Wolverine boys close out against four ranked opponents

Freshman James Gamble one of two returning starters for Wolverines

By David Shelton Senior Writer Moncks Corner – At long last, the regular season came to an end and the Class AA state playoffs are upon us. The brackets are set and the fans of the favorites are hoping to make plans in mid-December for Orangeburg and the state finals scene. Who are the favorites in AA? Is there a sleeper or two that may surprise everyone and get to the title game. Most of the time, the teams that survive the grind and reach the fifth week of the playoffs, the title game, are teams that everyone who follows the sport predicts will be there. Let’s have a little fun and handicap the AA field. My process is to list my top four teams in the Upper State bracket and top four in the Lower State, as I see it. Any team not in my top four would be considered a sleeper to make it through the bracket. But, it can be done. In the Upper State, my No. 1 team is Batesburg-Leesville . I know, shocker. The 10-0 Panthers have answered every challenge and have proven to be quite formidable. They allow seven points per game with a defense that has speed and physicality. Nearly half of the total points they have allowed in 10 games came in one game, to Abbeville, in a two-point win. Abbeville is the top-ranked team in Class A and their coach , Jamie Nickles , is a believer. “They are certainly capable of winning the state championship,” he said. Running back Amadre Wooden and quarterback Tanner Watkins are a solid one-two punch offensively. Wooden has rushed for more than 1,500 yards and Watkins has passed for more than 1200 yards. My No. 2 pick to win the Upper State is Clinton. The 7-2 Red Devils have lost only to Woodruff and Daniel. Each of those teams has just one loss this season. The tough non-region schedule makes me feel the Red Devils are battle-tested for close, big games. Quarterback Tashawan Richardson makes it all go for the offense with James Cook adding a major threat in the run game. My No. 3 pick in the Upper State is Fairfield Central . The Griffins lost their season opener to Ridge View and have won nine straight games since. The scouting report needs just one word – speed. The Griffins can run and are explosive. Running back Tydarion Grier has gained more than 1.400 yards and averages 9.3 yards per carry. And, my No. 4 is Saluda . The Tigers’ only loss came to Batesburg-Leesville and they would love another shot at their region rivals. Saluda is another of the top defensive teams in AA and defense wins championships. Tahe your pick as the favorite in the Lower State cause several teams have a shot. My No. 1 going in is Barnwell . While not flashy or dominant, the Warhorses are solid and athletic. Senior Cameron Austin is a great leader at quarterback and if they have success on the ground, game over. No. 2 is Barnwell rival Hampton County . Again, the Hurricanes run the football and have good solid play at quarterback. They made a good run a year ago and I think their confidence level is high. The last two favorite picks are difficult and I ended up with three teams for two spots. At No. 3 I am going with Cheraw . The 8-2 Braves are not great at anything but very solid at most. Running back Cam McClendon is a threat to score from anywhere and the defense gets after it pretty good. For No. 4, I am sharing the spot between Manning and Philip Simmons . Manning has just one loss, the season opener to Crestwood, but their schedule and region was not overly difficult.  Philip Simmons went undefeated in a tougher region and seems to be peaking at the right time. The Iron Horses have a veteran quarterback and they really play hard on defense. Class AA state playoff first-round pairings Upper State Pelion at Clinton Strom Thurmond at Chester Columbia at Batesburg-Leesville Andrew Jackson at Liberty Chesterfield at Fairfield-Central Ninety Six at Chesnee Landrum at Central Mid-Carolina at Saluda Lower State Academic Magnet at Barnwell Lake City at Timberland Edisto at Cheraw Andrews at East Clarendon North Central at Manning Woodland at Hampton Co. Mullins at Philip Simmons Kingstree at Whale Branch

By Dennis Brunson’ hssr.com Associate Editor Turbeville – The East Clarendon High School football team is going into the AA state playoffs with a 7-3 overall record. The Wolverines finished 4-2 in Region 7, good for second place. ECHS head coach Larry Cornelius believes his team has the ability to make deep run in the playoffs. It will open with a home game against Andrews on November 15 at Shad Hall Field. “We’re definitely capable of winning every game,” said Cornelius, who is in his second season at East Clarendon. “Our three losses have come by a combined 10 points. One thing this team does is compete.” The Wolverines suffered a 21-20 loss to AAAA Lakewood after opening the season with three wins. The two region losses came by a 15-12 count to Manning and 24-18 in overtime to Mullins . Cornelius said his team has played up to its expectations. “We’re where we thought we would be,” he said. “We’ve been competitive in every game and we’ve had a chance to win them all. “We’ve got a lot more diversity than we did last year,” added Cornelius, who led East Clarendon to a 5-6 record and the second round of the Class A playoffs in 2023. “We’ve got a lot more people to throw the ball to, we’ve got several ball carriers on the team. Each week it’s like we have a different leading rusher.” The Wolverines are averaging 234.4 rushing yards a game. They have five players with at least 292 yards. Jay Webb , who missed most of the last two games with an injury, leads the way with 684 yards and five touchdowns on 107 carries. Quarterback Takoda Cornelius has 486 yards and 10 touchdowns on 79 carries. Tyquan Wilson has 429 yards and two scores on 51 carries, Hunter Mixon has 358 yards and seven TDs on 63 carries, and Syrus Brown 292 yards and eight scores on 47 carries. Takoda Cornelius has completed 89 of 142 passes for 901 yards and 10 touchdowns. His favorite target has been Whit Nesbitt with 34 catches for 547 yards and eight scores. Dawson Beard has 29 catches for 319 yards and one touchdown. Coach Cornelius said ECHS needs to get off to better starts. “Our issue has been the first half,” he said. “That’s been true on both side of the ball, both on offense and defense. We’ve played well in the second half, but we can’t hang out hats on that.” The East Clarendon defense is a big play defense as it has 105 tackles for loss, 16 interceptions and 13 fumble recoveries. “Defensively, we thought our D line was going to be a strength,” Coach Cornelius said. “Our linebackers have been good and our defensive backs have stepped up. We’ve done a great as we Increased turnovers.” Linebacker Mixon has 20 TFLs among his 59 tackles to go with three fumble recoveries. Linebacker Colby McKenzie leads in tackles with 60 and has 10 tackles for loss. Outside linebacker Darius McCray has 11 TFLs to go with 34 tackles, defensive lineman Jordan Wright has 10 TFLs, defensive tackle Xavier Smith has 29 tackles and nine TFLs, linebacker Mike Woods has 51 tackles and nine TFLs, and defensive lineman/linebacker Jesse Floyd and outside linebacker Ke’haun Porter had eight TFLs. Defensive backs Picasso Brown, Cornelius and Nesbitt each have three interceptions. Wright leads in sacks with 3 ½ while Mixon and McCray have 2 ½.

By Dennis Brunson hssr.com Associate Editor Turbeville – The East Clarendon High School athletic program is making its second foray in school history into the AA classification. It’s been so far, so good for the football program, according to head coach Larry Cornelius . “I feel like we’re in a good spot right now,” said Cornelius, whose team was off to a 4-2 overall start and was 1-1 in Region 7. “We lost to Manning (15-12) on special teams play. We’ve been very competitive, competitive in all of our games. We’re still trying to take it one game at a time.” East Clarendon moved up from Class A after the South Carolina High School League’s biannual reclassification. It became a member of Region 7 with Manning and Lake City , who came down from AAA, AA holdovers Kingstree , Marion and Mullins and SCHSL newcomer Atlantic Collegiate Academy . East Clarendon opened region play against the two former AAA schools, Lake City and Manning. The Wolverines topped Lake City 28-12 before falling to Clarendon County School District rival Manning. The Monarchs won the game on a 68-yard punt return for a touchdown by Jeffery Ceasar with 5:55 remaining in the game. East Clarendon was off on October 4. It was to play host to Kingstree on October 11 before traveling to Mullins on October 18. It is scheduled to play at home against ACA on October 25 before closing the regular season at Marion on November 1. The Wolverines returned 10 of 11 starters on defense, and it hasn’t disappointed. “I thought our run defense would be good and we've proven that case to be the case,” said Cornelius, who led East Clarendon to a 5-6 record and its first playoff victory in years last season. “We’ve only had one game where they ran the ball good on us (a 21-20 loss to Lakewood). The surprise for me is the play of our pass defense. That was a problem last year, we’re allowing around 50 yards a game in that area.”

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