SC ’26 Running Backs Class Solid From Top To Bottom

Neill Kirkpatrick • August 27, 2025

Running Backs at the 2025 HSSR Media Day.



By Neill Kirkpatrick

Special to the HSSR

Goose Creek – South Carolina has a long history of producing some outstanding running backs and the 2026 class will continue that trend as there are several backs poised to add to their impressive career totals.

 

The past couple of years three running backs have joined the exclusive 6,000 plus career yards in Midland Valley’s Traevon Dunbar (23), BHP’s Marguise Henderson (24), and South Aiken’s Jevon Henderson (24). Dunbar rushed for over 6,500 yards aided by a 3000-plus his senior year. Henderson, now at Clemson, ushed for 6,580 yards and Jevon led them all with 6,689 yards.

 

They joined the states all time leading rusher Demetrius Summers (Lexington) 9,076 yards, Derek Watson (Palmetto) 6,766 yards and John LaBoard (Middleton) 6,500 yards.

 

This season the top-rated running back and one of the top ten players in the state by the HSSR are ready to join that exclusive group in Thomas Heyward Academy’s Tony O’Banner

 

O’Banner (6-1,215) has been one of the top athletes in SCISA since 2020 when he rushed for over 800 yards and scored 10 touchdowns and averaged 11.6 points per game and six rebounds as an 8th grader. He is big strong back who runs through contact has excellent vision and reads his blocks well. He has good speed (4.56) and can score from any time he touches the football. A very versatile player who as sophomore played quarterback throwing for over 900 yards. A diamond in the rough where people will question his competition but as an 8th grader he rushed for 74 yards, averaging 6.4 yards per carry against AAAA Bluffton.

 

Heading into his senior season O’Banner can become just the second running back in state history to rush for over 7,000 yards. He has 5,882 yards, averaging over 10 yards a carry and has averaged over 2,000 yards the past two season so 8,000 yards it not out of the question. He presently has an offer from Liberty but several schools have shown interest. Some colleges also like him as an outside linebacker.

O’Banner scored two touchdowns on runs of 52 and 48 yards in the SCISA Class A state championship game this past November against Williamsburg Academy. Despite being the focus of all 11 defenders in the game, O’Banner was literally untouched by any opposing player on one of his TD’s runs out of the Wildcat formation. Both SC and Clemson are maintaining interest in O’Banner along with Duke. He carries a 3.7 GPA in the class room.   

Note: Former Mountain View Prep running back Jaylen McGill had been a top 10 RB in the HSSR 2026 class of running backs, but he reclassified to the 2025 class and he is now at North Carolina. One source close to the family said McGill received a $1.2 NIL offer to enroll a year early with the Tar Heels.     

 

Gaffney’s Jaiden McDowell (5-10, 165) is the 16th ranked player in the state and the second highest rated running back by the HSSR. McDowell had a solid freshman year for the Indians but as a sophomore he was named the Region 2 AAAAA offensive player of the year. After rushing for 1313 yards and 13 touchdowns while grabbing 45 passes for 548 yards another four scores. Last season was cut short due to injuries but the Mercer commit is expecting a big senior season.

 

“Jadien was slowed with an injury last year and missed the majority of his junior season. I hope his senior year compliments or is an extension of his 10th grade year,” said Gaffney head coach Donnie Littlejohn. “His strengths are his vision, breakaway speed, confidence and experience coming in as a 4-year starter.”

 

Ashley Ridges Ryan Campbell (5-9, 185) is the 48th ranked player in the HSSR top 100. He comes to Ashley Ridges after spending his first three seasons at rival Fort Dorchester where he rushed for over 1800 yards and 18 touchdowns. He brings blazing speed to the Swamp Fox backfield this season. He runs a 4.31 forty and has clocked at 10.07 in the 100 meters. He has great vision in the hole and reads the play and blocks well. He can score from anywhere on the field. He has several offers: Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, Colorado State, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, UConn, Wake Forest, and West Virginia.

 

Batesburg-Leesville’s Amandre Wooden (5-11, 205) checks at 59th in the HSSR top 100. He is ranked as the top returning player in the Midlands by The State newspaper. He used his 4.4 speed to rush for the third highest single season rushing yards in Batesburg-Leesville history with 2138 yards and 26 touchdowns. He rushed for over 300 yards against Andrew Jackson in the AA play-offs. He has

 

“I have worked on my ball security and running behind my pads this summer because I had a couple of fumbles last year when the tackler got lower than me,” said Wooden. “We want to win state this year so we can leave a legacy like past teams.”

 

North Augusta’s Michael Doe (5-9, 190) is another speed demon who rushed for 1828 yards and 32 touchdowns a year ago. He has committed to Gardner Webb after getting offers from several other schools. He checks in as the 66th best player by the HSSR.

 

Kingstree’s Tyleek Dukes (6, 200) is coming off a break year where he rushed for 1798 yards and 21 touchdowns for the Blazers. He ranked 92nd by the HSSR. He got his first offer from Presbyterian over the summer and is hearing from Navy and Coastal Carolina.

 

Former coach Brian Smith said, “Tyleek has great vision and balance to go with excellent speed. He was one of the best players I’ve coached but he is even a better person.”

 

Dukes talked with the HSSR at media day about his goals and said, “I want to do the same thing I did my junior year and play with my brothers and go out with a bang. I trained a lot over the summer to get bigger, stronger, and faster and I can’t wait to get started.”

 

A couple of seniors who are under the radar are Clinton’s Javen Cook (5-7, 175) and Andrew’s AJ Lee (5-10, 190). Cook rushed for 1824 yards and 21 touchdowns. He has 2191 career yards and with another season like last year and he could top 4000 yards for his career.

 

Lee came on strong his sophomore year as he led the Yellowjackets in rushing after an injury to Touchtone North/ South all-star Lavon White with 1257 yards and followed that up with a team high 1467 yards. He can also top the 4000 career yards with another strong campaign. He is currently hearing from SC State, Erskine, and Coastal Carolina.

 

Andrews head coach Scott Durham said about AJ, “ We just need him to be the best version of himself that he can be. We don’t need him to be superman, we just need him to be AJ and he will have a great year.”

 

The HSSR asked AJ what his goals for this year, “I want to make all my stats count. I’m really going for 2500 yards this year. I plan to show out with my teammates in my senior year. I want to play at the next level so I’m going to what I have to do to get noticed.”

 

Some other senior to watch are Nehemiah Brown (5-11, 180) of Barnwell, Brayden Williams (5-11,175) of Saluda, Damais Seegars (5-11,175), Terrance Wilson (5-10,200) of Lake City, and Domonick Felton (5-11,170) of Dillon.

 

In the SCISA ranks there are some very good returning running backs in Dorchester Academy’s John Whetsell (5-11,200), Beaufort Academy’s Nych Underwood (5-10,190), Saint John’s Christian’s Dor Reichley (5-9, 185), and Northwood’s Academy Kaven Ford (5-8, 180). All if this backs ran for over 1500 yards last season with Whetsell leading the bunch with 1752 yards.

 

Northwood’s head coach Johnny Waters said of Kaven, “We expect a big year this year from Kaven as he will not have to share the ball as much this year. He is an unselfish player who works hard every day to get better.”

 

The junior class could be one of the strongest in recent memory as four of the HSSR’s top 25 players are running backs in #5 Jayven Williams (5-8,165) Summerville, #6 Trenton Lynch (5-9,185) Spartanburg, David Segarra #9 (5-10, 205) Byrnes and Josiah Mosley #24 (5-10,165) Wren. Willaims rushed for over 2000 yards for the Green Wave last season.

 

Northwestern’s Zymier Gordon-Miles (6,200) is another junior to watch. He ran for over 1200 yards in the Trojans pass happy offense.

 

Also, in the junior class (2026) are Cross’s Mah’ky Green (5-9,170) and Gray Collegiate’s Travon Williamson (6-1,214). Williamson transferred from Gilbert and his head coach De’Angelo Bryant told the HSSR that he reminds him of another back he has coached in Traevon Dunbar.

 

 

Saluda Football Uses Spring To Build Depth

By Dennis Brunson • July 3, 2026
By Dennis Brunson hssr.com Associate Editor Saluda – The Saluda High School football team will have a good amount of experience returning for the 2026 season. The Tigers have six starters back on offense and eight on defense from a team that went 6-6 and reached the second round of the AA state playoffs. However, they didn’t get a lot of work in during spring practice because many of them were on the school’s baseball and track and field teams that made deep runs in the postseason. Saluda head coach Greg Woerner found a silver lining in that though. “We were only able to get eight days of spring practice in and made the most o it and got better learning the offense and defense and developing some depth with the younger guys,” said Woerner, who will be in his second season as head coach. “A lot of our returning starters were making playoff runs in baseball and track, so we got a good luck at our depth.” Saluda returns four players who were selected to the All-Region 2-AA team last year. They are rising junior placekicker Ericson Vasquez , senior running back Tristan Daniels, senior tight end Jahmeer Myers and junior defensive back Ceddion Springs . Vasquez was named the Region 2 Special Teams Player of the year. Woerner is hoping the Tigers can be productive in the month of July leading into the start of fall practice. “For the remainder of the summer we’re really just looking forward to continuing to get stronger but also focusing in more on football,” Woerner said. “We had a good June competing in 7-on-7s (competitions) and getting better at our passing game and pass defense. July will focus more on getting better at the whole game.” The Tigers completed their 7-on-7 competition in June. Their first scrimmage will be on August 6 at Woodland before coming home to scrimmage Gilbert on August 10. Saluda is scheduled to open its season on August 21 at home against Abbeville . The Tigers will be part of a new region in Region 4-AA. The region will include two old Region 2 foes in defending state champion Strom Thurmond and Pelion to go with American Leadership Academy , Orangeburg-Wilkinson and Silver Bluff . MILLER MARTIN SELECTED TO AA ALL-STATE SOFTBALL TEAM Sophomore pitcher Miller Martin , a key figure for Saluda’s AA state championship softball team, was selected to the AA All-State softball team announced by the South Carolina Association for Women’s Sports . Martin had a 15-3 win-loss record and struck out 248 batters in 139 2/3 innings while posting a 0.70 earned run average. At the plate, Martin had a .308 batting average with five home runs and 32 runs batted in. Martin was also named the Region 2 Co-Player of the Year. Martin was joined on the All-Region team by Amy Sorcia , Zoey Springs and Nyla Jordan . Tigers head coach Hannah Towery said the program’s first ever state title sets a precedent for the future. “Future players will walk on to that field knowing a championship can be achieved because this team proved it,” said Towery, who guided Saluda to a 29-3 record. “The banner will hang, the trophy will be displayed, and the record books will always show who did it first. “History remembers champions, but it especially remembers those who paved the way. This team just didn’t win a state championship – they built a legacy.”

Jefferson Davis football focusing on the basics over the summer

By Dennis Brunson hssr.com Associate Editor • July 3, 2026
Raiders return everyone along the line from 8-4 team that reached 8-man semifinals

OCA Football Sets Sights On Four-Peat

By David Shelton • July 2, 2026
Oceanside's rising senior QB, Aiden Manavian is nearing 10,000 career passing yards and threw 42 touchdown passes last season.

W W King Holds Spring Athletic Banquet

By Gerald Doolittle • July 1, 2026
By: Gerald Doolittle Contributing Writer, HSSR Batesburg-Leesville, S.C. -W.W. King Academy held its Spring/Winter Athletic Banquet in mid-May to honor their 2025-26 athletic efforts. All the Knight teams were very competitive in their SCISA Class A region where they competed against Wardlaw Academy, Newberry Academy, Cambridge Academy, Richard Winn Academy and Anderson Christian . The Varsity Baseball team won the SCISA Class A Title . The Varsity Softball team was very competitive in the playoffs. Coach Jessica Anderson presented the Varsity Girls Basketball Awards . Blythe Buzhardt won the All-Around Excellence Award. Kenzie Morse won the Defensive Player-of-the-Year Award. Coach Dennis Gibson presented the Varsity Boys Basketball Awards. Spencer McCormick received the Most Outstanding Player Award. Brady Goff received the Sharp-Shooter Award. Coach Allen Guy presented the Varsity Softball Awards. Blythe Buzhardt received the Most Outstanding Player Award. Abby Aull received the Leadership Award and Kenzie Morse received the Iron Athletic Award. Coach Zach Matthews presented five awards to his Varsity Baseball State Champion players. Elijah Hutto received the Offensive Player of the Year Award. Luke Harvey received the Defensive Player of The Year Award. Wyatt Burbank, Zed Watkins and Smith Kirby shared the Team Leadership Award. Athletic Director Kathy Gibson assisted in presenting the Senior Awards. Smith Kirby and Abby Aull received the Senior Student Athlete of the Year Award. Wyatt Burbank and Kenzie Morse received the Athlete of the Year Award. Spencer McCormick and Abby Aull received the Christian Leadership Award. Wyatt Burbank and Kenzie received the Varsity Year-Round Athletes Award.

Florence Christian football team lost a few players to more than just graduation

By Dennis Brunson hssr.com Associate Editor • July 1, 2026
Eagles do return Region Defensive Player of the Year in Hayden Schwab

Lodge Begins Fourth Season As Berkeley Coach

By David Shelton • June 30, 2026
By David Shelton Senior Writer Moncks Corner – After a pair of six-win seasons in his first two years , Berkeley head football coach Eric Lodge guided the Stags to a 10-3 record last fall. Lodge is hoping and expecting to see continued growth and development in 2026 and recently put his prospective team through spring drills. The purpose of the spring is to identify roles and hopefully find rising talent that can assist either as backups or starters this fall. “Our spring is about evaluating kids, all of them, to see where they fit in,” Lodge said, “Those practices are very important to the growth of the program. We get everyone involved amd work to get them up to speed. Once we get into the summer, we are working hard to get stronger in the weight room along with seven-on-seven stuff.” Lodge says most of the returning experience is on the offensive side and the Stags should be explosive. Henry Rivers , a senior, will be a fourth-year starter and rates as one of the best in the state. Hethres for more than 1,200 yards and 12 touchdowns last season, adding 803 rushing yards and 16 more scores. Returning at receiver are John Cleveland, Eli Mitchell and Johnathan Mitchell, who combined for more than 60 receptions last season. Anchoring the running game are returners Lawrence Washington, Bryson McGee and Jesse Brown . That trio will work behind a revamped offensive line but Lodge sees potential in the developing unit up front. “I like our depth at running back and receiver, and of course we have a veteran leader at quarterback,” said Lodge. There are significantly more holes to fill on defense. The Stags lost an all-state tackle and three starting linebackers that were three-year starters. There also are three holes to fill on the back endd. “We have identified some young men who we feel will step in and be solid players for us,” Lodge said. “Replacing the experience is tough but we have some guys who will learn and grow over time. We’re not new to having young guys on the field. The talent is there and there are opportunities for guys to get on the field.”

Pinewood Preparing To Move Up A Class

By Roger Lee • June 29, 2026
Expectations are high for Pinewood Prep quarterback Silas Brawner.

Cane Bay Football Looking To Get Back On Track

By David Shelton • June 29, 2026
By David Shelton Senior Writer Summerville – The last two football seasons have been sub-par for the Cane Bay Cobras but veteran head coach Russell Zehr believes the pieces are in place for a potential resurgence. The Cobras finished the last two seasons with three wins each but did win a region championship in 2024. Zehr and his staff have worked hard in the offseason to develop some up and coming talent. They did so through the weight room and spring practice. “We had a good spring overall,” Zehr said. “We were missing a handful of guys due to track but we had good numbers. We spent a lot of time getting everyone up to speed. It was an opportunity for us to see younger kids that are coming up and find out who can help us this season. We had about 80 kids during the sprng and about 75 of those have been consistent in their workouts over the summer.” The Cobras will have a new quarterback this fall. Zehr says senior Coran Houp e is moving from running back to run the option offense this season. Returning in the backfield are Mayson Samuel and Sam Rolston , with some talented backs coming from the lower levels. The offensive line returns two starters, Isaac Siefken and Eli Taylor . Junior JJ Rose is back as the leader along the defensive front, with ends Devin Cobbs and B rennen Shokes also returning. The linebackers will be new starters with only Jackson Williamson returning with experience. The secondary could be a strength with returners Tyrell Bess, Zion Bryant and Caeden Wilson . The kicking game is a solid strength with senior Aiden Thorne returning. Thorne is a deep threat on kickoffs and field goals. “He’s got a leg and can be a real weapon for us,” Zehr said. Cane Bay participated in weekly 7-on-7 passing league scrimmages during June and will play at The Citadel event in July.

Mckoy Continues To Build A Winner At James Island

By David Shelton • June 29, 2026
Head football coach at James Island, Jamar McKoy has worked to build his program into one of the more consistent programs in the state.

Red Fox Football Putting In The Work For 2026 Season

By David Shelton • June 29, 2026
By David Shelton Senior Writer Hartsville – As he embarks on his 22 nd season as the head football coach at Hartsville High, Jeff Calabrese is anxiously anticipating the upcoming 2026 season. Calabrese, with more than 200 career coaching wins, sys his team has put in good work in the offseason and appears focused on bettering last year’s 7-5 record. “We had a good spring practice, a good offseason all together really,” the coach said. “The numbers were maybe a little down but not far off. We spent a lot of time evaluating every position. If we needed to make a change we did. The focus in the spring and summer is making sure we have the right guys in the right spots. We basically are trying to get everyone on the same page.” Like all the schools in the state, the Red Foxes put in training four days a week from 8:30 to 11 am. Calabrese says this summer has been especially important as four new coaches have joined the program, including new defensive coordinator Neil Smith . “Really excited to have coach Smith. He brings a ton of energy and experience and he has really adapted well here,” Calabrese said. In terms of personnel, the Red Foxes have experience returning in several areas, starting with quarterback. Junior Ford Wallace is back as the starter and continues to develop in his role as a leader on the offense.. Returning at running back is Trace Hillian with CJ Hickmon moving from receiver to the backfield. Anchoring the offensive line is two-time all-region performer Fred Turner . Other returning linemen, who could end up on either side of the ball, include Creighton McKnight, Jake Williams, Jaquan Samuel and Pat Rhode. Rod Cranford returns in the back seven as a third-year starter. Zi’Yon Mason is moving from the secondary to linebacker, as is Jamario Scipio-Bishop. Devaris James and Deon McCall are players to watch in the secondary. “At a school our size, sometimes you have to move some kids around to make it all fit,” Calabrese said. “That’s why the summer is so important, to get those kids a lot of reps, good group to work with. We just need to build some depth.”
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