Porter-Gaud lives up to expectations in reaching AAAA finals
Porter Gaud challenges Hammond at 7pm tonight at Charleston Southern U. for the SCISA AAAA state title.
By David Shelton
Senior Writer
High School Sports Report
Charleston – The goal of every high school football team when each new season begins is to win a state championship.
It doesn’t matter what level or classification a team may play in, nor does it matter what people on the outside think. The locker room and practice field is where it matters to every player on every team.
Porter-Gaud head coach Brad Bowles expressed to his team in August that he felt they had the necessary ingredients to contend for a SCISA Class AAAA state championship in 2024. The Cyclones returned some key veteran performers and team leadership was strong. He also told his team that nothing would come easy. Prepare like a champion and the opportunities will be available.
“We start in August and we talk about winning a state championship. All coaches do,” Bowles said. “There are so many little things that you have to do to make these big things happen. You have to lift, work, show up with the right attitude every day. You need some luck, you need to avoid injuries. Fortunately we have had the right mindset and good things have happened.”
Bowles says there is a strong sense of family within the program. Chemistry is clearly a strength and that comes from developing players early on.
“We have Porter-Gaud kids,” he said. “We don’t go out and get a lot of guys from everywhere. A lot of these guys have been in our program for four years, or longer. We have a year-round program that the kids are committed to. They want to work hard. We have a great group of seniors and we’ve have some underclassmen really step up.”
The 11-1 Cyclones will play perennial SCISA powerhouse Hammond School in the AAAA title game. Hammond is seeking an eighth consecutive state championship and handed Porter-Gaud their only loss (27-15) of the season back in September.
“They had a big second quarter,” Bowles recalls. “It was early in the year and we were still trying to find ourselves. Make no mistake though, they are a great team. Until someone beats them, they are the team. We have to play well, can’t turn the ball over. We have to tackle. We have to execute, just like every game we play. It’s a great opportunity for our guys.”
Porter-Gaud has been a balanced team all season with a solid offense, defense and kicking game. The offense is predicated on the run game and the Cyclones average 372 yards per game on the ground with 56 rushing touchdowns. As a team, they average 9.3 yards per rushing attempt.
Senior JJ Fludd leads the ground game with 1,793 yards and 29 touchdowns. Senior Tony Brown has rushed for 1,339 yards and 17 touchdowns and senior quarterback Nolen Shuman adds 700 yards rushing and another 640 yards through the air.
“We feel like we have three guys who can get what we need and we have a really good offensive line,” Bowles said. “It is comforting to know you have three guys who can get it done. And those guys up front love to get physical.”
The starting group along the front includes tackles Frank Schmidt and James Temple, guards Kyler Boggan and Alex Stiglic, and center Haze Marchant.
Senior Grayer Hyatt is the primary target in the passing game with more than 400 yards and six touchdowns, while Cole Thornton is the starting tight end.
Defensively, the Cyclones allow just 100 yards rushing per game. Opponents average 174 yards through the air as most teams are playing catch up. The unit has forced 20 turnovers and registered 26 sacks.
Linebacker Mills Knapp leads the team with 123 tackles, including 11 hits for loss. Safety Chase Anderson has 107 tackles and three interceptions while Austin Smith has 92 tackles, 11 for loss.
Brown and Fludd are two-way performers. Brown has 92 tackles and three interceptions while Fludd has seven interceptions. Ben Tolley has 71 tackles and four sacks while Daven Brown has five sacks.
“They have been good all year,” Bowles said. “At the beginning of the year we changed our defense, had a couple of new guys in there, so there was a period of transition early. We’ve had so many guys step up. They’re great practice players, they watch film. They do the things you have to do to get better. They’re a tough, physical group, and they’re smart kids. We do a lot of different things and they’re able to pick it up. We have a great coaching staff and a great structure, plus we have physically tough kids.
“We go into every game expecting a fight. We don’t look past any team. We have to play to our identity, which is great effort, physical football.”
