W.W. King seeks state title to cap perfect season
Batesburg – Seeking the completion of an undefeated season, the W.W. King Academy
takes on rival Laurens Academy in the 2025 8-man state championship game at Greenwood
Christian on Nov. 21.
King already owns two victories over Laurens Academy this season but beating a team three
times is said to be difficult. The game also pits mentor versus student as King’s first-year head
coach Brian Kneece, a 2010 graduate of the school, played high school football for Jolly
Doolittle, who is now the head coach at Laurens Academy.
Doolittle and Kneece coached together at Greenwood Christian before both coaches took new
positions. For Kneece, his opportunity as a head coach came after serving a five-year stint as a
middle school coach and varsity assistant.
“I am very fortunate and blessed to be a part of this school and this program,” Kneece said. “I
owe a lot to coach Doolittle. He is someone I have great respect for as a coach and a human
being. But we’re competitive and we both want to win a state championship so we’re going out
to try to win the game. Laurens will have the same goal. It should be a great game.”
Only once during their 11-0 season have the Knights scored less than 40 points. They put up
74 points in the semi-final win over Jefferson Davis Academy. In the two regular season wins
over Laurens Academy, the Knights won 60-34 and 44-22.
“Coach Doolittle is a great coach and I am sure he will have some new wrinkles that we
haven’t seen,” Kneece said. “We have to be ready for anything and bring a tough, physical
mindset into the game. They (Laurens) played in the state championship game last year so they
have the edge in experience. We just have to be mentally ready for a battle. We can’t get
complacent and we must remain humble.”
The Knights make most of their living offensively in the run game but have been very
successful when they need to throw. Junior quarterback Elijah Hutto has completed 75 percent
of his attempts with 1,064 yards and 20 touchdowns. He only has thrown one interception.
Senior Dallas Hill has 17 receptions for 483 yards with 12 touchdowns while junior Landell
Anderson has six touchdown catches among his 13 total receptions for 386 yards.
Anchoring the running game is sophomore Joseph Morse with 1,721 yards and 29
touchdowns. He averages 12.3 yards per carry. Freshman Blake Rabar adds 587 yards and five
scores on the ground.
Seniors Smith Kirby and Wyatt Burbank, along with sophomore Josh Oswald, form the
interior offensive line. Hill sees a lot of time as a tight end and is a good blocker as well as
receiver. Landell, Ty Doolittle, Jacob Clamp, Luke Harvey, and Jacob Bussey all work as
fullbacks and/or receivers.
Several players also start or play extensively on defense but depth has improved over the
course of the season. Bussey, a freshman linebacker, has 129 tackles and junior Caden
Buzhardt has 91 tackles and nine tackles for loss.
Hill, a lineman, has 19 tackles for loss and three sacks while Anderson has 54 tackles at
linebacker. Sophomore lineman Josh Oswald has 53 tackles and freshman Tucker McGinty has
six interceptions on the back end.
Kneece says a key to the success this season has been a renewed commitment by the players
to put in the work in the weightroom. Assistant coach Dennis Gibson coordinates the strength
program and the defense.
“We are a lot stronger and physical,” Kneece said. “They kids bought in and coach Gibson has
been awesome with training them. I can see the strength paying off, and it has helped some of the
younger guys develop physically to where we can use them on the field.”
Though he has only three seniors (Hill, Kirby, Burbank) on the team, Kneece says the
leadership of those three seniors has been another key to this season’s success.
“We’re pretty young overall,” he said. “We have 15 varsity players who are either freshmen or
sophomores. Our seniors have stepped up and helped bring those younger guys along. The
seniors want to go out with a championship and they knew they would need the young guys to
step up.”
Offensive Starters
QB – 11 – Elijah Hutto
RB - 5 – Joseph Morse
TE – 55 – Dallas Hill
TE – 12 – Landell Anderson
WR – 2 – Luke Harvey/6 TY Doolittle
FB – 23 – Jacob Clamp/17 Jacob Bussey
OL – 72 – Smith Kirby
OL – 62 – Wyatt Burbank
OL – 50 – Josh Oswald
Defensive Starters
DL – 55 – Dallas Hill
DL – 50 – Josh Oswald/58 Grayson Rikard
DE – 5 - Joseph Morse/56 Blake Rabar
LB – 17 – Jacob Bussey
LB – 12 – Landell Anderson
LB – 2 – Luke Harvey
DB – 7 – Tucker McGinty
DB – 11 – Elijah Hutto
SCISA Championships
AAAA
Friday
at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium
in Orangeburg
Heathwood Hall (9-3) vs. Northwood (10-1), 7 p.m.
8-Man
Friday
at Greenwood Christian
W.W. King (11-0) vs. Laurens Academy (9-2), 7 p
AA
Saturday
at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium
in Orangeburg
Pee Dee (8-3) vs. Bethesda (11-0), noon
Class A
Saturday
at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium
in Orangeburg
Williamsburg (10-1) vs. Colleton Prep (9-2), 3:30 p.m.
AAA
Saturday
at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium
in Orangeburg
Wilson Hall (11-1) vs. Pinewood Prep (9-3), 7:30 p.m.
