OCA Football Sets Sights On Four-Peat
Oceanside's rising senior QB, Aiden Manavian is nearing 10,000 career passing yards and threw 42 touchdown passes last season.
By David Shelton
Senior Writer
Mt. Pleasant – SO what does a football program with three consecutive state championships do for an encore? Go for a fourth title un a row, of course.
Oceanside Collegiate Academy enters the 2026 football season as a strong candidate to win the AAA title this fall. While the Landsharks did suffer considerable personnel losses along the trenches, there is an abundance of talent and experience in most every other area on the field.
Head coach Brent LaPrad says much of the focus during recently completed spring drills was finding new potential starters and working on developing some depth.
“We combined our varsity and junior varsity guys and had about 60 kids out,” the coach said. “We had quite a few playing spring sports so we spent a lot of time with the younger guys. Keeping the returners up to speed and letting them help teach the younger guys was important. I thought we had a good few weeks and it has carried over into the summer.”
The Landsharks made the rounds with 7-on-7 competitions in June, playing in showcase events at North Carolina and South Carolina.
Back to run the high-powered offense is senior Aiden Manavian, who took over as the starter during the playoffs of his freshman year and has been at the helm for all three of the state title runs. Manavian is nearing 10,000 career passing yards and threw 42 touchdown passes last season.
The passing game will feature a pair of Power 4 receivers in seniors Jaiden Kelly-Murray (Colorado) and Anthony Williams (North Carolina). Cooper Webb and Tyler Garner combined for 73 catches and 1,100 yards last season.
Senior James O’Connor has returned from injury and will the RB1 entering the season. Senior Jaxson Bean is a returning linemen with potential to play on either line.
“We feel good about the guys we have identified up front but they need time to gel as a unit,” LaPrad said. “We have more questions on the defensive line this summer.”
Defensive backs Michael Strickler and Cole Gaspar are two key returners on the defense. Strickler, a hybrid safety, had nearly 100 tackles last season while Gaspar had five interceptions.
