Patrick Henry football team rebounds from two subpar seasons with 6-4 record

Estill – After two seasons in which it went 4-7 and 2-9, the Patrick Henry Academy football team rebounded this season. The Patriots finished with a 6-4 record for their first winning season since 2023 when they were 11-2 and won the SCISA Class A state title.

PHA still exited in the first round of the AA state playoffs, falling to Pee Dee Academy 41-18. Despite that, head coach Joe Gray Peeples felt progress was made.

“When the season started, I was looking at the schedule, and I felt like 6-3 in the regular season is where we need to be.” said Peeples, who just completed his fourth season as head coach. “Win the games we’re supposed to win and compete in the others.

“I thought we competed with them (PDA) last night. I thought we competed with Dorchester (a 26-8 loss), and Colleton Prep (Academy, a 46-28 loss). We didn’t against Calhoun (Academy, a 44-0 loss). That’s just not a good matchup for us.”

“If that's how you rate a successful season, we definitely had a successful season.”

Patrick Henry did it with freshmen playing major roles, including quarterback Aiden Johnson. He completed 52 of 116 passes for 608 yards and four touchdowns heading into the playoffs. He also rushed for 118 yards and three scores.

Sophomore Kai Sobey no doubt set the pace for the offense. He had 1,123 yards and 15 touchdowns, caught 13 passes for 127 yards and one TD and even threw two touchdown passes.

Kai’s older brother, senior Luke Sobey, had rushed for 330 yards and six scores on 50 carries to go with 13 receptions for 97 yards and a touchdown. Junior Owen Shaffer was the leading receiver with 17 grabs for 291 yards and two TDs while also carrying the football 40 times for 174 yards and one score. Senior Miles Peeples caught two scoring passe.

The Sobeys were the defensive leaders as well. Luke had 115 tackles and seven tackles for a loss, while Kai had a team high 12 TFLs among his 82 stops.

Shaffer had 65 tackles and eight TFLs, freshman Brady Peeples had 56 tackles, and senior Jay Bishop had five TFLs.

While PHA only picked off three passes, it did recover 18 fumbles. Shaffer was leading the way with five, while Luke Sobey had three. Kai Sobey caused six fumbles and Luke Sobey forced five.

Shaffer and Kai Sobey proved to be dangerous on special teams, each taking a kickoff back for a touchdown. Shaffer averaged 28.8 yards a return on nine attempts while Sobey returned 10 kickoffs for a 23.5 average. Sobey also averaged 15.3 ayrds on thre punt returns, while Caleb Corley averaged 15.0 on five returns.