Reitenour proud of Jefferson Davis' football season

Blackville – Jefferson Davis Academy football head coach Anthony Reitenour admits it hurt

both him and his players to not be able to defend the SCISA 8-man state championship. The Raiders

were knocked out in the semifinals of the state playoffs, losing to Laurens Academy 34-28 in overtime.

However, Reitenour can find nothing bad to say about the season JDA had.

“We had a chance to win (against Laurens), we just fell short,” said Reitenour. “Still, we were

region champions and went 11-2 on the year. You can’t be mad because the boys were heartbroken. We all

were. You can’t win it every year. We had a good season and I’m proud of them.”

Jefferson Davis had to play the semifinal game without its most valuable player in senior Colson

Loadholt. He sprained both the anterior cruciate ligament and the medial collateral ligament in a knee in

the first -round win over W.W. King. Some players were affected by a team sickness as well. Also, the

week of the game, Reitenour’s mother, Diana Owenby, passed away.

“It was just a bad week all around,” Reitenour said. “Laurens played well and had a great game

plan. I thought they matched up better with us than anyone else.”

The Raiders had eight players selected All-Region led by Loadholt. He rushed for 769 yards and

15 touchdowns on 83 carries while completing 14 of 37 passes for 374 yards and six scores. Defensively,

Loadholt had 10 interceptions, returning four for touchdowns. He also had four fumble recoveries, 67

tackles, six tackles for a loss and one quarterback sack. He returned a kickoff for a score as well.

Others who joined Loadholt on the All-Region team were senior Payton Payne, senior James

Grubbs, senior Nasir Void, sophomore Reece Still, senior Landon Williams, junior Nolan Craig and

senior Cole Creech.

Grubbs rushed for 1,120 yards and 11 touchdowns on 150 carries. Void had 58 tackles, a team

high three sacks, seven TFLs and two interceptions, returning one for a score. Offensively, he rushed for

1,079 yards and 15 touchdowns on 122 carries.

Payne, a tight end, had six catches for 100 yards and two TDs while rushing for three scores.

Defensively, he had a team high 71 tackles to go with seven TFLs and one sack. Still had six INTs as a

defensive back to go with three recoveries and 25 tackles. Offensively, Still had a team high seven

receptions or 209 yards and two scores, and he also ran for three TDs.

Williams started at center and Creech at left guard on the offensive line that opened the way for

the JDA runners. Wllliams and Craig both started on the defensive front. Williams had 59 tackles, two

sacks and a team high eight TFLs, while Craig had 49 tackles, five TFLs and a sack.

JEFFERSON DAVIS BOYS OFF TO 2-0 REGION START

The Jefferson Davis boys basketball team won six of its first 11 games, including a 2-0 start in

Region 2-Class A. And Reitenour, who is also the boys basketball head coach, thinks that’s pretty good

all things considered.

“I feel like we’re playing OK basketball,” he said. “We got off to a rocky start. Colson has been

out with the football injury Two days ago was the first game he was fully backc. We’re getting our

chemistry back right, the guys are getting into basketball shape and the team is starting to play together.

“We’ve been playing schools that are a lot bigger than us. We’re starting to play good basketball.

I like where we are. We’re improving and the players are dedicated to that.”

Four starters are back from last season in Void, Loadholt, Payne and Still. Void is averaging a

massive double-double of 19.1 points and 15.1 rebounds per game to go with 2.1 blocked shots, 3.3 steals

and 1.4 assists.

Loadholt is averaging 13.4 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.3 steals and 1.6 steals. Payne is averaging 6.1

points and 8.7 rebounds, and Still is averaging 7.2 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.4 steals and 2.4 assists.

Reitneour said the fifth starter is still up for grabs between sophomore Corbin Perry, Craig,

senior Riley Todd, senior Bryan Montejano and junior Tanner Williams.

Perry is averaging 6.3 points and 2.6 rebounds, Craig is at 2.3 points and 2.8 rebounds.

“It’s kind of a mixed starting five in regards to that last spot,” Reitenour said. “It depends on who

we’re playing and what we need. They’re all helping us though.”

Other members of the team are sophomore Stance Young and junior Tanner Page.

“There’s lots of room to grow with this team,” Reitenour said. “We’ve got a good schedule ahead

of us. It will be interesting to see how we finish.”

JDA GIRLS OFF TO 3-6 START

Larry Johnson is back as the girls basketball head coach at Jefferson Davis Academy. He was

the head coach in the 2022-23 season, but was unable to coach last year as he was on deployment to

Poland as a member of the United States Army Reserves.

The Raiders were off to a 3-6 start. More importantly, they won their Region 2 opener. Despite

that, Johnson is far from satisfied and thinks the best is yet to come.

“Our team is playing fair, but we will be altogether and of one accord by the start of the (state)

playoffs,” Johnson said. ‘We’ve been battling sickness, but I think we have a really good chance to make

a deep playoff run, if not go all the way.”

The starting lineup is made up of senior Peyton Hutto, junior Rynn Fickling, sophomore

Brooke Fogle, freshman Rileigh York and freshman Riley Williams.

Hutto is one of four returning players from last season and she is definitely leading the way. She

is averaging 12.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and just under six blocked shots a game.

Fickling is averaging around seven points, while York is averaging around six points and 10

rebounds. Fogle is averaging 5.0 points and 5.0 assists, and Williams is averaging 4.0 points and 5.0

rebounds.

Seeing a lot of time off the bench are senior Sydney Owens, another returning player, sophomore

Esmeralda Montejano and sophomore Abby Dowling.

“They have been playing really well off the bench,” Johnson said.

Other members of the team are returnees Macey Respass and Madelyn Respass, Elie Fogle,

Olivia Reitenour, Abby Deering and Ava Guzman.