Northwood Academy quarterback Kevin Johnson sweeps left for a big gain against Pinewood Prep with lineman David Harper in pursuit. (Photo by Roger Lee)

By: Gerald Doolittle The South Carolina Independent Schools Association enters October with teams now playing for playoff seeding. Last seasons Champions in Class 3A (Pinewood), Class 2A (Bethesda) and Class 1A (Williamsburg) all moved up a classification in the new alignment. Can Northwood repeat in 4A and can W.W. King repeat in 8-Man? The top 2026 contenders in Class 4A are Hammond (6-0), Pinewood Prep (6-0), Ben Lippen (4-1) and Laurence Manning (3-1). Defending Champion Northwood Academy (4-2) and Porter-Gaud (4-2) could sneak into the finals. The top 2026 contenders in Class 3A are Northside Christian (6-0), First Baptist (5-1), Hilton Head Christian (5-1) and Bethesda (3-1). Florence Christian (4-2) and Wilson Hall (4-2) could determine who make the finals. Class 2A will be a four- way battle between Calhoun Academy (6-1), Colleton Prep (6-1), Greenwood Christian (4-1) and Patrick Henry (4-1). Williamsburg Academy (3-1) will have say on who makes the finals. Class 1A will be a battle between Dorchester Academy (5-1) and Dillon Christian (4-2) SCISA 8-Man will have Jefferson Davis Academy (6-0), Laurens Academy (5-0), W.W. King Academy (4-1) and Newberry Academy (4-1) working hard to win the Title. Wardlaw Academy (2-3) can be a sleeper to pull off a surprise finish. The top rushing leaders leading into October are Jordan Blackmon (Dillon Chr) 935 yds, Isaiah Scott-Palacos (Greenwood Chr) 871 yds, Joseph Morse (W W King) 857 yds, Reed Almers (Dorchester) 839 yds, B J Suits (Northside Chr) 712 yds, Parker Kizer (Holly Hill) 673 yds, Derrick Porter (First Baptist) 683 yds, Michael Polite (Northwood) 583 yds, Kai Sobey (Patrick Henry) 558 yds, Caleb Hardy (Laurens Ac) 533 yds, Grant Smalls (Williamsburg) 480 yds and Ethan Porter (Augusta Chr) 447 yds. The top passing leaders going into October are Silas Brawner (Pinewood) 1898 yds, Cam Werntz (Porter-Gaud) 1387 yds, Cale Owens (Colleton Prep) 1312 yds, Kres Langhals (Hilton Head Chr) 1297 yds, Gibbs Isom (First Baptist) 1256 yds, Ethan Collins (Laurens Ac) 1110 yds, Harris Janik (Augusta Chr) 1070 yds and Kevin Johnson (Northwood) 1053 yards. The top pass receivers going into October are Amir Chisolm (Porter-Gaud) 742 yds, Tre Green (Pinewood) 687 yds, Drew Wolfe (Northwood) 640 yds, Lavoris Lucas (Pinewood) 612 yds, Thomas Corbett (Colleton Prep) 540 yds, Joshua Bradley (First Baptist) 507 yds, Jackson Richardson (Hilton Head Chr) 489 yds, Jimmele Smith (Ben Lippen) 447 yds, Wilson Yarborough (Porter-Gaud) 415 yds and Gray Easterling (Dillon Chr) 404 yards. The top tackle leaders going into October are Jacob Bussey (W W King) 73, Mac Strickland (Orangeburg Prep) 72, Allen Chisolm (Porter-Gaud) 66, Luke Sobey (Patrick Henry) 65, Stone Porter (Ben Lippen) 59, Davis Padgett (Palmetto Chr) 58, Eli Seigler (Greenwood Chr) 57, Chandler Rogers (Dillon Chr) 57, Lincoln Dial (Dillon Chr) 57, Zach Weatherford (Holly Hill) 54, Jake Harrington (Jefferson Davis) 53, Scooter Brown (Porter-Gaud) 52 and Eli Garrett (Laurens Ac) 50.

Senior Silas Brawner had nearly 1,000 passing yards in the first three weeks of Pinewood Prep’s season.

The Pinewood Panthers take the field Aug. 14 for their season opener against First Baptist. Photo by Roger Lee

Phil Tobin, who led Pinewood Prep to a state baseball championship in 2012, will once again lead the Panthers into battle.

Expectations are high for Pinewood Prep quarterback Silas Brawner.

Swampcats complete a three-peat in SCISA AAAA softball.

Dennis Brunson hssr.com Associate Editor  Manning -- After losing to Pinewood Prep 3-1 on Friday in the SCISA AAAA softball state tournament at Patriot Park SportPlex in Sumter ,, Laurence Manning Academy had to do yeoman's work on Saturday to keep alive its hopes of being a 3-time state champion. It did just that, beating Heathwood Hall 6-1 and Wilson Hall 12-0 and 6-4 to win its bracket and advance to the best-of-3 state championship series. Awaiting the Lady 'Cats on Monday at Julie Skolar Field was the one and the same Pinewood Prep, which came into the game undefeated at 27-0. LMA broke through for four runs in the bottom of the third inning and went on to a 6-4 victory. "There again, it goes back to the tournament," said Laurence Manning head coach Buddy Truett . "It was just a case of hitting and passing the bats on down and believing in themselves. We had a good tournament on Saturday and it carried over." Laurence Manning, now 18-4, will be trying to wrap up its third consecutive AAAA state championship on Tuesday in Summerville . The game is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. If a third game is needed, it will be played on Wednesday at Orangeburg Prep beginning at 6 p.m. The Lady 'Cats scored their only run on Friday against Panthers frehsman pitcher Morgan Everitt in the top of the first. They didn't score for the final six innings of that game and the first two innings on Monday. The 4-spot in the third put the momentum squarely in LMA's favor. "That was huge for us," said Truett, whose team is playing in its fifth straight championship series. "We had the midneset going in to have the same pitching and . play the same defense and believe in ourselves at bat. We wanted to play the mental game, play some small ball and mix it up The girls held to it and it worked out for us. " PP scored twice in the top of the fourth to cut the deficit in half, but Laurence Manning answered with two in the bottom of the inning to make it 6-2. Pinewood Prep rallied in the seventh. scoring twice, but it wasn't enough. Senior Caroline Welch got the win in the circle, going 6 1/3 innings. Seventh-grader Avery Floyd came in to record the final two outs and get the save. Welch scattered eight hits and and walked seven. Seventh-grader Avery Floyd came in to record the final two outs and get the save. To Welch's defense, four of the seven walks were intentional passes to Everitt. She hit a 3-run home run in the bottom of the first on Friday to supply the Panthers' offense. "You take that home run away it's probably a different game," Truett said. "We took the bat our of hands. We just felt like if we can play defense we'd be OK. I didn't want that one person to beat us again." The Lady 'Cats were outstanding on defense. They turned four double plays behind Welch. LMA finished with seven hits, three of them going for extra bases. Seniors Marlee Black and Ashley Rae Hodge had two hits apiece. Black had a double and scored a run, while Hodge also had a double to go with two runs batted in and a run. Welch had the other extra-base hit, a triple, to go with an RBI. Senior Lyza Prickelmyer had a hit and scored twice, and senior Lily Wellborn had the other hit.Freshmen Kendall Tanner and Mcree Holcombe each scored a run. Everitt didn't record an out in Laurence Manning's 4-run third. She worked two innings, allowing four runs, only one of which was earned. She allowed three hits and two walks while striking out two. Alexis Buso pitched the final four innings, allowing two runs, four hits and one walk while striking out four. PP finished with eight hits with seventh-grader Sarah Grace Wickersham picking up two. Eighth-grader Kensley Gibbs had a hit , a run and an RBI, while sophomore Makayla Sullivan , seventh=grader Sofia Reed and freshman Grace Snyder each had a hit and a run. Sophomore Juliet Sussman had a hit and an RBI, and Buso had a hit. Reed and Sussman each had a double.

Pee Dee softball after 5th straight title; Laurence Manning softball, Hilton Head Christian baseball after 3 in a row.