By: Gerald Doolittle The South Carolina Independent Schools Association enters October with teams now playing for playoff seeding. Last seasons Champions in Class 3A (Pinewood), Class 2A (Bethesda) and Class 1A (Williamsburg) all moved up a classification in the new alignment. Can Northwood repeat in 4A and can W.W. King repeat in 8-Man? The top 2026 contenders in Class 4A are Hammond (6-0), Pinewood Prep (6-0), Ben Lippen (4-1) and Laurence Manning (3-1). Defending Champion Northwood Academy (4-2) and Porter-Gaud (4-2) could sneak into the finals. The top 2026 contenders in Class 3A are Northside Christian (6-0), First Baptist (5-1), Hilton Head Christian (5-1) and Bethesda (3-1). Florence Christian (4-2) and Wilson Hall (4-2) could determine who make the finals. Class 2A will be a four- way battle between Calhoun Academy (6-1), Colleton Prep (6-1), Greenwood Christian (4-1) and Patrick Henry (4-1). Williamsburg Academy (3-1) will have say on who makes the finals. Class 1A will be a battle between Dorchester Academy (5-1) and Dillon Christian (4-2) SCISA 8-Man will have Jefferson Davis Academy (6-0), Laurens Academy (5-0), W.W. King Academy (4-1) and Newberry Academy (4-1) working hard to win the Title. Wardlaw Academy (2-3) can be a sleeper to pull off a surprise finish. The top rushing leaders leading into October are Jordan Blackmon (Dillon Chr) 935 yds, Isaiah Scott-Palacos (Greenwood Chr) 871 yds, Joseph Morse (W W King) 857 yds, Reed Almers (Dorchester) 839 yds, B J Suits (Northside Chr) 712 yds, Parker Kizer (Holly Hill) 673 yds, Derrick Porter (First Baptist) 683 yds, Michael Polite (Northwood) 583 yds, Kai Sobey (Patrick Henry) 558 yds, Caleb Hardy (Laurens Ac) 533 yds, Grant Smalls (Williamsburg) 480 yds and Ethan Porter (Augusta Chr) 447 yds. The top passing leaders going into October are Silas Brawner (Pinewood) 1898 yds, Cam Werntz (Porter-Gaud) 1387 yds, Cale Owens (Colleton Prep) 1312 yds, Kres Langhals (Hilton Head Chr) 1297 yds, Gibbs Isom (First Baptist) 1256 yds, Ethan Collins (Laurens Ac) 1110 yds, Harris Janik (Augusta Chr) 1070 yds and Kevin Johnson (Northwood) 1053 yards. The top pass receivers going into October are Amir Chisolm (Porter-Gaud) 742 yds, Tre Green (Pinewood) 687 yds, Drew Wolfe (Northwood) 640 yds, Lavoris Lucas (Pinewood) 612 yds, Thomas Corbett (Colleton Prep) 540 yds, Joshua Bradley (First Baptist) 507 yds, Jackson Richardson (Hilton Head Chr) 489 yds, Jimmele Smith (Ben Lippen) 447 yds, Wilson Yarborough (Porter-Gaud) 415 yds and Gray Easterling (Dillon Chr) 404 yards. The top tackle leaders going into October are Jacob Bussey (W W King) 73, Mac Strickland (Orangeburg Prep) 72, Allen Chisolm (Porter-Gaud) 66, Luke Sobey (Patrick Henry) 65, Stone Porter (Ben Lippen) 59, Davis Padgett (Palmetto Chr) 58, Eli Seigler (Greenwood Chr) 57, Chandler Rogers (Dillon Chr) 57, Lincoln Dial (Dillon Chr) 57, Zach Weatherford (Holly Hill) 54, Jake Harrington (Jefferson Davis) 53, Scooter Brown (Porter-Gaud) 52 and Eli Garrett (Laurens Ac) 50.

By Jeff Moeller Contributing Writer Hilton Head - Head coach Doug McFadden begins his third season at the helm of the Hilton Head Prep Dolphins' program with some reasonable expectations. Even though his team produced three wins in each of the first two seasons, the Dolphins were in the post season. In fact, they advanced to the second round last season in the SCISA Region 2 Section 1 bracket. But McFadden , who previously was an assistant at Colgate , knows his aspirations have to be tempered with the loss of 10 seniors. The Dolphins lost four starters from their line. So far this season, the Dolphins have seen the results of a rebuild. They began the season with losses to Colleton Prep (50-6), St. Andrew’s (48-6), and Cross (56-8). They are scheduled to host Beaufort Academy Sept. 4. McFadden is taking it step-by-step. The Dolphins have seven freshmen, two sophomores, and an eighth-grader on their limited roster. “We have 19 players and are extremely young,” stressed McFadden . “I lost 10 seniors from last year who had the majority of our stats.” The Dolphins have three returning starters in junior center/defensive lineman Tuggle Daly , junior offensive lineman/defensive lineman Cooper Hofmann , and senior running back Oliver Barricks . Along with Daly, Hofmann, and Barricks , senior defensive lineman/tight end Kaden Jackson returns on defense. Sophomore Cole Rogers has taken over at quarterback. Others expected to be contributors in the backfield are seniors running back/defensive lineman Quinn Strauss , running back/defensive back Casey Signorello , and eighth-grader wide receiver/defensive back Finley Thompson . Daly will anchor the line, and he will be joined by newcomers freshman Aidan McElveen and sophomore Roby Horner at tackles, freshman Britt Gunzel and Hofmann at guard. Junior Cody Wilbert will handle the kicking duties. Among those who can make an impact are junior wide receiver/running back/linebacker Ramsey Stanyard , junior offensive lineman/defensive lineman Barrosa-Ferrerira Pietro , and freshman running back/defensive back Henry Burbage and wide receiver/tight end/linebacker Peyton Marra . McFadden is confident his budding squad can adjust. Blake Henry , a former college lineman, will handle the offense, and John Britschge will guide the defense. “It’s a matter of getting the young kids to a point where they are comfortable,” stated McFadden . "In the beginning, everything was faster and bigger. They have to realize whatever they did in middle school, they can do the same thing and even better in high school.” He is optimistic that his returnees can benefit from their postseason experiences. The Dolphins avenged a 42-27 loss to Calhoun Academy two years ago with a 27-26 victory last year in the first round of the playoffs. Their season ended with a 34-33 loss to Pee Dee Academy. “Some of these kids have been to the postseason,” added McFadden . “It really comes down to confidence. We came back after we got trounced (against Calhoun Academy) and beat a good football team. “They have to realize that they can do this and be successful. We just have to stay focused and work on getting better and competing for four quarters. Our outlook is to just get better game after game.”

The Hilton Head Prep girls soccer and baseball programs enter the 2026 campaign looking to defend the state championships won last spring.

Some of action in the SCISA Basketball tournament so far!

 By David Shelton Senior Writer Hilton Head – At the rate things are going, Hilton Head Prep may need a new, bigger trophy case to memorialize their continued run of athletic success. Athletic Director Shon Hardy was quite pleased with the efforts of the school’s athletes as Hilton Head Prep contended for multiple state championships during the 2024-25 school year. In several sports, not only did Prep contend but they also won state championships. Among those championship teams were girls tennis, boys basketball, boys golf, baseball and girls soccer. The girls soccer program won its third consecutive state title, as did the boys basketball team. The boys golf team won the Class AAA title earlier this spring. Cade Kriscunas was the state medalist, shooting 139 over the 36-hole event. Max Diamond shot 150 and Jeff Adams and Tag Graziano each shot 155. Nick Kupper shot 168 over two days. At the year-end athletic banquet for winter and spring sports, Diamond received the Most Improved award and Graziano received the Coach’s Award. Kriscunas was tabbed the Most Valuable Player. In girls soccer, the most outstanding player was Courtney Campbell and sharing the Coach’s award were Callah Dando and Sophia Schlieman . “From the first day we get on the field, winning a state championship is the focus,” coach Risa McMillan said . “This is what it all comes down to.” Calvin Middleton was named most improved on the baseball team. Jackson Stanyard was the most outstanding player and Brody Hausher earned the Coach’s award. This year’s state title was the first in school history after several near misses. “We don’t have elite D1 talent from top to bottom. We’re just a gritty bunch of guys from Hilton Head and the Lowcountry who fought tooth and nail and earned it,” coach Chris Wells said. For sailing, Ella Jones received the coach’s award. The boys soccer team advanced to the state finals before suffering a heart-breaking defeat. Brandon Moore was the most improved player and Aden Parsick was most outstanding player. Tony Fernandez received the coach’s award. Sharing most improved honors in boys tennis were Cole Mustard and Gabe Arnold . Wyatt Harmer was most outstanding player and Clayton Emmert received the coach’s award. Softball is the newest varsity program at Prep. The team honored three players with the coach’s award. The honorees were Jenna Oremus, Gabrielle McFadden and Bella Johnson . In track and field, Matthew Moe was most improved on the boys team and Levi Wright was most outstanding . Casey Signorello received the coach’s award. Sarah Elizabeth Phillips was most outstanding in girls track. In basketball, Courtney Campbell was the most outstanding player on the girls team. Sophie Moe was the most improved player, and Erin Cleary received the coach’s award. The boys basketball team handed out only coach’s awards. Recipients included Alston Adams, Billy Barron, Tyler Britschge, Connor Campbell, Luke Eanes, Finn Gregory, Ty Harpring, Brendan Moore and Jake Sheahan .

HHP rallies from 3-1 deficit with 4-run 6th to win program's first ever baseball championship