Manning – The Laurence Manning Academy football team is a victory away from playing for the SCISA AAAA state championship after beating Heathwood Hall 49-13 in the first round on November 3 at Joey Chitwood Field.
The Swampcats, who are ranked second in the High School Sports Report AAAA Pick 6 poll, will play host to Porter-Gaud in a semifinal game on November 10. Porter-Gaud beat Ben Lippen 28-23 in its first-round game.
The winner will advance to the state championship game scheduled for Friday, November 17, at Charleston Southern University’s Buccaneer Field beginning at 7:30 p.m.
Laurence Manning is riding a 7-game winning streak. After opening the season with a 21-20 win over SCHSL AAA school Lake City and a 34-19 win over Pinewood Prep, the Swampcats lost to Wilson Hall 31-28 and to 6-time defending SCISA state champion Hammond 20-6.
“I think things have gone pretty well,” said Will Furse, who is in his second season as the Laurence Manning head coach. “We hit a little lull early in the season, but ever since then we’ve played really well. We’ve had really good practices, and we’ve come together, playing together as a team. That’s what's making all the difference.”
With the exception of the loss to Hammond, Laurence Manning has scored at least 21 points in its games. Furse is pleased with the way his offense has performed as an overall unit.
“I think we’ve progressed very well,” he said. “We’ve gone from averaging 24 points a game last year (when LMA went 9-4 and lost to Hammond in the championship game) to over 32 points a game. It’s been a complete team effort.
“It's easy coaching guys as talented as the ones that we have,” Furse added. “We’re extremely explosive with both the run and the pass. Being able to do that makes it difficult for other teams to prepare for us.”
Laurence Manning has had senior Tyler June and freshman Grainger Powell splitting time at quarterback throughout the season. Through the completion of the regular season, June had competed 51 of 83 passes for 791 yards and nine touchdowns. Powell was 51 of 81 for 659 yards and four scores.
When June isn’t taking snaps, he is normally lined up at wide receiver catching passes or running jet sweeps. June had rushed for 459 yards and 10 touchdowns o 54 carries while coming up with seven catches for 80 yards.
Josiah Burson was the leading receiver with Jackson Brunson also seeing time at wide receiver. Bryson Hodge and Drew Ferriell are the tight ends. Burson had 30 catches for 566 yards and 10 TDs. Brunson had 17 catches for 135 yards and a score, Hodge had six for 91 yards and a TD, and Ferriell has seven for 173 yards.
Seniors Ian Harris and Thomas Sumpter have handled most of the duties are running back. Harris had a big game in the 48-23 win over Trinity Collegiate in the regular-season finale. He rushed for 164 yards on nine carries and two touchdowns. One of those touchdowns was a 99-yarder at the start of the second half.
Harris was the leading rusher with 695 yads and six scores on 113 carries. Sumpter had 253 yards and a score on 44 carries, and Bryson Smith had 40 carries for 221 yards and eight TDs.
The loss to Wilson Hall was the only one in which the Swampcats allowed more than 30 points. Furse credits the experience of veteran defenders like Hodge, Nate Hawthorne, Chapell Brogdon, Burson, Sumpter and Brunson as a reason for the steady play.
“Defensively, we’ve had a couple of games where we could have played better, but we’ve been pretty good. We’ve got a lot of guys who’ve been playing defense for a long time. They are able to make a lot of checks, a lot of adjustments in a game. They’ve worked hard and it has paid off.”
Burson was leading the team in tackles with 80 and quarterback sacks with eight. Smith had 66 tackles, six tackles for loss and six sacks at linebacker.
Hodge was leading the team in tackles for loss with 18, while Brogdon had 15. JB Burson had three interceptions.
SUMMER CAREY FINISHES THIRD IN INDIVIDUAL PORTION OF SCSIA GIRLS GOLF TOURNAMENT
Laurence Manning’s Summer Carey finished third in the individual portion of the SCISA girls golf state tournament held recently at Orangeburg Country Club.
Carey shot a 10 over par 154 in the 36-hole tournament on the par 72 course. She was in second place after the first round when she shot a 3 over 75. Carey shot a 7 over 79 in the second round, however, allowing Trinity Collegiate’s Lina Polteraits to finish second. Polteraits trailed Carey by one stroke after the first day, and she shot a 77 in the second round to finish at 153.
Hilton Head Prep’s Bridget Wilkie was the individual winner, shooting a 7 under 137.
Laurence Manning finished fourth in the team portion of the tournament. The Lady ‘Cats shot 420 in the first round and 398 in the second round to finish with a score of 818.
Hilton Head Prep won with a score of 695, followed by Porter-Gaud at 721 and Trinity Collegiate at 734.
The next top scorer for Laurence Manning was Carol Ann Briggs, who finished 20th individually with a score of 192. Anna Kate Bean had a score of 228 to finish 40th, while Olivia Danback shot a 244 to finish in a tie for 51st. Campbell McKinnis finished 66th with a score of 264.
LAURENCE MANNING RUNNERS COMPETE IN AAAA CROSS COUNTRY STATE MEET
Four Laurence Manning runners competed in the SCISA AAAA boys cross country state and two Lady ‘Cats runners competed in the girls meet on October 28 at the Heathwood Hall course in Columbia.
Eighth-grader Drew Beard was the top finisher for the LMA boys, finishing 54th in a time of 19 minutes, 44.68 seconds.
Eighth-grader Ben Clegg was 81st in a time of 21:29.81, freshman Maverick Shepler was 85st in a time of 22:03.33 and freshman Noah Tucker was 88th in a time of 23:42.52.
On the girls side, sophomore Morgan Conklin led the way with a time of 23:07.60 that was good for 50th. Eighth -grader Meredith Coffey finished 64th in a time of 25:58.44.
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