Wilson Hall senior class 32-7 last 3 years



By Dennis Brunson

           hssr.com Associate Editor

           Sumter – The Wilson Hall football team played in its third straight SCISA AAA state championship game in November. And for the third straight year, the Barons came out on the short end of the stick.

           WH lost to Pinewood Prep for the second consecutive year, falling by a score of 55-13. That being said, Wilson Hall head coach Adam Jarecki could only praise his team, especially the 17-man senior class.

           “This group of seniors graduates with three trips to the state championship and not many people can say that,” Jarecki said of the Class of 2026, which went 32-7 over that 3-year stretch. “I’m extremely proud of them. They’re our leaders at the school. They’re the influential people at our school. We’d love to see them go out with success in the end, but what they accomplished is pretty special, and they’ve got to take pride in that.

“They had a great year (finishing with an 11-2 record for the second straight year) and they’ve had a great career. It’s tough not to come out on top, but they know what it takes to get here and they bought into it.”

           Six of those seniors were among the eight Barons named to the All-Region 2-AAA team. Leading the way was quarterback Ford Wilder, who was selected as the Region Offensive Player of the Year.

           Wilder completed 41 of 79 passes for 565 yards and five touchdowns while rushing for 483 yards and 12 TDs on 87 carries.

           Senior running backs Ben McLaurin and Milling Galloway were selected. McLaurin rushed for 1,234 yars and 16 scores on 121 carries. Galloway rushed for 585 yards and 11 touchdowns 62 carries despite missing three games and the majority of a fourth due to injury.

           The other senior All-Region picks were free safety Harris Naylor and defensive linemen Walker Wilson and Andrew Howle.

           Naylor had 35 tackles, one tackle for loss, two interceptions and three pass deflections. Wilson had 39 tackles, seven TFLs, two quarterback sacks and one PD. Howle had 28 tackles, a team high nine TFLs and two sacks.

The other two All-Region selections were junior defensive lineman Reese Wilson and junior linebacker Peyton Gilley.

           Reese Wilson shared the team lead in sacks with four to go with 21 tackles, eight TFLs, one PD and one fumble recovery. Gilley had a team high 61 tackles and shared the team lead in interceptions with three, returning one for a touchdown, to go with three sacks and six TFLs.

           Along with being All-Region picks, each of the eight were All-State selections and were chosen to play in the SCISA North-South All-Star Games.