Manning's Kennedy uses spring football practice to put right people in right places
Monarchs baseball team makes state playoffs for first time since 2018
Manning – The 2024 Manning High School football team was a veteran squad. The Monarchs rode that experience to an 11-2 season that took them to the AA lower state championship game,
While there are some good pieces returning, Manning still lost five starters on offense and eight on defense. That caused head coach Reggie Kennedy and his coaching staff to take a little different approach to things during spring practice.
“This spring practice was different this year compared to last year,” Kennedy said. “We spent the entire spring practice teaching and getting players in the best position. We emphasized the importance of doing the little things right.”
Getting the right pieces in the right places starts at quarterback. Manning is having to replace 2-year starter Ja’Rae Mitchell. Battling for the job in the spring was Lavell Stevenson, who was a wide receiver last season, and Kaleb Minger.
Kennedy said they both have potential but they are lacking in experience.
“Lavell Stevenson is currently the No. 1 quarterback coming out of spring practice,” Kennedy said. “He has very good arm strength and stands tall in the pocket. Both quarterbacks’ height will allow us to do more from the pocket this season.
“Both quarterbacks lack experience on this level. Kaleb is more of a runner and a very hard worker.”
Manning will be trying to get them some experience with a summer of 7-on-7 scrimmages. The Monarchs will play in a couple of 7-on-7s hosted by Dillon, the first on June 12 and the second one on June 24. After the Independence Day break, Manning will participate in a scrimmage at Wilson on July 9 and one at Carvers Bay on July 10.
The Monarchs will have to find someone for the quarterback to throw the ball to with the departure of Jeffery Ceasar. He was a major threat catching the football and running jet sweeps as well as returning kickoffs and punts. He had multiple returns for touchdowns doing both.
One place the Monarchs are going to be experienced is along the offensive line, which is a very good thing.
Manning has both of its tackles back with Isaiah Hamilton returning on the left side and Jeremiah Dingle on the right. Hamilton is a 6-foot-4-inch, 275-pound rising junior while Dingle is a 6-2, 275-pound senior.
Ethan Canty returns as the left guard while Semja Bush-Rankins will again be the center.
Interestingly, while the Monarchs will have a ton of experience along the offensive line, they return no starters on the defensive line.
The 11-2 season gave Manning its first year with double-digit wins since the 2010 campaign. The Monarchs went undefeated in winning the region title with a 6-0 record. After falling to Crestwood 17-14 in the season opener, Manning reeled off 11 straight wins,.
They beat North Central 55-0 in the first round of the state playoffs before pulling out a 28-27 overtime win over Hampton County. Manning beat Philip Simmons 34-21 to advance to the lower state championship game. They fell to Barnwell 37-14.
MANNING BASEBALL FINISHES 10-13
You can’t call it a renaissance, but you can definitely say the Manning baseball team moved in an upward trajectory in the just completed season.
Under the guidance of second-year head coach
Raymond Gibbs, the Monarchs finished with a 10-13 overall record and a 6-6 mark in Region 7-AA. That was more than enough to get Manning into the state playoffs for the first time since the 2018 season, which was also the last time it had a double-digits-win season.
The Monarchs had two players selected to the All-Region 7 team in Ja’Rae Mitchell and CJ Joye.
Joye was Manning’s leading hitter with a .474 batting average. He had four doubles, two triples and two home runs among his 27 hits and had 33 runs batted in while scoring 12. He had an on-base percentage of .530.
Joye also saw time on the mound, tossing 16 1/3 innings. He had a 7.29 earned run average with 12 strikeouts.
Mitchell had a .420 average and provided speed with 20 stolen bases. The senior also had five doubles, drove in 13 runs and scored 30 runs. He had an on-base percentage of .574 as he drew 18 walks.
In region play, Manning swept its two games with Mullins, Marion and Kingstree, respectively. In turn, the Monarchs were swept by East Clarendon, Lake City and Atlantic Collegiate Academy.
That earned Manning a fourth-place finish in the region and a spot in the state playoffs. The Monarchs went 0-2 in the 4-team, double-elimination tournament. They lost to Andrews in the opening game before being eliminated by Barnwell.
THREE MONARCHS PLACE IN AA BOYS TRACK STATE MEET
The Manning boys track and field team had three student-athletes score points in the boys portion of the AA state meet on May 16 at Spring Valley’s Harry Parone Stadium in Columbia.
Jaylnn Coard had the best finish for the Monarchs, coming in fourth in the shot put. His best throw was 13.85 meters.
Peyton Frierson finished fifth in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 59.70 seconds. Jordan Heyward finished eighth in the triple jump with a leap of 13.06 meters.
Jeffery Ceasar qualified in two events, the 200-meter dash and the long jump, but missed out on scoring points in both of them.
Manning finished the meet with 10 points, good for a tie for 21st with North Central.
