By AJ Lee
Defending State Champion Cavaliers Look to Repeat
Christ Church had a dream season last year. Head Coach Quin Hatfield said in 2020 when he took the job that he had several goals that he wanted to achieve in the program. One of those goals was to bring state championship football back to Greenville, SC. Last December he did just that, beating Johnsonville 43-20 in the state championship game. The Cavaliers went 14-1 in 2020, with their only loss being to Holy Innocents Episcopal, a team out of Atlanta, Georgia. They went through the entirety of the 2022 season without even getting scared until they played Southside Christian in the final week of the season, where they won by only one point, 14-13, to cap off their 9-1 regular season.
The Cavaliers return a substantial number of talented players, but they do lose their offensive captain in quarterback Woods Windham. Windham passed for just short of 2500 passing yards last season. They also lost wide receiver BJ Atkins, who had 847 receiving yards and eleven touchdowns. Atkins was also a key contributor on defense at cornerback. On defense, they lost multiple key starters, including linebacker Ryan Coley and cornerbacks Joey Mikesell and Brock Huff. Another big loss is defensive end Carson Shaw, who led Class A with fifteen sacks. They do return numerous pieces, including their running back, Dashun Reeder, who led Class A in rushing yards at 2157, and touchdowns with forty-three. Reeder just recently committed to Northwestern. Another returnee is receiver Jackson Repp, who led Class A in receiving yards with just north of nine hundred yards. The Cavaliers are looking to go back-to-back and bring another championship back to the Greenville area. Christ Church will open its season in Columbia at Gray Collegiate Academy on August 18th.
Abbeville looks for their 13th ring in school history
The Panthers this past season got their 12th ring in school history, but their 8th under current head coach Jamie Nickles.
After the state championship win coach Nickles said “Just so proud of our coaches, players, community. I mean my goodness, ain’t nobody in Abbeville right now,” Nickles said after the game. “Everybody’s down here. This is emotional for me just because of these kids. They believed in us back in August when we were losing games and that’s not easy to deal with. But, they kept believing in what we were doing and our coaches. They do such a great job of coaching, they really do.”
There truly was nobody left in Abbeville that night. Every person who loves high school football in the small city of Abbeville was at Charlie W. Johnson Stadium that night on the west side of Columbia.
Coach Nickles mentioned they were losing games early in the season. They ended up going 13-2 on the season last year. For a team who started 2-2 to winning 11 games straight to win a state championship is a huge turnaround for a team that everybody doubted after week four of the season.
They return numerous talents to the 2023 team including the standout running back Altavious Patterson who is a rising junior this season. They do lose their quarterback Zay Radford.
With all that being said, Coach Nickles always finds a way to bring new talent to the varsity level. Abbeville will continue to stay in the talk for a state championship this year, just like they are every year. The Panthers open their season at home against McCormick on August 18th.
Beaufort Made History Last Year with No Pass Plays
Last year the Beaufort Eagles made history in more than one way. The Eagles were the first Lowcountry team to play in the state championship in back-to-back years since H.E. McCracken High School did it in 1976 and 1977. They also made history by winning the state championship game without throwing a single pass during the entire game. They won that game 41-31 over Powdersville.
The Eagles’ running game was more than one guy but two of them made a lasting impact. They were Kacy Fields and Colton Phares.
Those two young men both graduated from Beaufort High School last year, which makes us ask the question, who will lead the Beaufort offense this season? The more popular answer is their Junior quarterback, Samari Bonds. The three-sport athlete could take a lot onto his back if the coaching staff decides to pass the ball more than in years past. If the coaching staff wants to continue to run the ball more, they could look to their senior running backs Caleb Ulmer and Jadyn Andrews. We will not really know that answer until the Eagles open their season on the road at Cane Bay on August 18th.
South Florence Looks to Repeat But Without Sellers
Last year the Bruins offense was centered around one guy. That guy was LaNorris Sellers. Sellaes, who averaged just under 200 passing yards per game, is now playing for coach Shane Beamer and the South Carolina Gamecocks.
South Florence won their first state championship in school history last year with Sellers at the helm. He threw for five touchdowns in that game with four of them being from thirty yards plus. He also ran one in for the Bruins to cap off the six-touchdown night.
The Bruins will lose 4 of their star players from last year’s team including Evin Singletary, Shikeem Shilow, Jabray Johnson, and LaNorris Sellers.
The question for the team this year is who takes Sellers place at quarterback? The answer to that question is more than likely dual sport athlete, Hunter White. White, a junior, was able to see some playing time last year when the Bruins were up by large margins. He only threw four passes but completed three of them for 26 yards. LaNorris left giant shoes to fill, and we wonder if there is any chance Hunter could fill them.
After going undefeated last year with a 15-0 record, the South Florence Bruins open their season on August 18th at home against Goose Creek.
Dutch Fork looks for 7th Title in 8 Years and 8th Under Tom Knotts
Tom Knotts has become a legendary coach in the state of South Carolina. He has won seven state championships in his tenure at Dutch Fork with six in the last seven years. Anything less than a state championship every year at Dutch Fork is a disappointment. The Silver Foxes have won every single 5A state title except 2021 where they lost to the Gaffney Indians 22 to 19.
Last year Dutch Fork was led by their senior tailback in Jarvis Green. Green had north of 2000 rushing yards and over 500 receiving yards on the year. Jarvis is now being coached by Dabo Swinney in Clemson, South Carolina.
More than likely Trenton Lodge will take most of the rushing duties left behind by Green. Lodge got playing time in last year’s blowouts of other teams. He had 42 carries for just shy of 400 yards. It is safe to say that if Lodge becomes the full-time running back, then Coach Knotts will turn him into one of the best in the state.
The Silver Foxes had a strong arm at quarterback in Aliam Appler last year. For a team who focused on the run last season, Appler still had just short of 1700 passing yards on 96 completions.
Appler’s backup last year was Jon Hunt, who is now a senior and looks to lead the Foxes back to another state championship. Just like Lodge, Hunt was able to play in some of the blowout games last season. He completed 26 passes for just over 400 yards.
As Tom Knotts will always say if you ask him, they have guys who are chomping at the bit to play full-time. They reload every year to make a run for a championship and this year should be no different. Dutch Fork is number one in the preseason state poll and number 45 in the country. The Silver Foxes will open their season on the road against Colquitt County, a top 20 national program out of Georgia, on Saturday, August 19th.
The Hardest Region in SC is Reloaded with Some New Faces.
Dorman Cavaliers
The biggest new face in Region 2-5A is the new head coach of the Dorman Cavaliers. Jake Morris enters his first season at the helm of the Cavaliers. Morris is not new to the Cavalier football program. He is an alumnus of Dorman High School. He was a captain of the 2009 state championship team. He was named an all-area, all-region, all-state, and a member of the North/South game. He was also an assistant under Dave Gutshall for 8 years, and then he was the associate head coach last year alongside Dustin Curtis. Curtis resigned after just one season for family medical reasons. He is now the head coach of the Lexington Wildcats, which is his alma mater.
Dorman last year finished third in the region with a 9-3 overall record. Two of their losses came in region play. They lost to Gaffney 41-29 and to Spartanburg 42-41. They would make it to the second round of the playoffs before losing to the eventual state champions, Dutch Fork, 35-18.
They lose their quarterback in Hudson Talley who had just short of 1,200 passing yards last season.
Coach Morris was asked about his expectations for the season by WYFF and he answered with this "You know it's like I've said all year — we're still Dorman," Morris said. "We still expect to play on the first Saturday in December. That's our goal, and we're going to do that. It's been that way since I've been here, and I don't see that changing." The Cavaliers open their season on August 18th on the road at Greenville.
Spartanburg Vikings
Coach Mark Hodge and the Spartanburg Vikings boasted a record of 8-5 last season. They went out of state to play some tough teams and also suffered a loss to Dutch Fork on the last play of the game. They return 6 players on offense and 6 on defense. That was not the big talk coming into this season. The main conversation is “Who is going to take over the quarterback spot” since Raheim Jeter is now at East Carolina. Jeter last year had just under 2,400 passing yards, as he led the team to just one win short of a trip to the upper state championship game. Coach Hodge has not publicly said if anybody has won the quarterback competition between TJ Johnson, Brooks Vaughn, and Tre Burke.
Coach Hodge was asked about the mental toughness of his team, and he responded, "The last few years, when things got tough or chaotic or difficult, I don't think we handled adversity great, and so we're doing a better job of that, but we have to do a better job of that to win the last few games of the year," Hodge said. "If we get beat, let the other team beat us but let's don't beat ourselves because we're mentally tapped out. That's where the next step has to come and that's what I have to see from these kids."
The Spartanburg Vikings open their season on August 18th at home against South Pointe.
Boiling Springs Bulldogs
The Bulldogs go into their second year under head coach Matt Reel. His first year was a struggle, but it was a stepping stone as they return the most key piece on their offense in quarterback Lincoln Huskey. Huskey, a junior, threw for just over 1,100 yards last season and rushed for 257 yards. He accounted for eleven total touchdowns. They also return their running back in Javen Chim.
When head coach Matt Reel took over before last season he said, "Everything that we will do as a program will be to hold ALL players to the highest standard on the field and in the classroom," Reel's statement in the release reads. "(And) develop them as players and men and instill the mentality of hard work and discipline as the pillars of our success. I want our community to know that they will be proud of these young men, who will have amazing character and represent our community well." He proved this true as they had two big wins last year over Chapman and Greer. He looks to continue that this season and improve the record even more. The Bulldogs open the season at home on August 18th as they host TL Hanna.
Byrnes Rebels
The Byrnes Rebels have a bad taste in their mouth after last season. They went 9-4 last season with two losses being in region play. After they lost the tiebreaker to Dorman, they went on the road for the playoffs as they beat a region champion and runner-up in back-to-back weeks in Hillcrest and Blythewood. They defeated Gaffney at Nixon Field in the last game of the regular season but saw their season end at The Reservation to Gaffney in the third round of the playoffs. Getting knocked out of the playoffs by your archrival leaves a bitter taste in your mouth but makes this team hungry for a playoff run.
The Rebels lose their starting quarterback Colby Shaw. Shaw, who is also the son of head coach Reggie Shaw, threw for 2,823 yards last season. The clear replacement for him is senior Andrew Stevens. Stevens saw some playing time last year, where he threw for 291 yards on 26 for 34 passing.
The key returner for this group is the defense as they return almost the entire side of the ball. On offense, they also return most of the receiver group and their trio of running backs in RJ Livingston, Knai Cook, and Tyleik Dawkins.
When asked about his team, Reggie Shaw said, “We are very excited about our defensive line, it’s one of the best groups we have had in a while here.” It seems that this Rebels team will be very strong defensively and have a few new faces on offense, but they will try to get back to the state championship game for the first time since 2011. The Rebels will open the season at Hough (Charlotte, NC) on Saturday, August 19th.
Gaffney Indians
The Gaffney Indians, who were a young team last year and started 1-2, grew up in the middle of the year to finish with a 9-4 overall record and Region 2-5A Champions. Their season ended in the upper state title game.
The Indians do lose their quarterback Grayson Loftis. Loftis, who is now at Duke, threw for just over 3,000 yards last season. The guy who will take his place is Gray Collegiate transfer, Riley Staton. Staton threw for over 2,100 yards last season at Gray Collegiate Academy. Riley has Cherokee County roots. His grandpa always told Riley that he wanted him to play in the black and gold in The Reservation. When Riley was asked why Gaffney he said, "The reason I'm here is family, really. I've had a lot of family go to Gaffney, there was a very big Gaffney football presence in my life growing up," Staton said. "If you've been here on Friday nights, you know, and I grew up going to games here and there's nothing better than Gaffney football. But that's the thing, it's bigger than just football here. it's a community."
Besides Loftis, the offense only lost a few other pieces. The one giant piece is Edward “Sug” Jeffries. Jeffries had 495 receiving yards and 3 touchdowns last year. They return the rest of the receivers in Drew Medley, Emazon Littlejohn, Devon Porter-Gist, and Jamarcus Smith. They also return their pair of running backs in Quashon Tate and Jaiden McDowell.
The defense is the question mark for this team. After arguably having the best defense in the state last year, they lose key pieces in Nathan Johnson, Brayshawn Littlejohn, Tre Smith, and Kaliber Hoey. They return the rest of the secondary. The best part of this defense is the linebacker core with Clay Cook and Andrew Ruppe returning. When head coach Dan Jones was asked by the Cherokee Chronicle about the difference from last year’s team he said, “Last year going into the season we were young, and we were unsure exactly what to expect, Now, those eight freshmen and sophomores that started last season have a year’s worth of varsity experience. They were able to build some confidence last year and I’m excited to see the progress they have made.” The Tribe opens the season on August 18th at Crest (Shelby, NC).
Comments