HSSR Visits SC Head Shrine Bowl Coach Reggie Kennedy of Manning High

Interview SC Head Shrine Bowl Coach Reggie Kennedy of Manning HS, HSSR Football Media Day at South Carolina on July, 28^th 

Billy G. Baker, Publisher

The SC High School Sports Report

Manning — This is the “High School Sports Report’s 37^th year of being a vendor at the annual SCACA Coaches Clinic and we would like to extend best wishes to all high school coaches, and their teams, for the 2024-2025 school year.

One of our reasons for being here every year is to gather information on every high school football team in South Carolina, for use in our annual 112-page football tabloid we print in late August every year. In this issue there is information published on every team in our state! We sent out team information forms via e-mail to every head coach in the state a week ago, that we had a valid e-mail for.

Please stop by our booth in the vending hall and pick up a football team information form and return to us by noon on Wednesday. You can also e mail it to at hsreport@aol.com as soon as possible. We will be making a valiant effort to hand you team information forms as we see you around the clinic also.

The HSSR would also like to encourage as many football teams as possible to have any of their next level prospects, from any grade level, to attend our Annual Football Media Day/picture day to be held at the University of South Carolina indoor practice facility on Sunday July, 28^th from 4 to 6 pm. Players, in good standing with their teams, need only to show-up in their game jersey’s. No other uniform needed.

We would like to thank South Carolina head football coach Shane Beamer and Director of Football Operations George Wynn for the use of this central location in our state that also comes with air conditioning, and protection from any late afternoon bad weather.   

Now, I would like to share with you information from the 2024 South Carolina head Shrine Bowl coach Reggie Kennedy who I visited recently for a face-to-face interview. Coach Kennedy sat alone in the Manning High Athletic Field house on July, 17^th (around 1 p.m.) and it has been a couple hours since the players and assistant coaches in the Monarch football program had departed after morning work-outs.

Coach Kennedy had no idea this writer is stopping by, and his welcoming comment is not expected. “I was just talking about you, and The High School Sports Report, with Dr. Shawn Johnson (Clarendon County School Superintendent) just yesterday, and he told me that he heard you had retired!”

That came as a surprise! I assured my long- time friend that while retirement is nearing, it is not in my immediate plans. Still enjoying the challenges that comes with sustaining the nation’s only statewide publication, along with our web site hssr.com, devoted exclusively to covering the positive achievements of athletes in South Carolina.

Coach Kennedy talked about the recent “all-star combine” held on July, 13^th at Airport High School that he said included around 200 rising senior football players. The majority of them had already participated at three other Shrine Bowl/North-South combines held earlier at various high schools around the state.

“I attended all three combines held earlier, and we had several athletes improve their chances of making the Shrine Bowl with their performances at Airport High School last weekend,” said Coach Kennedy. “We are close to our final evaluations as we meet as a staff at the Coaches Clinic. “The all-star combine at Airport was really helpful and we had around 200 kids show up to go through various drills.

“Things went well and both staffs from the Shrine Bowl and North South were there,” said Coach Kennedy. “We went through a series of drills, including 7-on-7 drills and the event was by invitation only. Things went really well. We are now in the stage of actually putting together our list and ranking the players in order relative to our team needs.”

This was the second year that at all-star combine was conducted with joint evaluation from both the North South and Shrine Bowl staffs. This is certainly a good idea.

Coach Kennedy said the one position group that is loaded with talent this year in South Carolina is the quarterback group. “It is going to be one of our toughest situations choosing the two or three quarterbacks from a very talented group that we have in the state this year,” said Coach Kennedy. “Our next best group, that we will have tough decisions nailing it down, to five or so guys, will be the defensive line. We were certainly impressed with the number-one prospect in the state Amare Adams (6-3, 280) from South Florence (committed to Clemson) and we are pleased to be top-heavy in the defensive line also.”

Among a very talented group of five or six quarterbacks in the senior class this year, the HSSR senses that Westside quarterback Cutter Woods (6-3, 197) will emerge as the starting quarterback for the Sandlappers in the Shrine Bowl. Woods recently flipped from Wake Forest to South Carolina after Gamecocks made him an offer. In total honesty, the HSSR was a bit surprised that Barnwell quarterback Cameron Austin was not invited to the all-star combine after he ran a 4.54 forty at the combine at Woodland High.

Woodland High head coach Eddie Ford called Austin the best quarterback in drills at the combine he hosted. Austin is committed to South Carolina in baseball.

When Coach Kennedy coached in the Shrine Bowl in 2007 (won by the Sandlappers) he made one note to himself once he got back to the all-star game as the head coach. (By the way, with the unfortunate death of head Shrine Bowl coach David Farnham that year, in late November, Kennedy was actually the acting head coach for the team in the 2007 game).

“My observation was how physical you really need to be up-front on both sides of the football,” said Coach Kennedy. “While it is a good year for defensive line guys, it is not particularly a strong year for offensive linemen, but we are very impressed with the young man from Gaffney (Sheldrick Sarratt (6-4,296) who is committed to South Carolina.

“The center position is a real key position for us, and we are still evaluating several good candidates right now,” said Coach Kennedy. “We are not over-looking the need for a good snapper, particularly a long snapper. We hope that we do not punt very much but you need a good snapper for sure.”

Coach Kennedy also said many of the players who were out-of-shape in earlier combines came to the all-star combine in shape and many of them were very impressive in drills he said.

Coach Kennedy said that in the spread offense the Sandlappers will execute the need for an H-back with a complete set of multiple skills is a priority for him also. Three athletes who could possibly fit this important need is Catawba Ridge tight end Brady Ambrose (6-4, 248), North Myrtle Beach flex tight end Brown Reaves (6-3, 235), or tight end Mikkel Skinner (6-3,220) of Riverside.

Due to the team being announced by mid-September, Coach Kennedy told the HSSR he is holding open six slots for the team for those possibly over-looked players who have outstanding games in week zero and week one of the upcoming season. “I am holding on to six slots to give some players on the bubble an opportunity to show they belong in the Shrine Bowl based on their play the first two weeks of the season,” said Coach Kennedy. “I will give players every opportunity to show they have Shrine Bowl talent by their performances over the first two games of the season. Being fair and objective is very important to me.”

Among the top running backs in South Carolina are Marquis Henderson of BHP (5-10,170) committed to Clemson and Blackville-Hilda athlete Jaquel Holman (6-2, 200) committed to South Carolina who is a 100- and 200-meter track champion.

Joining Coach Kennedy on the Sandlapper coaching staff will be head coaches Brian Smith of Kingstree, Jeff Tate of Ashley Ridge, Perry Woolbright of Clover, along with assistant coaches Marco Thompson of Manning and Jimmy Woods of Lamar.