Pinewood Prep wins SCISA AAA state football title

By David Shelton

Senior Writer

North Charleston - Playing in their first state championship game since 2015, the Pinewood Prep Panthers took on Wilson Hall of Sumter in the 2024 SCISA Class AAA state championship contest at Charleston Southern on Saturday night.

Senior running back Jeremiah Singleton rushed for more than 140 yards and the Pinewood Prep defense came up with four turnovers to spark the Panthers to a 24-21 win.

The championship game marked the second meeting this season between the two schools with Pinewood Prep beating Wilson Hall, 41-7, during the regular season.

As a player at powerhouse South Pointe, as well as USC and the Dallas Cowboys, Pinewood head coach Devonte Holloman knows all about what it takes to win. He won plenty as a player and since he got into coaching but he says this championship is special.

“This is really special because no one believed we could do it,” Pinewood Prep head coach Devonte Holloman said. “But these kids believed and our coaches believed. We knew we had this in us. These kids worked and fought so hard all year. It’s great to see them celebrate.”

The Panthers ran 40 offensive plays in the first half, scoring on two touchdown drives. The Panthers’ opening drive of the game covered 13 plays but yielded no points as the drive ended on fourth down at the Wilson Hall 20.

The second possession produced points as Singleton capped a nine-play, 46-yard drive with a two-yard run at the 2:29 mark of the first period.

“He’s a special player and he had a great season for us,” Holloman said. “But gotta give credit to that offensive line as well. They did a great job of giving him some lanes.”

Midway through the second quarter, Wilson Hall drove to the Pinewood Prep 23-yard line but Daniel Wiggins intercepted a pass in the end zone to end the threat.

Pinewood’s offense went to work after the interception, using 13 plays to cover 85 yards, scoring on Asa Windham’s pass to Terence Stallworth from 13 yards with 1:59 left in the half.

Wilson Hall answered the score with a late touchdown, getting a nine-yard run from Milling Galloway with 15 seconds left, sending the teams into halftime with Pinewood Prep leading, 14-7.

Singleton finished the first half with 92 yards rushing on 15 carries.

“We normally are a quick strike offense. We don’t normally have long drives so that was impressive,” Holloman said. “To have those long drives and not have turnovers or many penalties tells me our guys were focused and ready to do whatever was needed to win this game.”

The Panthers came up with another turnover on Wilson Hall’s first possession of the second half as Carson Good recovered a fumble at the Wilson Hall 47-yard line.

Pinewood Prep’s offense took advantage of the field position with Singleton capping an 11-play drive with a one-yard run, pushing the lead to 21-7.

A fourth Wilson Hall turnover on their next possession, an interception by Grady Fuller, again set the Panthers up in great field position. Pinewood Prep added a 33-yard field goal from Alex Hylton to take a 24-7 lead with 2:04 left in the third.

The Barons would not go quietly into the night, however. Barons quarterback Owen Myers hit Ford Wilder on a 30-yard touchdown pass with 10:07 remaining in the game. A blocked extra point left the score at 24-13.

Pinewood Prep failed to gain a first down on a fourth-and-two play and Wilson Hall took over near midfield. The Barons drove down for a score as Myers snuck in from a yard out. The two-point conversion gave Wilson Hall life at 24-21 with 3:44 to play in the game.

But the Panthers were able to get a pair of first downs and run out the rest of the clock for the win.

“We knew they would make a run and that offense is tricky to defend,” Holloman said. “Credit their kids for not giving up when it was 24-7. Credit our kids for finding a way to win.”