Pee Dee Academy caps perfect season with AA title

North Charleston - The Pee Dee Academy football team left no doubt. The Eagles finished a perfect 2024 season with a SCISA Class AA state championship, beating defending champion Bethesda Academy, 52-14, on Nov. 23 at Charleston Southern’s Buccaneer Field.

The game was a rematch of a regular season contest that Pee Dee won by 25-22 on Oct. 25.

“This is very hard to do,” Pee Dee coach Jonathan King said. “It takes talented players, talented and hard-working coaches, and all the great support. To be the first undefeated team since 1995, that’s really wild. It takes so much hard work and I am really proud to be a part of this team and this community. I am the luckiest man on the planet.

“We’ve been playing really good football the last few weeks. I think we peaked at the right time. Our kids have been so focused. We have 18 seniors. That’s a lot in AA SCISA football. Those guys led the way.”

Tristan Heckman scored four rushing touchdowns and caught a touchdown pass to lead the dominant offensive effort for the Eagles. With two-point conversions added, Heckman’s 38 points scored was a school record. The junior also tallied 13 tackles defensively.

“The kid is everywhere,” King said. “He’s a heckuva ball-player.”

Bethesda made things interesting early. The Blazers scored on the second play of the game when Raleigh Wesley scampered 65 yards down the sideline for a touchdown. A two-point conversion made it 8-0 less than a minute in.

But the Eagles were not fazed as quarterback Colby Richardson marched the Pee Dee offense right down the field on their possession. Richardson connected with Heckman on a 29-yard pass and a two-point conversion tied the game 8-8.

Heckman give the Eagles a 14-8 lead with a 10-yard run but the Blazers answered with a 61-yard run from Assir Best to tie game at 14 after one quarter.

Early in the second, Heckman went back to work, scoring on a seven-yard run with a two-point conversion run. Leading 22-14, the Eagles never looked back.

With a minute left in the first half, Richardson connected with Miles Trussell on a 30-yard scoring pass to send the teams into the locker room with Pee Dee leading, 30-14.

Three touchdowns in the final quarter put the game away for Pee Dee. Heckman scored on an eight-yard run and a 40-yard run, the last score coming with 3:48 on the clock to push the lead to 46-14.

The final tally of the night came courtesy of the defense when Bennett Causey intercepted a tipped pass and returned it for a touchdown, pushing the score to 52-14.

“Coaches always talk about finishing out with your best game and this was definitely our best game,” King said. “Last week we had a good offensive night but gave up some stuff defensively. Tonight, without a doubt, we put it all together.”