Abbeville begins 2024 season as top-ranked Class A team

By David Shelton

Senior Writer

Abbeville – There has been a lot of positive “noise” about the 2024 Abbeville High football season but veteran head coach Jamie Nickles warns his team not to pay much attention.

Abbeville, a perennial state powerhouse in Class AA for decades, was reclassified to Class A by the South Carolina High School League in February. The school was originally slotted to be back in Class AA but appealed the decision, using travel concerns as the major bone of contention. The appeal was successful and Abbeville became the largest Class A school in the state.

It’s not the first time that Abbeville has been in Class A but it has been nearly 15 years since the last time.

Abbeville immediately became the favorite to win the Class A football title this fall and begins the season as the top-ranked team. All well and good but Nickles is pumping the brakes on the early hype.

“I’ll say this, we have played some of the teams that are in Class A before and if anyone thinks Abbeville will just roll through, they don’t really know football,” said Nickles, who is Abbeville’s all-time wins leader with more than 200 wins and has guided the program to eight state championships.

“Good football is good football, regardless of classification. There are some quality teams and programs in the Upper State and the Lower State. We will not take anything for granted. We have to play our best and try to be one with a chance at the end.”

The Panthers opened the 2024 season with an impressive win over Southside Christian on Aug. 23. Nickles was honored before the game as Hite Stadium was renamed Hite-Nickles Stadium for two of the most successful coaches in the program’s history.

Even after a solid performance in the win, Nickles sees plenty of room for improvement.

“We have concerns just like every other team does at this point,” the coach said. “We’re not a championship team right now. We have plenty of work to do, things to fix. If we are as good right now as we’re going to get, we won’t have a chance. We have to work every single day to improve our weaknesses.”

While the coach is stressing improvement in areas such as offensive line and linebacker, there are few concerns with the offensive backfield. Senior Demarcus Leach, a 6-4 USC commitment as a safety, is returning at quarterback and gives the offense some dual-threat capabilities. JD Baylor is getting reps as well.

The running game is led by seniors Karson Norman and Jha’Louis Hadden, both third-year veterans. Norman had 150 yards rushing in the season opener. Junior Jaylen Baylor will be the top receiving threat.

Senior Brody Graham is starting at tight end. The tackles as the season begins are Will New and Cooper Hansen, both seniors. Josh Ferguson and Qualen Wardlaw are the starting guards and competing for the nod at center are Kaden Harrison and Carson Harrison.

Parker Henderson returns as the placekicker.

On defense, seniors Altavious Patterson and AJ Speech are anchoring the front, with junior Cole Driggers and Kamryon Jones working in the front four as well.

Starting linebackers to open the season include Gage Evans (hybrid), Kendall Cole, Levi Paul and sophomore Zack Jordan.

Anchoring the secondary are Justin Rollerson and Jakwon Elmore, with Jaylen Baylor and Leach also starting on the back end.