Oceanside Collegiate after AAA crown this year

By Dennis Brunson

           hssr.com Associate Editor

           Mt. Pleasant – Even though it had taken the jump from AA to AAA because of reclassification and had to deal with a head coaching shakeup early in the season, Oceanside Collegiate Academy will be playing for the AAA state title on Saturday.

           And Landsharks interim head coach John Patterson isn’t surprised.

           “I don’t want to sound arrogant, but no, not really,” Patterson responded about getting to face Belton-Honea Path for the title. “Our non-conference schedule was so hard, and we won two of those five games. We knew if we could weather that storm, and we could get to playing schools our own size in AAA, we felt like we had a chance to be very, very, very good.

           “After (AAAAA juggernaut) Dutch Fork beat us (51-0), I told the kids we just played a game with none of our top four receivers against one of the top teams in America. I told them. ‘We’re ready to go on a roll. Are you ready to go rolling? Are you ready to rip off some in a row?’ They weren’t sure what to think of that.”

           Patterson knew what he was talking about as OCA hasn’t lost since. It will go for its ninth straight victory – and its second straight state title – on Saturday at noon at South Carolina State University’s Oliver C. Dawson Stadium in Orangeburg.

           Oceanside, which won the AA state championship last season, brings a 10-3 record into the contest against 13-1 BHP. In the playoffs, the Sharks have defeated Fox Creek 56-14, Waccamaw 36-6, Dillon 28-21 and Loris 42-7.

           OCA has a high-octane passing attack on offense led by sophomore quarterback Aiden Manavian. He has completed 213 of 310 passes for 3,181 yards and 38 touchdowns against just five interceptions. He had a 6-touchdown-pass game against Orangeburg-Wilkinson as well as a pair of games with five TD tosses.

The four starting wide receivers are senior Gavin Gaspar, senior Kyle Baldwin, senior Peyton Shaw and senior Will Virgilio.

Virgilio is the leading receiver with 65 catches for 1,030 yards and 10 touchdowns. Shaw has 50 catchrs or 849 yards and 10 touchdowns, Gaspar has 24 receptions for 330 yards and four touchdowns, and Baldwin has 10 catches for 135 yards and one touchdown.

Junior running back Terrence Johnson is an integral part of the passing attack as well. He has 36 catches for 608 yards and 10 touchdowns.

The Landsharks don’t run the football often, but when they do sophomore James O’Connor does most of the work. O’Connor has 570 yards and four touchdowns on 121 carries.

Blocking up front is junior Mike Jones at left tackle, sophomore Grant Castellow at left guard, senior Charlie Bean at center, junior JB Crady at right guard and senior Carson Lee at right tackle. The tight end is junior Jake Thomas.

The Oceanside Collegiate defense operates out of a 4-man front. That includes junior Sawyer Arnold at left end, junior Joey Harriott at right end, Jones at defensive tackle and sophomore Jaxson Bean at noseguard.

Arnold is having a monster season as a pass rusher with 23 ½ quarterback sacks and six more tackles for loss among his 55 total tackles. Jones is also a pass rushing demon with 16 ½ sacks. He also has 45 tackles and four TFLs.

Harriott has 42 tackles, one TFL and seven sacks.

The linebacking corps is made up of all seniors in Kael Gilchrist, Max Moorman and AJ Zarzaca. Gilchrist is the leading tackler with 107 stops to go with one TFL and two sacks. Moorman is just behind in tackles with 105, but leads the way in tackles for loss with 25. He also has three sacks. Zarzaca has 65 tackles.

Three-fourths of the secondary are seniors as well, both of the cornerbacks in Jack Wattie and Nate Sturm and strong safety Grayson Freeling. Sophomore Michael Strickler is the free safety.

OCA has 15 interceptions with Sturm leading the way with five. Freeling and Wattie both have three, and Strickler has two. Strickler has 83 tackles and two TFLs, Freeling has 74 tackles, Sturm has 58 and Wattie has 50.

Sturm also handles the placekicking and punting chores.

Patterson accepted the interim role after Chad Wilkes resigned as head coach after the first game of the season. Patterson said his players handled the situation very well.

“I think the kids handled it better than the adults,” said Patterson, who was the offensive line coach before accepting the interim role. “Kids are resilient; they just want to play ball. They were thinking we’ve still got a season to play.

“You kind of get territorial as an assistant, so a lot of the kids I didn’t really know. What I did off the bat was meet with the kids that I didn’t think knew me. I asked them about their goals, about their parents, their brothers and sisters, and we just got to know each other. I think that helped a lot.”

Patterson expects a tough game against Belton-Honea Path.

“They’re a great team that is well coached,” he said. “They have tough kids, a marquis running back with a great pedigree (in Clemson signee Marquise Henderson). It should be a great game.

“We’ve got to execute what we do. We have to control us, we can’t control them. We’ve got to make plays when we can, not turn the ball over. We’ve got to be smart with the football.

“The defense cannot give up big plays. We cannot let any one player beat you. We have to find a way to make them not do what they want to do.”