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.

Bamberg-Ehrhardt senior Brian McMillian in the 2025 state title game.

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Bryce King (photo) and Chase Price are the top two pitchers this season and both have been dominant early.

Lake View — Kaleigh Blackmon is a senior and softball player at Lake View High School . As a student athlete, and dual enrolled with NETC, Blackmon has completed 11 college level classes already and many of these courses will help reduce her college work load. She’s already completed American History, Macroeconomics, Probability and Statistics, English 101 and 102, plus Biological Science, to name a few. Blackmon who has been a starter on her softball teams since the 7 th grade readily admits softball is her favorite sport. She enjoys the challenges of playing in the infield at third base. She is also interested in continuing to pursue athletics at the next level. In the classroom she carries a 4.2 GPA, and she says that after high school she plans to attend Horry Georgetown Technical College to earn an Associate’s Degree in Sonography.  For all her athletic and academic accomplishments, Blackmon has been chosen the “NETC” Female Student Athlete of the Month.” This honor is bestowed through a partnership between the Northeastern Technical College and “The High School Sports Report” with the publication communicating with athletic directors at high schools in the counties of Dillon, Marlboro, and Chesterfield, where NETC serves the needs of high school students seeking to earn dual credits in various subjects that can be transferred to colleges after a student’s high school graduation. The NETC currently offers over 44 online dual credit courses for the 2025-26 school year to students in the three counties they serve. Currently, Blackmon is enrolled in dual credit online courses offered by NETC. “Being an athlete has helped me improve my time management because I’ve learned to balance practices, games, schoolwork, and all my other responsibilities,” she said. “It’s taught me to stay organized, don’t procrastinate, and make the most of my time.” When asked about what NETC did to help her, Blackmon said, “It helped prepare me for college by teaching me how to manage online classes along with my high school workload and athletics. It has improved my time management, organization, and ability to stay disciplined without someone constantly reminding me.” When asked about the online class experience, Blackmon said her online experience “It helped me become more independent and responsible with my schoolwork,” she said. “I’ve really enjoyed taking online classes and that was a confidence booster for her time management and planning skills. I try my best to stay organized by getting my NETC work done at the first of the week. I often get my schoolwork done at school so after practice I have time to spend time with my family.” Blackmon recalled her favorite thing about playing softball “is the camaraderie of the dugout; we chant and cheer to uplift our teammates, and it’s just having fun.”

Lake View — Bryce King is a senior, three-sport athlete at Lake View, where his senior year has been one sports season after another. This fall, he played football at the wide receiver and safety positions, which is a sport he’s played every season since middle school. After football, he returned to basketball for his senior season as a guard. Then, with spring time, his favorite sport baseball has started. King started playing t-ball early in life and he has played baseball, in some organized fashion, from summer travel ball to varsity athletics. He readily admits baseball is his favorite sport and hopes his final season will get him noticed by more college scouts. In 18 games this season he’s is batting .530 with 29 hits and a home run. He plays short stop and pitches. He has pitched in 9 games with 53 strikeouts. He is interested in playing in college. King says he has visited USC - Salkehatchie . With his planned college major in nursing, he is also considering USC - Sumter and Florence Darlington Tech . In the classroom, he carries a 4.3 GPA, and he plans to pursue degree in nursing with the goal of becoming a Registered Nurse and possibly a career as a flight nurse in medical transportation.  For all his athletic and academic accomplishments, King has been chosen the “NETC” Male Student Athlete of the Month.” This honor is bestowed through a partnership between the Northeastern Technical College and “The High School Sports Report” with the publication communicating with athletic directors at high schools in the counties of Dillon, Marlboro, and Chesterfield, where NETC serves the needs of high school students seeking to earn dual credits in various subjects that can be transferred to colleges after a student’s high school graduation. The ”NETC” is currently offering over 44 online dual credit courses for the 2025-26 school year to students in the three counties they serve. King has completed his English 101 and 102 requirements for college plus Algebra 101 and Statistics via the online courses offered by NETC. When asked about managing his time to balance academics and sports, King said “Time management is about priorities, and you just have to give up some lesser priority stuff, to make sure you complete your priority items. As a student athlete, and Christian, I prioritize what is important and that means my academics come first, so I can use my athletic talent plus I prioritize making time for church activities.” King had this comment about the NETC experience. “It showed me a college level work load and gave me valuable experience that will prepare me for success at the next level,” he said. “One thing about the online experience, with some courses we were required to talk in groups about the assignments which meant meeting and interacting with our classmates in the online setting which was nice.” When asked about a favorite memory in any sport, King noted that happened in baseball during his junior year, “We had to beat Latta twice in the playoffs to win and earn a spot in the State Championship series,” he said. “We ended up doing just that and earned the lower state title.”

HSSR Class A Football Ranking - (Entering Week 12 of Season, 11-14-2025) 1. Bamberg-Ehrhardt 11-0 (597-49) 2. Abbeville 9-2 (480-129) 3. Carvers Bay 10-0 (319-113) 4. Cross 9-1 (364-53) 5. HKT 9-2 (502-136) 6. Lamar 9-2 (401-277) 7. Johnsonville 8-2 (282-169) 8. Ware Shoals 10-1 (398-164) 9. Latta 8-2 (348-185) 10. Lewisville 7-4 (371-189) 11. Scott’s Branch 8-2 (316-183) 12. Blackville-Hilda 6-5 (182-209) 13. Lake View 5-4 (187-146) 14. CA Johnson 6-5 (258-331) 15. Wagener-Salley 5-6 (153-300) By Billy G. Baker Publisher Moncks Corner — There were no major upsets at the top of the Class A food chain in the first round of the playoffs on November, 7. Now that there are 16 schools left hoping to punch their tickets to the gold medal round, the winning margins are going to tighten up, and round two games should be much more competitive. The goals of the 16 teams left are all the same; be 1-0 every week and eventually punch your team’s ticket to the Class A gold medal round scheduled for 4 p.m. on Friday December 5 at South Carolina State University. (Be there and bring the whole town with you!) In the first week of the playoffs the HSSR number two ranked Abbeville (9-2) defeated Great Falls 63-0, and the “A” will now host Trent Usher’s Lewisville Lions team after the Lions drilled Whitmire 62-0 in the first round. These two teams met later in the playoffs last year with the Panthers winning easily. Abbeville will be seeking their 14 th overall state title this season. The Panthers earned number 13 last December in a 58-20 win over Cross . Last year’s Panther team was comprised of 27 seniors and this year’s team came into the 2025 season much younger but still loaded with home grown athletes. After his team’s season opening 42-0 win over Southside Christian , Coach Nickles told the HSSR, “We have a chance to be a really competitive football team. We have to keep working and improving. We’ll see how it goes.” Jaden Baylor took over the QB duties for Abbeville this season and he has improved with each game. Darius Riley is the team’s work horse at RB, and he started off the season with tackle breaking touchdowns runs of 71 and 67 yards in the season opener. Cole Driggers is a leader at left tackle in the offensive front. Top ranked Bamberg-Ehrhardt (11-0) has the distinction of being the most productive scoring offense in Class A, so far this season (597 points) and they also have the best scoring defense (49) in the state entering the playoffs. The Raiders will host Latta this week as a double-digit favorite. Latta advanced with a 34-14 win over Baptist Hill . Corey Crosby is in his 5 th season as the Raiders head coach and his team has now won 16 straight region games. His career record at B-E over this five- year period is 52-11 and the Raiders came into the 2025 season with 15 returning starters. A few impact B-E players include senior all-state WR Marcus Cann (6-2, 195) who is also a topflight DB. OL is one of the strengths of the team and three returners from last season have literally road graded the competition. They are center Michael Manigault (6-0,265), LG Jaden Moody (6-0,255), and junior RT Simeon Bamberg (5-11, 195). Carvers Bay is 10-0 and by Shrine Bowl OL Zyon Guiles (6-5, 295) who is committed to South Carolina. The Bears will host region rival Lake View this week in round two. They defeated Lake View 32-7 on October 10, but most observers feel like this game will be more competitive. The Bears advanced in round one with a 59-0 win over Allendale-Fairfax last week while the Wild Gators beat Hardeeville 28-6 to advance. In upper state Class A this week, Blackville-Hilda will host CA Johnson after getting by eliminating McCormick 15-0 last week. CA Johnson advanced on a 12-0 win over Calhoun County . Number five HSSR ranked HKT (9-2) HKT would love to be the Cinderella of Class A and claim the glass slipper at SC State in December. They eliminated Lee Central 56-14 in the first round and they are now ready to host a talented number 8 ranked Ware Shoals this week in one of the most competitive round two games in Class A. Ware Shoals advanced with a dominating 38-0 win over Ridge-Spring-Monetta last week. Number six Lamar (9-2) advanced with a 49-0 win over Calhoun Falls and the Silver Foxes will host Wagener-Salley this week, an upset winner over Dixie , 14-9 in round one. Remaining games amongst Lower State Class A teams include number four Cross (9-1), led by USC bound Caden Ramsey (6-5,200), hosting Bethune-Bowman . Cross had a bye in round one while Bethune-Bowman shut-out Ridgeland 38-0. Johnsonville and Scott’s Branch are teams with state championship experience, and the Flashes of Ken Cribb will travel to the Santee Lakes area this week in a game that should go down to the wire. Johnsonville advanced with a 48-14 win over Branchville while Scott’s Branch moved on with a 32-14 win over Hannah Pamplico .

Lake View's Jalen Clark.

Lake View’s Kaylynn Turner Named “NETC” Female Student Athlete of the Month Lake View — Kaylynn Turner is a senior who plays softball and volleyball at Lake View High School . Turner said she started playing volleyball in the seventh grade, but softball is her favorite sport, which she started playing in the 9 th grade. On the volleyball court, she played all around as a utility player and played left field in softball. Being a two-sport student athlete brought opportunities. Turner says this about team play, “My favorite part is being on a team with friends, forming new friendships, and the support from family.” In the classroom, she carries a 4.07 GPA, and she says that after high school she plans to major in Exercise Science with an end goal of a career in Occupational Therapy, or as an athletic trainer. While she has not ruled out continuing softball at the next level, if she gets that opportunity, her favorites teams are Coastal Carolina , USC , and Florence Darlington Tech .  For all her athletic and academic accomplishments, Turner has been chosen the “NETC” Female Student Athlete of the Month.” This honor is bestowed through a partnership between the Northeastern Technical College and “The High School Sports Report” with the publication communicating with athletic directors at high schools in the counties of Dillon, Marlboro, and Chesterfield, where NETC serves the needs of high school students seeking to earn dual credits, in various subjects, that can be transferred to colleges after a student’s high school graduation. The NETC is currently offering over 44 online dual credit courses for the 2024-25 school year to students in the three counties they serve. Currently, Turner is enrolled in two dual credit online courses offered by NETC. She already completed many basic requirements for her freshman year of college. She has focused on taking key classes for her major, like Medical Terminology, History, and Spanish. She added that she “already took care of many first-year classes and hopefully this puts me a semester ahead when I start college.”. When asked about what NETC did to help her, Turner said it “helped her develop important time management skills, especially while playing sports, attending high school, and taking college level classes online through the NETC. “Dual-enrollment classes really taught me the difference between in-person classes, versus online classes which prepared me for what’s I should experience in in college,” said Turner. When asked about the online class experience, Turner said the experience was a “confidence boost” that enhanced her time management skills. “The online classes were doable when I thought they weren’t,” she said. “Before taking online classes, I was more of a procrastinator, and I learned to be more on top of my work.” Turner recalled her favorite time playing softball “In the first game of the lower state playoffs this past season, I played a long ball off the fence and I was able to throw it back to the infield and we got the lead runner out.”