Belton-Honea Path After First Title Since 2004

 By Dennis Brunson

 hssr.com Associate Editor

 Honea Path – When Belton-Honea Path High School lost to Daniel  28-23 in the AAA football upper state championship game last season, it had its goal set for the 2024 season.

The goal was obviously to win the 2024 state title, and the Bears are one victory away from achieving it.

 BHP will take on Oceanside Collegiate Academy for the championship on Saturday at noon in Orangeburg at South Carolina State University’s Oliver C. Dawson Stadium.

 `We’re truly blessed to be here,” said Belton-Honea Path head coach Russell Blackston. “You never know when the opportunity is going to come along. These kids have worked hard and competed well. It means a lot to the school and to the program to be in this game.”

 The Bears are playing for a state title for the first time since 2004 when they beat Dillon for the AAA crown. Blackston, who is in his 15th season as the BHP head coach, was in the fifth of 10 seasons as an assistant coach when they won the crown.

 Belton-Honea Path brings a 13-1 record into the championship game. It advanced to the upper state title game with a 63-20 win over Southside Christian School, a 42-14 triumph over Palmetto and a 35-14 win over Powdersville.

 The Bears advanced to the state championship game with a tough 30-22 win over Mountain View Prep, a first-year charter school that came into the upper state title game with a 13-0 record.

 BHP is led by senior standout running back Marquise Henderson. The Clemson signee comes into the title game just shy of 2,000 rushing yards with 1, 934, an average of 148.8 yards a game. He has 25 rushing touchdowns and is averaging 11.4 yards per carry on 169 carries. He also has 27 receptions for 270 yards and two touchdowns.

“He’s truly, truly unbelievable in football,” Blackston said of Henderson, who has rushed for over 6,500 yards and has 90 touchdowns in his career. He loves to compete, he loves his teammates. He’s just a great player.”

Blackston said Henderson’s speed and quickness is what makes him so special.

“If you blink, it’s over,” the head coach said. “You better have the camera on or he’ll outrun it. I’ve seen him have an 8-inch spot and he didn’t get touched. Plus, he’s a powerful runner.”

Henderson has scored 31 touchdowns this season. Along with the 25 TD runs and the two TD catches, Henderson has returned an interception for a score, a fumble for a score, a punt return for a score and a kickoff return for a score.

 Belton-Honea Path operates out of a 2-tight-end shotgun set with seniors Jamiah Galbreath and Eli Satterfield starting. Joining them on the offensive line are senior Oliver Marett at right tackle, junior Keylan Dixon at right guard, junior Brady Spearman at center, junior Keegan Mosher at left guard and senior Brody Smith at left tackle.

“They’re good, very nasty,” Blackston said of the offensive line. “They’re the thing that makes us go. If they play well, we’ll play well.”

 The quarterback is junior Noah Thomas. He has completed 116 of 184 passes for 1,791 yards and 26 touchdowns against seven interceptions. Thomas also has 387 yards and five scores on 65 carries.

 The starting wide receivers are senior James Moore and senior Ryan Lee. Moore has 14 catches for 232 yards and four touchdowns, while Lee has 12 catches for 222 yards and three scores. However, the leading receiver is sophomore Tajeh Watson-Martin with 41 catches for 881 yards and 13 touchdowns.

 Senior Justin Lathon, who has rushed for 333 yards and five touchdowns, starts on the defensive line at end along with junior Ty  Rainey. Sophomore Kamarion Glenn is the nose tackle and junior Kylan Dixon is a tackle.

Lathon has 40 tackles and shares the team high in tackles for loss with 12 along with Dixon. He has 35 tackles. Rainey has 34 tackles and four TFLs, and Glenn has 27 tackles and two TFLs.

 The linebackers are senior Patrick Sloan, junior Jakyn Anderson and senior Ty Kelly, who is the leading tackler with 72 to go with 10 TFLs. Anderson has 53 tackles and nine TFLs, while Sloan has 34 tackles and six TFLs.

 The starting cornerbacks are Watson-Martin and senior Norikus Cowan, the strong safety is KJ Miles and senior Colby Bates is the free safety. Watson-Martin has 30 tackles and two TFLs, Cowan has 34 tackles and two TFLs, Miles has 61 tackles and two TFLs, and Bates has 32 tackles and two TFLs.

Lathon is in double digits in quarterback sacks with 10, while Rainey has five and Kelly and Glenn both have four. Miles leads in interceptions with four, Kelly has three, and Bates and Anderson both have two.

 Senior Christian Bridwell  is the placekicker. He is 69 of 75 on extra point attempts while hitting on 5 of 6 field goals. Moore is the punter, Parnell is the holder while Satterfield is the kick snapper and Kelly snaps on punts.

Henderson and Watson-Martin handle the returns. Watson-Martin has returned a punt for a score.

Blackston has tremendous respect for 10-3 Oceanside Collegiate, which is the defending AA state champion before moving up to AAA through reclassification. Still, Blackston said the Bears have to play their game on Saturday.

“We’ve got to be BHP and do what we do,” he said. “We’ve got to establish our defense, get our downhill running game going and hold on to the football.

           “We’re a couple of teams who are playing really well right now.”