Hammond rallies to beat Laurence Manning 28-21 for seventh straight state title

North Charleston – This one wasn’t nearly as easy, so maybe that made it a little bit sweeter.

That would be Hammond winning its seventh straight SCISA football state title on Friday. The Skyhawks rallied from a 14-0 deficit to pull out a 28-21 victory over Laurence Manning Academy for the AAAA state title at Charleston Southern University’s Buccaneer Field.

“I’ve been proud of a lot of teams, but I don’t think I’ve ever been more proud of a team than tonight because of their character,” said Hammond head coach Jon Wheeler, who won his third state championship in as many years in charge. “They say football doesn’t create character, it reveals character and their character is solid gold.

“Internal, external., you kept hearing this might be the year (Hammond doesn’t win the title). They just took it in stride and kept getting better. They just came and put their nose to the ground and got better.

The Skyhawks started the season 1-2, falling to Georgia power Prince Avenue Prep 42-13 and to SCHSL AA No. 1 Gray Collegiate 52-14. They then beat LMA 20-6 to start a season-ending 10-game winning streak to finish with an 11-2 record.

“They’ve been battle-tested,” Wheeler said of Hammond, which has won the first two AAAA state championships. “They got punched in the mouth early in the season. They were humbled, but they allowed that to create hunger, to get better.

“They faced it, they didn’t run from the adversity. They got better each week, and that’s why they were able to get to this point. They got better and learned from their mistakes.”

Hammond beat LMA 52-0 in last year’s championship game. It was nothing like that on Friday.

Hammond didn’t take its first lead until the first play of the fourth quarter. That’s when quarterback Andrew Turner, who came in in the second quarter, went in from six yards out on a QB keeper to cap off a 9-play, 50-yard drive

The extra point was no good, leaving the score at 20-14 Hammond with 11:52 remaining in the game.

The Skyhawks held that lead less than one minute. That’s because running back Ian Harris broke off a 72-yard TD run on the Swampcats’ second play of the ensuing drive. Placekicker Mills Lee added the extra point to give the Swampcats a 21-20 lead with 11:19 left.

Hammond didn’t get the winning touchdown immediately. Star running back Immanuel Johnson was dropped for a 5-yard loss by LMA defensive end Bryson Hodge on first down on the ensuing drive. That led to a 3-downs-and-out series and a punt.

Laurence Manning took over at its 26. Harris was held to no gain on first down before Jeremiah Burson ran for four yards. On third down, June tossed the ball to Harris, who couldn’t get a handle on the football. Skyhawk defensive back Preston Springs recovered at the 25.

Hammond was penalized 15 yards on the first play, moving the ball back to 40. Running back Kinson Holland ran for eight yards to the 32 before Turner threw an incompletion. On third down, Turner went up top to the 6-foot-4-inch, 220-pound Michael Tyler, who battled with the LMA defender down the left sideline. Turner placed the ball perfectly and Tyler went up and caught it for a 32-yard TD pass.

Johnson ran for the 2-point conversion to make it 28-21 with 6:22 to go.

Turner knew the potential for a score was there when he lofted the ball to Tyler in the left side of the end zone.

“That was a critical time of the game for us,” said Turner, who completed 6 of 15 passes for 95 yards. “When the coach signaled that play in I knew before the snap I was throwing the ball to Mike. He and I we trust each other a lot. We’re like brothers and I trust he can go up and make a play, and he sure did. That was awesome.”

Tyler, a junior tight end/wide receiver who has offers from Cincinnati and Louisville, said he was just answering the call.

“I knew my team needed a big time catch so I made a big time play,” said Tyler, who finished with six catches for 61 yards.

The Swampcats started at their 18 following the kickoff. Jackson Brunson had a 2-yard run and then caught a 22-ysrd pass from quarterback Tyler June for a first down at the 42. LMA picked up another first down at the Hammond 43 after Jeremiah Burson ran for six yards on fourth down and inches.

That was as close as LMA would get though. June was stopped for losses of six, one and six yards to bring up fourth and 23 at the LMA 44. On fourth down, June went deep to Josiah Burson, who went up and hauled in a pass at the Hammond 23. However, offsetting penalties nullified the play, and another deep pass, this one to Brunson, was knocked down.

Hammond was able to run out the clock to secure its seven straight state title.

LMA head coach Will Furse said he was proud of the Swampcats, even though they came up short of the title to finish with a 10-3 record..

“We had opportunities, we played really hard, there was no quit in this team. I knew there wouldn’t be,” said Furse, who has led LMA to the title game in each of his first two seasons. “We had some chances, took advantage of some opportunities in the first half. Hammond played better in the second half., and we didn’t do quite enough.

“You’ve got to take advantage of evert opportunity and we weren’t quite there tonight. I think our guys can still hold their heads up high.”

Laurence Manning took advantage of a couple of Hammond turnovers in the first quarter to get out to the 14-0 lead. The Swampcats received the opening kickoff and Hammond forced a 3-and-out. LMA punter Noah Tanner got off the kick and Jack Croft fumbled at the Hammond 24. Zylen Dennis recovered the football, setting LMA up at the 21.

After a penalty, June ran for 12 yards and Harris for 10 for a first down at the 4. Brunson scored on the next play and Lee added the extra point to mnake it 7-0 with 10:26 left.

Later in the quarter, LMA linebacker Bryson Smith came up with an interception to set the Swampcats up at the Hammond 34. Robert Malanuk, who started the game at quarterback for Hammond, was hit as he threw the ball with Smith coming up with the pick.

June went to his favorite target – Josiah Burson – on second down for a 30-yard touchdown pass. Lee’s PAT made it 14-0 with 47 seconds left in the first quarter.

Laurence Manning was driving in the second quarter to extend the lead when it faced fourth and 3 at the Skyhawk 28. June was dropped for a 14-yard loss by defensive back Jaiden Haltiwanger, allowing Hammond to take over at its 42.

The Skyhawks were looking at third and 9 when Turner, who entered the game on the series following the interception, made a mad scramble and lofted a short pass over the LMA defense to Croft for a 32-yard gain to the LMA 25. That set up a 19-yard scoring run by Johnson. Placekicker Jackson Ross added the extra point to make it 14-7 with 1:39 left in the first half.

Wheeler had a simple message for his team at halftime.

“Again, no offense to Laurence Manning, I said, ‘Hey guys. We’re going to win this ball game. We’re going to come out here, we’re going to execute, we’re not going to point fingers.’ We made some mistakes. Again, they made us make mistakes because they’re a heck of a football team. I knew it was going to take us executing and playing really well to beat them, and we did that for the most part.”

Hammond received the second-half kickoff and picked up a couple of first downs before punting. On the second possession, Johnson broke off a 75-yard scoring run with Ross adding the extra point to tie the game with 4:34 left in the third quarter.

Johnson ran for 207 yards on 25 carries while Holland had 81 yards on 13 carries.

June completed 7 of 13 passes for 132 yards for LMA. Josiah Burson had three catches for 63 yards and Brunson had two catches for 50 yards.

Harris ran for 77 yards on eight carries. The Skyhawks had nine tackles for loss with June running the ball as he finished with minus-2 yards on 16 carries.

Furse expressed gratitude toward his senior class.

“We’ve got over 20 seniors on this team,” Furse said. “This was their last ride and they poured everything into this season. They did a phenomenal job.

“They’re used to being in big games. I told my guys we’re going to win a state championship here, and it’s going to have a lot to do with this season. This season proved that we can compete with them. I’m just so proud of the seniors.”

While Hammond is obviously used to winning state championships, this is a new experience for Turner. The junior came to Hammond after transferring from Catawba Ridge High School in Fort Mill.

“This is my first time winning a state championship,” Turner said. “This is my first year here. I’ve developed a brotherhood with all of the guys, unlike anything I’ve ever had. It just felt completely different. It was awesome.”

And what does it mean to hoist the trophy for someone who has done it before like Tyler?

“It’s huge,” he said. “No one’s ever done seven in a row, so it’s awesome.”