach Skylar Hunter said. "I've been out here since 8 a.m., doing field work the whole time. And we lose game one, and really lose it in a way where we gave them a bunch of free passes. They didn't find a lot of barrels. We gave them a bunch of runs from errors, passed balls and walks." In game two, the Hawks came out and swung the bats like they were supposed to, Hunter said. "I'm just proud of them for competing," he said. Hanahan (16-14) loaded the bases in its first at-bat and infielder Richard Atencio delivered a two-run single to right field to open the scoring. Outfielder Tripp Gallus , who reached on a bunt single earlier, scored on a wild pitch to make it 3-0. Hanahan pitcher Chris Polm kept the uprising going and helped himself with a two-run home run through the wind to left field as the lead grew to 5-0. That was plenty of run support for Polm, who earned the win on the mound. The hard-throwing righty hurled three one-hit innings with seven strikeouts. He only threw 59 pitches so he is available to pitch Thursday at Dillon if the Hawks opt to use their ace. In the second inning, Atencio's bases-loaded walk gave the Hawks a 6-0 lead. In the third, RBI singles off the bats off Brendan Moll and Gallus, and a two-run double from Will Muirheid made it 10-0. "It's easy for young teams to fold and they didn't fold at all," Hunter said. "They kept working, kept fighting, kept grinding and got the job done." Aynor (21-7) continued to battle, though, and refused to go away. The Blue Jackets plated four runs in the top of the fifth inning to avoid being mercy ruled, then tallied single runs in the sixth and seventh innings. "I want to make sure I give props to Aynor," Hunter said. "They're a very good team and very well-coached. They're a tough matchup for us every time we play them." Gallus, Atencio, Muirheid and Moll collected two hits each for the Hawks. Outfielder Layton Suggs and infielder Brady Lavin led Aynor with two hits in game two and third baseman Heath Huggins knocked in two runs. In game one, designated hitter Nolyn Nickels ,Gallus and Atencio had two hits for the Hawks. Atencio drove in two runs. Outfielder Xavier Dukes powered Aynor, going 3-for-3 with two doubles and a RBI. Suggs and Lavin chipped in two hits.
Aynor and Belton-Honea Path high schools have played for the last two AAA softball state championships, could this year be the tie breaker?
The Bengals held on for a wild, 7-6 victory to capture the Steadman Division title in the annual HIT tournament.
By WORTHY EVANS Contributing Writer LEXINGTON — The 3A state championship streak for the West - Oak wrestling team continues after a 54-15 victory over Hanahan Wednesday night at the Lexington High School gym. The Warriors overcame two early Hanahan pins to secure the school’s fifth straight state wrestling championship and 10 th since 1994. They finished 33-1. “We knew they were tough down low, so we knew we had to get through a few early matches,” White-Oak head coach Derek Strobel said. “Then we got to the main part of our lineup with our guys. Give credit to Hanahan, they wrestled us tough. They weren’t laying down, I can tell you that.” Hanahan got two early victories, with Andrew Avery pinning Zier Swilling in the 106-pound weight class and Eddie Yambao pinning Avery Davis at 113. Down 12-0 on the scoresheet, the Warriors went to 21-12 with Gunner Mease pinning Hanahan’s William Pichay at 120. Pichay suffered a neck injury with the pin and had to be transported to a hospital, where he is expected to recover fully, according to the team. A.J. DeLaCruz pinned Jayden Serrano at 126, Peyton Durham pinned Trey Holcombe at 132, and Efrain Rivera won by decision over Owen Miller at 138. The Hawks’ Jackson Stuckey scored a decision win over King Orvosh at 144, but West-Oak wrestlers swept the rest of the classes. Will Hair won by decision over K’Von Ingram at 150, Drake Smith pinned Pedro Afonso at 157, Ryan Driver pinned John Kahnel at 165, Sy Strobel won a technical fall over Tanner Ritche at 175, Wyatt Saxon won by decision over Brody Abrams at 190, Elijah Weston pinned Donovan Manigault at 215, and Logan Whitfield won by decision over Joseph Ivey at 285. “West-Oak has a really good team and they showcased that tonight,” Hanahan head coach Roy Atkins said. “Our guys did come out and fight. We gave them our best match tonight and hat’s off to Coach Strobel and his guys.” With West-Oak wins in all but three weight classes, the match seemed lopsided on the scoreboard. Several Hawk wrestlers battled the length of three two-minute periods, only to come up short. “I’m really proud of the way our guys fought each round. We put a couple of guys out there who went the distance and we have a couple of individuals coming up next who will wind up getting a trophy at the end of the year (in the individuals tournament),” Atkins said. “I’m really proud or our guys. We had a great season. Any year you get a trophy at the end it’s a great year,” Atkins said. “I’m really proud for our kids. We didn’t get the ‘W’ but they fought their butts off tonight, everybody saw that.” What distinguishes this year’s West-Oak team from the other state championship winners Strobel has coached is the Warriors’ resilience over the 2025-2026 season. “They were a lot of fun,” Strobel said. “We had guys who always stepped up, and even when they’re not at their best, they were always working hard and battling, fighting. They were a lot of fun.”