By Dennis Brunson hssr.com Associate Editor Sumter – The regular season in high school football is always special, but there is nothing that compares to the postseason. Looking at the brackets, seeing what has to happen for this particular matchup to happen, the anticipation of said matchups and the excitement that builds up as teams try to make a run toward a state championship. With the reclassification put forward by the South Carolina High School League for this year, all of the classifications will have a different vibe. Class A no longer will have Christ Church , Southside Christan School and St. Joseph’s because of the multiplier rule, but it does have a new dominant force in Abbeville . The Panthers, long a force in AA, is now in Class A and has to be seen as the prohibitive favorite. Still though, you’ve got to play the games and see what happens. We can’t do that, but we can fill out the bracket to see who we have facing off for the championship in Orangeburg the second week of December. WHO’S IN: Upper State Region 1 : 1. Abbeville 2. Ware Shoals 3. Whitmire 4. Dixie 5. McCormick 6. Calhoun Falls Region 2 : 1. Lewisville 2. Lamar 3. Lee Central 4. McBee 5. C.A. Johnson Region 3 : 1. Hunter-Kinard-Tyler 2. Blackville-Hilda 3. Calhoun County 4. Ridge Spring-Monetta 5. Williston-Elko Lower State Region 4 : 1. Bamberg-Ehrhart 2. Ridgeland 3. Denmark-Olar 4. Hardeeville Region 5 : 1. Cross 2. Branchville 3. Baptist Hill 4. Scott’s Branch 5. Military Magnet 6. Bethune-Bowman Region 6 : 1. Lake View 2. Hannah-Pamplico 3. Latta 4. Carvers Bay 5. Johnsonville 6. Green Sea Floyds FIRST ROUND Upper State C.A. Johnson (2-8) at Abbeville (8-1) Dixie (7-2) at Blackville-Hilda (8-2) McCormick (3-7) at Lamar (7-3) Calhoun County (3-7) at Lee Central (5-4) McBee (4-5) at Hunter-Kinard-Tyler (9-1) Williston-Elko (2-7) at Ware Shoals (4-5) Calhoun Falls (1-8) at Lewisville (9-1) Ridge Spring-Monetta (5-5) at Whitmire (3=7) Lower State Green Sea Floyds (1-9) at Cross (8-2) Scott’s Branch (4-6) at Ridgeland (6-4) Military Magnet (2-6) at Hannah-Pamplico (7-2) Carvers Bay (4-6) at Denmark-Olar (3-6) Hardeeville (3-7) at Lake View (8-1) Johnsonville (4=6) at Branchville (8-2) Bethune-Bowman (1-9) at Bamberg-Ehrhardt (6-2) Latta (5-5) at Baptist Hill (6-3) The first round of any high school sports playoff is usually filled with blowouts, and that could easily be the case with these 16 games. However, there are intriguing matchups in this group. While Blackville-Hilda has to be the favorite with an 8-2 record, it will take on a 7-2 Dixie squad. Ridgeland finished second in a weak Region 6, while Scott’s Branch came on strong down the stretch to go 4-6. Carvers Bay is 4-6 and will play at 3-6 Denmark-Olar . Latta at Baptist Hill will be an intriguing matchup because the Vikings pound the ball while Baptist Hill pushes the ball through the air. Johnsonville may be just 4-6 and going against an 8-2 Branchville squad, but Johnsonville is the 2-time defending lower state champion. Don’t look for them to go down easy. First-round winners: Upper State: Abbeville, Blackville-Hilda, Lamar, Lee Central, Hunter-Kinard-Tyler, Ware Shoals, Lewisville, Ridge-Spring Monetta. Lower State: Cross, Scott’s Branch, Hannah-Pamplico, Carvers Bay, Lake View, Branchville, Bamberg-Ehrhardt, Latta. SECOND ROUND Upper State Blackville-Hilda at Abbeville Lee Central at Lamar Ware Shoals at Hunter-Kinard-Tyler Ridge Spring-Monetta at Lewisvlle Lower State Scott’s Branch at Cross Carvers Bay at Hannah-Pamplico Branchville at Lake View Latta at Bamberg-Ehrhardt This is the round where the fun starts to kick in with matchups of teams with gaudy records and outstanding reputations. Also, with the Class A regions so widespread, you can easily get pairings of teams that aren’t geographically close, thus leading to first-time matchups. The two most noteworthy showdowns in this round would be 2-loss Blackville-Hilda playing at 1-loss Abbeville. The Panthers will be favored and are led by Damarcus Leach . He will be going up against a future teammate at South Carolina in B-H’s Jaquel Holman . The best lower state matchup will have 2-loss Branchville at 1-loss Lake View . Second-round winners: Upper State: Abbeville, Lamar, Hunter-Kinard-Tyler, Lewisville: Lower State: Cross, Hannah-Pamplico, Lake View, Bamberg-Ehrhardt THIRD ROUND Upper State Lamar at Abbeville Lewisville at Hunter-Kinard-Tyler Lower State Hannah-Pamplico at Cross Bamberg-Ehrhardt at Lake View You’ve got the three champions of the upper state regions and the three region champions from the lower state still alive. The other team in the upper state is No. 2 seed Lamar , while No. 2 seed Hannah-Pamplico is the fourth lower state team. In years past, a matchup between Lamar and Abbeville would be a premier showdown. While Lamar is still a top program, Abbeville is simply a cut above. Hunter-Kinard-Tyler has had a great season, but Lewisville has been on a mission after going out in the second round last season. These lower state matchups would be fun to watch as the pairings have two teams that go about their business in different ways. Third-round winners: Upper State: Abbeville, Lewisville Lower State: Cross, Bamberg-Ehrhardt SEMIFINALS Upper State Lewisville at Abbeville Lower State Bamberg-Ehrhardt at Cross This would be the “collision course” game of the upper state bracket. Lewisville and Abbeville have been dominant all season. The lower state game will be a pairing of two teams that like to pound the football. However, Bamberg-Ehrhardt has senior quarterback Chanston Crosby to give it a better passing option. Semifinal winners: Abbeville, Bamberg-Ehrhardt STATE CHAMPIONSHIP Abbeville vs. Bamberg-Ehrhardt The Red Raiders will present a physical challenge, but Abbeville has tremendous throughout its roster, especially on the defensive side of the ball. However, I go back to what I said at the beginning of the story. Abbeville has to be considered the favorite to win until someone beats it. Your state champion: Abbeville

By Dennis Brunson hssr.com Associate Editor Latta – It took a little while for the Latta High School football coaching staff to figure things out, but head coach Brandon Iseman likes where his team is at as it prepares for the Vikings prepare for the Class A state playoffs. After losing three of its first four games, LHS won four of its final six contests. It is taking a 5-5 overall record into the Class A state playoffs after finishing third in Region 6. Latta will open the playoffs on November 15 by going on the road to face Baptist Hill . “Coming off of last year where we had so many seniors, we had a lot of question marks,” said head coach Brandon Iseman, who led Latta to a 9-2 record last year. “We were filling certain holes, and we had to go through a process of fitting puzzle pieces together.” After beating East Columbus from North Carolina 49-6 to open the season, the Vikings lost to Marion 8-7, McBee 28-7 and Mullins 6-0. Following the McBee loss, Iseman and his staff decided to get out of its spread offense and switch to the wishbone. “We were kind of getting the pieces into place all year,” he said. “Where we ran the spread, throw it and run out of it, that didn’t fit us this year. Game 3 we switched into the wishbone. “We were not being as competitive as we could be. We decided to hang out hats there, being physical, controlling the game, controlling the clock. Our mentality changed and we shifted our focus. I wish we would have been in it all year.” LHS is averaging 241.1 rushing yards per game. It is led by Makinley Wallace , who has 119 carries for 885 yards and 14 touchdowns. Amir Rogers has 85 carries for 520 yards and five TDs, quarterback Jayden Alford has 353 yards and six scores on 61 carries, and Fischer Richardson has 50 carries for 293 yards and one TD. Latta has only thrown the ball 38 times, completing 20 of them with no touchdowns. The leading receiver is Adrian McDonald with nine catches for 184 yards. The defense is led by linebacker Xy’Mari Bethea with 71 total tackles for 11. Defensive tackle Tyquan Drawhorn leads in TFLS with 16 to go with 65 tackles, and linebacker Gavin Aubin has 54 tackles and seven TFLs. Drawhorn has a team high six quarterback sacks while Rogers, a defensive end, has four sacks. Iseman is looking forward to seeing what his team can do in the playoffs. “All year we’ve been going through a transition,” he said. “We’ve just got to believe, trust and believe in the work we do each week. If we do that, good things will happen. I think we’re clicking at the right time. We’re going to focus on execution.” 

Lewisville WR Jacorreun Howze on the run after a catch.

By Dennis Brunson hssr.com Associate Editor Latta – Head coach Brandon Iseman knew there could be some tough sledding for his Latta High School football team coming into the 2024 season. After all, the Vikings were having to replace 13 seniors, many of them key contributors on both sides of the ball, from a 9-2 team. And that’s what happened. After opening the season with a 49-6 victory over East Columbus of North Carolina, LHS lost three straight games. Class A Latta lost to AA Marion 8-7, fellow Class A McBee 28-7 and AA Mulllins 6-0. “We honestly anticipated there would be some growing pains.” Said Iseman, the veteran head coach. “We knew we had a very inexperienced group.” The Vikings snapped the losing streak with a 47-8 victory over Green Sea Floyds , winning their Region 6 opener in the process. Iseman hopes that was the start of a turnaround. “It was tough to lose those two games (to Marion and Mullins),” said Iseman, whose team was scheduled to play at Carvers Bay on October 4. “We’ve grown a lot though and it was great to start out region play with a win.” Win or lose, Iseman has nothing bac to say about the performance of the LHS defense. It had allowed just 56 points, half of those coming against McBee. Even in that contest, Latta allowed just 265 yards of total offense. “It’s kind of hard to complain about way our defense has played,” Iseman said. “I’m Just happy with where they are. We brought back more experience in the right areas, linebacker and up front.” Senior linebacker Tyquan Drawhon was leading in tackles, while junior linebacker Xy’Mari Bethea had 27. Senior outside linebacker Amir Rogers had 25 tackles and a team high four quarterback sacks. Senior defensive back Makinley Wallace had 22 tackles and senior defensive end Jakoby German had 21. Defensive back Tymir Durant led in interceptions with two. Iseman is hoping the Vikings turned things around offensively against Green Sea Floyds. Rogers rushed for 166 yards and four touchdowns, while Wallace rushed for 185 yards and two touchdowns. “We had to make some changes and put the kids in some better situations,” Iseman said. “The tell-tale will be the next region game and see if we have the carryover. We have the ability to execute at a higher level.” The Vikings have been run-heavy on offense throughout the season. Junior quarterback Jayden Alford had rushed for 167 yards and four touchdowns on 30 carries. He had completed 8 of 15 passes for 136 yards. Adrian McDonald had six catches for 129 yards.

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