Hannah-Pamplico breaks string of losing seasons with 9-3 campaign

Pamplico – Hannah-Pamplico High School had five straight losing football seasons

before this year. The Raiders put together a 9-3 campaign and advanced to the third round of the

Class A state playoffs.

While that was certainly all well and good, H-P feels like it could have been an even

more memorable season. That’s because its season came to an end with a 12-7 loss to Cross,

which went on to beat Lake View for the lower state title.

“We felt like it definitely could have been us (playing for the state title),” said Hannah-Pamplico

head coach Trey Woodberry. “We wanted another shot at Lake View (which beat the Raiders 30-7 to win

the Region 6 title). It was 7-7 at halftime, but they had a Pick 6 (a scoring interception return) go 75 yards

for a touchdown. It then got away from us. I thought we would have competed a lot better if we played

them again.”

Instead, Hannah-Pamplico came up short against Cross, which went on to beat Lake View 36-7

before losing to Abbeville 58-20 in the state championship contest. The game was scoreless at halftime

and the Raiders were driving in for a touchdown early in the second half. However, they fumbled the ball

and Cross recovered, returning it 90 yards for a touchdown.

The Trojans scored again in the third quarter to take a 12-0 lead into the final stanza. Hannah-

Pamplico cut it to 12-7 in the fourth quarter but couldn’t put any other points on the board.

“We had other chances that we didn’t capitalize on,” said Woodberry, whose team went just 3-8 a

year ago. “Cross played really well on defense, and I think their (postseason) experience helped them. We

were on the road, in the cold, and we hadn’t been that far in the playoffs before against a team which had

that experience.

“I don’t know if anybody could have beat Abbeville, but we sure would have liked to had a

chance.”

Hannah-Pamplico rolled to easy victories in the first two rounds of the playoffs, beating Military

Magnet 43-6 and Denmark-Olar 40-6 in home games.

Hannah-Pamplico made its run despite playing half of the season without its leading rusher in

senior running back Jamarcus Williams. He tore the anterior cruciate ligament on the third play of the

game against Green Sea Floyds, which was the Raiders’ seventh of 12 games.

“Jamarcus had almost 1,000 yards rushing before the injury, and he didn’t play much in the

second half of those games,” Woodberry said.

Wiliams, who was selected to the All-Region 7 first team, ran for 909 yards and six touchdowns

on 109 carries. He finished his career with 3,649 yards and 28 touchdowns on 397 carries while catching

10 passes for 154 yards and two more scores. Williams also returned a kickoff for a touchdown and had

76 tackles and three interceptions as a cornerback on defense.

Hannah-Pamplico did have senior Wade Poston at quarterback all year, and he was selected as

the Region 7 offensive Player of the Year. Poston completed 112 of 185 passes for 1,777 yards and 23

touchdowns while rushing for 612 yards and nine more scores on 97 rushes.

A 4-year varsity starter, Poston completed 342 of 595 passes for 5,122 yards and 58 touchdowns.

He ran for 1,959 yards and 32 touchdowns on 298 carries.

Poston and fellow senior Tylin Jenkins were both selected to the South Carolina Football

Coaches Association Class A All-State team. Jenkins, who starred at both wide receiver and cornerback,

was named the Region 7 Athlete of the Year.

Jenkins caught 33 passes for 537 yards and 12 touchdowns on offense. In the secondary, he had

48 tackles and three interceptions.

Joining those three on the All-Region team were senior offensive lineman Will Faulkenberry,

senior offensive lineman Mason Hanna, junior linebacker Chris Eldridge, senior defensive back

Demarion Sparks and senior linebacker Brandon Cox.

Cox led the Raiders in tackles with 100 while Eldridge had 64. Sparks had four interceptions

while coming up with 38 catches for 459 yards and seven touchdowns as a wide receiver.

Senior CJ Woodbury was a second-team selection as a wide receiver.

Woodberry thought Hannah-Pamplico made major gains as the season went along.

“I think we definitely improved, especially on the defensive side of ball,” he said. “Offensively,

we played well even after we lost people to injury. We had people who stepped up and played well, and

then Wade Poston had a great year.”

After the loss to Lake View, Hannah-Pamplico only allowed 59 points in the final six games.

Other key defensive contributors were junior outside linebacker Davis Kimbrough with 95 tackles, senior

defensive end Jaquann Bryant with 81 tackles, Woodbury, a cornerback on defense, with 78 tackles and

sophomore free safety Jonah Poston with 62 tackles.

Junior defensive end Xavier Self led the team in quarterback sacks with four.

Eldridge took on most of the running chores after the loss of Williams. Junior Darius Williams

also saw action at running back.

Hannah-Pamplico loses 10 seniors to graduation, eight of whom started on at least one side of the

football.

“We’ve got a lot coming back on defense, but on offense we’re pretty much starting over,”

Woodberry said. “We’re going to have to replace our quarterback, running back, our right guard

(Faulkenberry) and Hanna at tackle. We will have to find new receivers with the loss of Jenkins, Sparks

and Woodbury.

“We’re just going to have to put in the work this offseason to get ready for next year.”