With Dominant 38-7 Win Over Loris, Oceanside Collegiate Seeking Three-Peat In AAA State Finals Against Undefeated BHP
Oceanside Collegiate Junior QB Aiden Manavian (6-0,195) has proven himself as a strong accurate passer.
By Billy G. Baker
Publisher
North Charleston---Oceanside Collegiate (12-2) punched their ticket to a second straight AAA football finals with a dominating 38-7 win over Loris this past week, and the Sharks will now face undefeated BHP (14-0) for the second year in a row at South Carolina State University at noon this Friday.
BHP advanced to the finals with a 35-7 win over Powdersville. Last year the Sharks defeated BHP for the AAA state crown. In 2023, OC won their first football state title as an AA school, when they defeated Gray Collegiate in the finals.
After the game, OC head coach Brent LaPrad shared some thoughts on the big win. “Our defense wanted to make a statement tonight, and they stopped a really good Loris’s offense tonight,” said Coach LaPrad. “Loris is well-coached with athletes everywhere. Our guys really work their buts off and it was great to see them hold a really good offense to seven points tonight.
“On the offensive side of the ball we have weapons everywhere,” said Coach LaPrad. “We have a great quarterback (Aiden Manavian) who will take whatever you give him. He has a strong accurate arm. Our offensive coaches put a great game plan together on offense and the kids then went out and executed it to perfection.
“Terence Johnson was a running back last year and we wanted to move him to receiver to get out in space more where he could make big plays and that move has paid off,” said Coach LaPrad. “He is a special player who gets double teamed every game.
“On defense we have a lot of talent also and DL Sawyer Arnold showed up again tonight.
and he is so hard to block,” said Coach LaPrad. “He had a great game last week and he showed up again tonight. He wants to finish this thing off the right way in his senior year, and he works his butt off from a great family also.”
Coach LaPrad also complimented the play of junior FS Michael Strickler. “I would not want to catch the ball in front of him,” said Coach LaPrad. “He plays angry and he comes to play every Friday night.”
In reference to the upcoming game with BHP, Coach LaPrad said, “BHP is really good and they have done a good job of spreading the ball around this season. Last year they were more a running team with a great running back and we hung our hats on stopping the run when we played them.
“This year we more we have to prepare to defend the entire field,” said Coach LaPrad. “Last year their quarterback (Noah Thomas) broke his collar bone in the second quarter, and I know he wants to get after us this season. He is healthy and ready to roll. We just have to find a way to contain him.” (Thomas has passed for 2,098 yards and 32 TD’s via the air and he has rushed for 709 yards and 11 TD’s also coming into the state finals.)
In the Loris win, Manavian, a top junior quarterback prospect, completed 22-of-40 passes and two touchdowns against Loris (unofficially). Manavian will come into the BHP game this week having completed 232-of-330 passes for 3,875 yards and 40 touchdowns.
The Sharks scored their first TD of the game with 2:29 left in the first period on a tackle breaking 60-yard scamper by senior Terence Johnson out of the Wildcat. Jackson Sumney added the PAT.
Against Loris, Manavian tossed a 25- yard touchdown reception to WR Ethan Renew early in the second period that built the Sharks lead to 14-0. Later in the second quarter Manavian connected with top WR Johnson on a 15- yard touchdown reception that made the score 21-0 after the PAT.
Oceanside scored their fourth TD of the first half on a one yard run out of the Wildcat by Johnson and Noah Thrift’s PAT made the score 28-7 at the half. Johnson (6-2, 205) will come into the state finals against BHP with 55 receptions for 1,139 yards and 17 TD’s. Johnson had three catches for 64 yards against Loris and he scored three TD’s, two out of the Wildcat formation and the other as a WR.
The Lions only score of the game came in the second period on a two-yard run by senior QB Moon Gerald with William Suggs adding the PAT.
In the second half against Loris, Sumney made a 25-yard field goal to make the score 31-7 with 8:12 left in the third. The Sharks closed out the scoring (38-7) on a five-yard run by leading rusher Zakhi Muncey with 5:01 left in the game. Thrift added the PAT. Muncey will enter the state finals with 1,176 yards on 158 carries and 12 TD’s. He gained around 65 yards on 16 carries against Loris.
On defense, Oceanside’s defense has limited opponents to 212 points over 14 games.
The Shark’s hit index is led by senior MLB Rhys Meredith (92 tackles, 4 TFL) coming into the BHP game. Hard hitting junior SS Michael Strickler (6-2,185) has 61 tackles followed by DT Michael Jones (6-2,280) and OLB Romaum Parson (5-10,195) each with 43 tackles.
Senior DE Joey Harriott is next on the Sharks tackle list with 40 tackles followed by Dan Rella (37) along with DB Cole Gasper (36), DB Jordan Wright (34) while Appalachian State DL commitment Sawyer Arnoild with 33 tackles including 7 TFL.
After the game Loris head coach Greg Mance commented, “They beat Dutch Fork and they lost to Irmo by seven and those two team are 5-A powers, so we knew what we were getting into tonight,” said Coach Mance. “We got off to a bad start tonight and we played a great football team tonight. If we played them 10 times they would beat us 10 times. They are just that good.
“I told our kids after the game not to let one game define our season,” said Coach Mance. “We won 13 games this season and we played in back-to-back lower state championship games the past two seasons, but we can’t get out of the way of Oceanside Collegiate.
“Our 13 wins this season were the most ever for a Loris football team,” said Coach Mance. “We have a lot to be proud of. We have great community support and we had a great 12th man at all of our play-off games. I am proud of the team for an historic season. Our challenge going forward is to play better in the big games at the end of the play-offs.”
