Larry Gamble Photo Editor, HSSR Orangeburg - In the SCISA Class A football championship game, Williamsburg Academy and Colleton Prep gave their fans the best championship performance so far. Trading scores, trading big plays that keep fans excited during the first half. Then, the mistakes by both teams started and the Stallions were able to capitalize better on the score board. In the end, Williamsburg wins 36-14. 

By Billy G. Baker Publisher Kingstree - Williamsburg Academy junior running back Grant Small rushed for 272 yards on 37 carries, including a touchdown, helping lead the Stallions to a 37-20 win over Thomas Heyward, to advance to the SCISA Class A Finals against Colleton Prep. The SCISA Class A finals game will take place at South Carolina State University on Saturday November 22 at 3:30 p.m. Colleton Prep advanced with a 22-16 win over Dorchester Academy . This will be the 5 th year in a row the Stallions have made it to a SCISA state finals game. They made the SCISA AA finals in 2021, losing to Hilton Head Christian . They won the AA title in 2022 with a win over Colleton Prep . In 2023, they lost to Bethesda Academy in the AA finals. In 2024, they competed in the SCISA Class A finals and lost to Thomas Heyward . In school history, the Stallions have won two state football titles, the other one was in 2013 against Colleton Prep also. They have won 13 regions titles in school history also. After the big win over the Rebels, head WA coach Will Furse shared his thoughts on the win. “It feels great right now, and this is what you want to strive for when the season begins, and at our school competing for a state championship is always a goal, and while we try not to think about it too much, it is always in the back of our minds,” said Coach Furse. “We still have a lot of work to do in preparing to play for Colleton Prep because they are a really good team,” said Coach Furse. “We have our hands full competing against them this week.” Coach Furse was pleased with the effort of Small, who came into the game with over 1,600 yards to his credit. “Grant ran hard and he has been very consistent from game-to-game this season, and he does a great job of understanding the blocking schemes of our offensive line and I have to give them praise also,” said Coach Fuse. “We have really good linemen like Mason Cribb at left tackle, Sammy Tomlinson at left guard, Poppy Livingston is at center, Connor Morris and Michael Ard take turns at right guard, and Marlin Morris plays at right tackle. “Our tight ends also block extremely well,” said Coach Fuse. “Those guys are Charlie Caulder , Jay Kellahan and Seth Cherinko also plays there. “We also have some excellent assistant coaches who work with these guys on offense,” said Coach Fuse. “ Ken Kellahan is our offensive line coach and John Floyd works with our tight ends, and they have done a good job developing our blocking schemes on offense.” Coach Fuse also praised the play of senior quarterback Micah Balder who has been on the team for four years. “Micah can do anything we ask him to do, and he is a tremendous passer,” said Coach Fuse. “He also runs the option well and he makes good reads.” Caulder, a junior wing caught a touchdown pass in the back of the end zone against Thomas Heyward and Coach Fuse said that “he is a match-up nightmare for opposing defenses.” The defense has allowed teams just over 13 points a game this season. Ard, a junior MLB, leads the Stallions defense coming into the game with THA with 114 tackles, including three sacks. Kellahan, a senior OLB, was next on the index with 76 tackles, followed by Caulder, an OLB with 52 tackles and 13 TFL along with junior FS Hall Dukes who came into the game with THA with 39 tackles and a team leading five interceptions. Balder had 38 tackles and two picks after 10 games. Junior OLB Seth Cherinko and soph DB Lane Patrick each had 35 tackles after 10 games followed by nose guard Marlon Morris who had 31 tackles and three TFL. Soph DB Gamble Wilson had 28 tackles and four picks after 10 games. Freshman DB Caden Morris , a top catching prospect in baseball, had 29 tackles and one pick while Tomlinson, a junior DL, had 26 tackles and two TFL. Soph FS Weston McKenzie contributed 15 tackles and one TFL coming into the THA game. Thomas Heyward head coach Daniel Bryan told the HSSR after game. “I am 100 per cent proud of my boys from start to finish this season,” he said. “We are 180 degrees better from where we were when we started the season. “We are going to miss a group of hard-working seniors like Tony O’Banner , Dodge Peeples, Josh Gibson, Jayden Powell and Miles Stanley, who played a bunch of football for us the past few years,” said Coach Bryan. “We had 12 total seniors on the team. The others are Mackie Bowers, Drew Willis, Jace Bessinger, Tyler Hymon, Owen Palazzo, Antonio Grether, Tanner Reed, and our first- year senior who played well is Mackie Bowers. “I thought we hung with them until the fourth quarter until we took some shots that didn’t work out and that is what you try to do once you get behind,” said Coach Bryan. “I was proud of the effort of my players, but it just didn’t work out fore us tonight.” O’Banner, a highly regarded RB scored on a 55-yard touchdown in the game, and he finished off a five-year career with around 7,000 total rushing yards and over 100 touchdowns scored. Thomas Heyward led 6-0 early in the game when Josh Gibson returned the opening kick-off for an 88- yard score. Gibson scored a second TD on an 80- yard run and O’Banner’s 55-yard sprint down the Stallion sideline accounted for the Rebel’s three scores and 20 total points all in the first half. After the Rebel’s scored on the opening kick-off the Stallions answered on their first drive marching 61 yards in 8 plays with Balder scoring on a keeper from seven yards out. The PAT failed and the score was tied at six with 8:22 left in the first quarter.  By half-time, WA held a 22-20 lead as RB Eli Brown scored from one-yard with 5:20 left in the second period and Caulder caught a two-point conversion pass that put WA up 14-6 at the time. Caulder caught a five-yard touchdown pass with three seconds left in the first half, and Caden Morris caught a two-point conversion pass that gave the Stallions the lead for good, 22-20 at the break. In the second half WA got a five-yard rushing TD from Small, and he also ran in a two-point conversion to put the Stallions up 30-20 with 7:43 left in the third period. WA scored their final touchdown of the game on a pass from Balder to Caulder in the back of the end zone with 4:12 left in the game. Small ran in the two-point conversion to make the final score 37-20. In a post-game reception in the WA cafeteria after the game, several players were interviewed about the win, and the upcoming state championship game. Grant Small said, “I run hard and follow my blocking and when I make contact with the defense I turned my pads into them. I like the spin move, but I do not know if it is necessary. I also like to hurdle over tacklers. I will be running the 400 meters this Spring in track. The win was great tonight, but we must finish it this week at SC State.” Micah Balder : “I have been on the varsity for four years and this being my senior year it would be great to go out with a state championship. We were really concerned about this game tonight, and we prepared really hard for it. I have a good offensive line, good receivers, and it helps that we can run or pass on about every play.” Connor Morris : “I have worked hard in the weight room, and I am benching around 475 now. This is my second year on the varsity, and I enjoy playing with my younger brother. This was a great win tonight, but our focus now is on our gamer Friday night. We are going to leave it all on the field I promise you.” Note: Due to extreme loudness in the room (celebrations) several other interviews could not be transcribed coherently.

By Billy G. Baker Publisher St. George—Williamsburg Academy ( 9-1) used several big plays early in the game, in their 36-21 region clinching win over previously undefeated Dorchester Academy (8-1) in the final regular season game for both teams last Friday. After the game head WA coach, Will Furse , told the HSSR, “It feels great to win the region title, and our guys worked really hard to have the opportunity to play in a game with so much on the line,” said Coach Furse. “I am very proud of the way we played, and the preparation of what went into this game, and the work paid off.” Coach Furse said his team picking up a late season game against Bethesda Academy, that they played at Hammond a few weeks ago helped prepare his team for the region show-down game against DA. “I certainly hope that game helped us get ready for the game tonight because Bethesda was big and physical, and while that game was not a region game and didn’t matter in the standings, it certainly didn’t hurt us to get us ready for the rest of the season,” said Coach Furse. WA’s versatility to be able to run and pass has helped contribute to their 9 wins so far this season. “Being able to do both makes it difficult for defenses to defend us,” said Coach Furse. “We try to be versatile and to have a plan in place so we can adjust based on what the defense is showing us. We did a pretty good job of making those adjustments tonight. “I thought our guys played really well,” said Coach Furse. “We are super proud of Michael Ard tonight, because he played a great game on defense, after being hurt in a serious auto accident the morning after the Bethesda game, on his way to school. At first, we thought we might have lost him for the season, but he got cleared to play a week ago. “We didn’t play him at all on offense tonight, but he did a great job at linebacker for us,” said Coach Furse. “He is one of the toughest kids I have ever coached, and nothing surprises me about him. He is the heart and soul of this team.” DA head coach Michael Nelson shared his thoughts with the HSSR after the game also. “We lost one of our top running backs in the second period (John Whettsell) and that adjusted our game plan some,” said Coach Nelson. “We just have to go back to work and get ready for the play-offs now. “Our seniors’ leaders have all played well this season,” said Coach Nelson. “Seniors like Abe Shuler , John Quatllebaum , John Whetsell , Landon Holly and Bradley Sievert have stepped us as leaders this season.” Coach Nelson was also proud of the play of the Raider offensive line against WA. “We gave up three massive plays to them in the first half that hurt us tonight, and I felt like we came out and played better in the second half,” said Coach Nelson. “We will get back to work in practice on Monday and address some of our mistakes and hopefully we can have a deep play-off run.” Senior QB Micah Balder tossed two first half scoring bombs to sure-handed receiver Charlie Caulder of 75 and 95 yards respectively and junior hard-running RB Grant Small scor5ed on a 95-yard run to help give the Stallions a 22-6 lead at the half. Small went on to rush for 167 yards on 17 carries in the game, and he added a second half TD of four yards. Balder added 26 yards on four rushes an one rushing TD and senior RB Eli Brown rushed five times for 15 yards. As a team the Stallions gained 208 rushing yards on 26 carries. Caulder had a great game receiving for WA with five catches for 178 yards and two scores. Senior Jay Kellahan caught one pass for 8 yards. The top six tacklers on defense for WA included Balder and junior Michael Ard with 10 tackles each. Jay Kellahan had 9 hits while Caulder and soph Lane Patrick had seven tackles each. Seth Cherinko , Sammy Tomlinson , and freshman baseball prospect Caden Morris had six tackles each in the win. Cherinko had three sacks also. Dorchester Academy was led on offense by QB John Quattlebaum who went 21-of-31 through the air for 209 yards and three touchdowns. His top receivers were Abe Shuler with five catches for 54 yards and one TD along with Landon Holl who had four catches for 21 yards and Warren Judy caught three passes for 81 yards and a TD. Reed Almers had three catches for 42 yards, John Whetsell caught two passes for 18 yards and Noah Risher caught two passes for 33 yards and a touchdown. The top rushers for the Raiders included Whetsell with 76 yards on 14 carries (injured in second quarter), along with Almers who netted 62 yards on seven carries, and Judy rushed for 40 yards on two carries. The top Raiders on defense included Will Quattlebaum with 8 tackles and one interception while Judy had six tackle sand two TFL. Shuler chipped in with four tackles and John Quattlebaum had two tackles and one TFL. Whetsell added three tackles and one TFL. ON the season, Small is having a great season on the ground for the Stallions with 1,582 yards rushing on 148 carries and 24 TD’s. Balder and Brown have 456 and 440 yards, respectively. Caulder leads WA receivers with 25 catches for 548 yards and six TD’s. The top four WA tacklers to date are Ard (102), J. Kellahan (68), Caulder (52) and H. Dukes (39). Williamsburg Academy will host Patrick Henry this Friday in the first round of the SCISA Class A play-offs. DA will host Beaufort Academy this week to get the play-offs started. Top seeded Colleton Prep will host Lee Academy this week in the SCISA Class A play-offs while Thomas Heyward will play against Carolina Academy .

Bethesda's Senior WR, Ralo Wesley (5-10, 160) pulls in the TD pass to put the Blazers on the board first.

Larry Gamble HSSR PHOTO EDITOR Columbia - The battle of two undefeated teams, Williamsburg Academy SCISA Class A and Bethesda Academy SCISA Class AA both on the road playing at Hammond in Columbia, SC. An tough it out to the finish game, Bethesda squeeked out the win 28-26 in the final minutes of the fourth quarter. 

Williamsburg Academy's Grant Small from earlier in this season. Photo courtesy of Angela Feagin,

Williamsburg Academy's Caden Morris at the FTC Jamboree.

Furse comes to Kingstree from Lee Academy as Boyd goes to Lamar

Teams hoping to make playoff runs in May