Panthers ranked No. 4 in latest SCBCA AA poll

Eighth-grader Hannah Riles leading the way for 8-4 Panthers

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 Lake City – Lake City High School football head coach Jamison Estep understands the adage, “You are what your record says you are.” Still, he would beg to differ just a little bit. “We’re 1-5, but we could easily be 5-1 with a play here and a play there,” said Estep, who is in his second season as acting head coach due to major injuries suffered by head coach Ronnie Baker in an automobile accident. “We’ve really been self-sabotaging.” Estep had to look back no further than the Panthers’ 16-14 home loss to Kingstree played in a downpour on September 26. “We thought we had a game-winning touchdown but it was taken away on a holding call,” he said. “We keep tripping our own selves up.” The only blowout loss for AA LCHS was a 41-6 defeat to AAAA May River . Lake City lost to AAAAA Myrtle Beach 21-6, Class A Lamar 21-14 and Region 7-AA foe East Clarendon 28-12 and Kingstree, another region foe. The most points the Panthers have scored came in their only victory, 28-26 over AA Timberland . “We’re disappointed definitely, frustrated,” Estep said. “The kids have, talent, have the ability. It just seems we take one step forward, another step back. We can’t get out of own way at times.” LCHS is averaging just over 200 yards of total offense a game. Quarterback Amari Hanna has completed 55 of 97 passes for 710 yards and five touchdowns. Blayne Edwards has all of the touchdown catches on 17 overall catches for 397 yards, an average of 23.4 yards per catch. Fernandez Witherspoon has 12 catches for 141 yards, and Treshon Burgess had 13 catches for 75 yards. Lake City is averaging less than 100 rushing yards a game. Raheem McCray had 165 yards and a TD on 23 carries. Hanna had 139 yards and four scores on 30 carries. Estep said the Panthers have to get better in the trenches if they hope to make a run into the playoffs. “It starts up front,” he said. “You win and lose with the bigs. We’ve got to get better on both sides of the ball. We’ve got to clean up some minor details. We’ve got to be able to finish. In five of the first six weeks, we just didn’t finish.” Shayon Shavers led Lake City in tackles with 20 through six games. Hunter Blanchard had two tackles for loss, a quarterback sack, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. Kenjae Burgess had 15 tackles, one TFL, forced a fumble and recovered a fumble.

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Moss had 186 career wins, led East Clarendon to 1985 state title