By Neill Kirkpatrick
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November 30, 2025
Singletary and defense lead Cane’s to Orangeburg By Neill Kirkpatrick Special to the HSSR Varnville – Not only was Friday night’s AA playoff semifinal game between two top five teams in the state (HSSR) it could also have been called the “Watermelon Bowl” as you had Central in Pageland (The Watermelon Capital of World) and Hampton County (Home to longest continuous Watermelon Festival in the State) battling to represent the lower state in next Saturday’s AA state championship game. The fifth ranked and home standing Hurricanes scored touchdowns on their first four possessions and never looked back as they defeated the top ranked Eagles 43-22 to advance to the school’s first ever football state championship game. “Our word of the week was ‘Preparation.’ If we prepared the right way to stop their offense and to attack their defense we felt we had a good chance to come out on top. I’m proud of the guys for the way they executed the game plan and thrilled for next week,” said Hampton County head coach Rob Hanna . Hampton County (11-3/4-0) will play Strom Thurmond (12-2/5-0), a 15-13 winner over Fairfield Central . While this is the Cane’s first trip to the state finals it is the Rebels 8 th trip with the last being in 2005 when they won the AAA state championship. Central (11-2/4-1) came into the game looking to go to their 12 th state championship game and get win number five. Central head coach Jonathan Eason said, “It was an off night for us against a good team. I give them lot of credit. They came out and executed and made it tough on us. I’m proud of they way we fought all night until the game was over. I’m happy I was able to coach these seniors. They won 21 games the past years and we will build on that in the off season.” Hampton County started the game exactly how they wanted to as they drove 58 yards in 9 plays to take and 8-0 lead. Senior All State running back Jaylen Singletary carried the ball on every play and finished the drive with a 9-yard touchdown run. He also added the two-point conversion. The Eagles tied things up on their first possession as the took 9-plays to go 62 yards. Senior Ashten Wilson had three carries for 40 yards to move the ball down field. Junior quarterback Dwayne Louallen II scored a three-yard run and the two-point try was good and we were tied at 8. The Cane’s next drive started by going backwards. The Eagle defense stuffed the Cane’s running game on the first two plays. Facing a third and 14, Canes quarterback Tarell Grant connected with Jaz’mir Goines for 13 yards bringing up a fourth and one. Goines picked up the first down on a sneak and then Singletary gave the Cane’s a lead they would not relinquish when he went 48-yards around the left side for a touchdown. Rafe Sullivan added the point after and the lead was 15-8. The Canes defense imposed their will on the Eagles offense the rest of the half allowing only 52-yards and turning over the Eagles on downs twice. Leading the charge on defense was Goines, Malik Terry , Tyler Davis, and Braydon Blake to name a few. Meanwhile, The Canes would extend the lead on their next two possessions. First, Grant would connect again with Goines for a 31-yard touchdown pass and the second was on a 75-yard run by Singletary. He would finish the first half with a 193 yards rushing and three touchdowns. Those two scores and two PAT’s made it 29-8 at the half. Central received the second half kickoff. Scoot Colyer returned the kick 25 yards to set up the Eagles at their 47. Three in complete passes left the Eagles in a fourth and ten. Louallen II only picked up five yards and for the third time the Cane’s defense turned the Eagles over on downs. Singletary would score his fourth touchdown on the night when he scored from the four capping a 45-yard drive. Sullivan added the pat and the lead was 36-8. Central finally crossed the goal line again with 8:59 to go when Louallen II scored his second touchdown of the night on a one-yad run. Wilson added the two-pointer and the score was 36-16. The Canes, who were playing a lot of second teamers, fumbled on their next possession and it was recovered by the Eagles. Louallen II would hit Aiden Short with a pass of 28 and 26 yards moving the ball to the Cane’s 11. Wilson would end the drive with an 11-yard touchdown jaunt. That cut the lead to 14 at 36-22 with 4:33 to go. On the night Wilson would tally 93 yards on 11 carries and the one score. Coach Hanna put back in his first team and Singletary put an end to any Eagle comeback hopes as he ripped off a 48-yard touchdown run for the final score of the night. He finished the game with 273 yards and five touchdowns. “I just went out there and did my thing. I let my running do the talking. My O-line is awesome. We made a connection and a bond outside of football that has made us stronger. That makes them block that much harder for me. When you love someone, you will do anything for them,” said Singletary after the game. “We had one senior and one returning starter along the offense line when the season started but they have played together for 14 games now. They know if they just give Jaylen a crease he will make a play,” said coach Hanna about his offensive line.
