By Billy G. Baker Publisher Columbia — Several head coaches ( Kevin Jones - Blackville Hilda, Victor Floyd - Chester, and Richard Bonneville - May River) who attended the annual HSSR media day on July, 28th at the University of South Carolina were interviewed about their teams for the upcoming 2024 season. Blackville-Hilda brought 12 players to the media day and Coach Jones first commented about his 2025 top recruit Jaquel Holman (6-2, 200) who committed to the Gamecocks over the summer. “A lot of schools offered him as a running back and others offered him as a linebacker and South Carolina was initially hard on him as a free safety or rover type, kid of a hybrid between outside linebacker and safety. Holman is ranked as the number six over-all prospect in the 2025 class in South Carolina by the HSSR coming into the season. “Once they saw him a little more with the ball in his hands they are re-evaluating just where he might be suited best but he can play on either side of the football,” said Coach Jones. “Jaquel never misses a work-out and he is a team leader and just a great kid all-around. As a running back he is so balanced and we talk about his size and speed but he also has great vision and he can see a small hole and take it 80 yards. “On defense (OLB) we blitz him a lot and he is great at getting to the quarterback,” said Coach Holman. “He can do a lot of different things on either side of the ball and we are happy to have him.” After finishing 10-3 last season Blackville-Hilda is ranked number five by the HSSR in the pre-season. “We lost in the third round to Christ Church but we probably played them as well as anybody did. We have most everybody back this season What makes us a contender is our over-all team speed. When we line up with four wide-outs they are all tall and run 4.6 or better, We can put Holman at running back or in the slot also.” The two top receivers entering the season are all-region Namir Anderson (6-0, 175) and Jamarian Priester (6-2, 190) a transfer from Williston-Elko . Junior TE Messiah McFadden (6-4, 185) is a solid prospect who runs a 4.58 forty Jayden Jackson (5-9, 210) also returns at running back. Four-year starter Samari Williams (5-9,185, 4.5) returns at QB. “We are big on offense, but we have good team speed,” said Coach Jones. On defense all-region senior LB Jabarias Johnson (5-8-205) returns along with Holman. Seniors Timothy Beard (5-7,235) and Isaiah Greggs (5-9,200) are returning two-way lineman along with junior all-region returner Jayden Dash (6-2, 255). The Hawks return 8 starters on defense. The Hawks will get a week zero test when they host Barnwell on Thursday, August, 22. “We were able to pull one out last year against them in Barnwell last year so I am sure they are out for revenge this season and they have a really good team,” said Coach Jones. Veteran Chester head coach, Victor Floyd , saw his Cyclones finish 10-3 a year ago in Class AAA and realignment has Chester competing in the AA classification this season. “We have a large group of players who have taken a lot of snaps and this will be important to our chances for success this season,” said Coach Floyd. “Our new region (3-AA) consists of Mid-Carolina , Fairfield Central , Columbia , and Eau Claire . We play Fairfield every year and they are our rivals but tit has been a few years since we’ve played the other teams in our region.” Coach Floyd, starting his 31st season in coaching, brought six players to media day. Senior QB Trooper Floyd (6-2, 195) returns after earning all-region and all-state honors as a junior and he will be starting for his third season. Senior center Ja’Brell White (6-3, 290) also returns to lead the OL. Senior Donnavan Wilmore (6-2, 220) returns to play both TE and OL. “Trooper will be starting for his third season and he is an excellent passer and a decent runner and he understands our offense really well,” said Coach Floyd. “White starts for us at center and he is a three-year starter for us also.” Trooper Floyd enters the season ranked number 20 among all 2025 HSSR prospects starting the season. The Cyclone defense will be led by junior DL prospect Terry Radford (6-1, 230) who earned all-region honors last season with 74 tackles including 20 TFL. “He has been a really good player for us for the past two seasons and now he will be a junior showing great next level potential,” said Coach Floyd. Chester returns seven starters each on both sides of the football. “Our goal is always to compete to win the region and position ourselves to make a run in the play-offs,” said Coach Floyd. “If we win the region, we will get a few games at home and if we can stay healthy, we can see what happens.” Chester advanced to the third round of the AAA playoffs last season before losing to eventual state champion Daniel . “We have had our share of competitive playoff games the past few seasons,” said Coach Floyd. Chester has started fall practice ranked number two in Class AA by the HSSR just behind top ranked Clinton who will also compete in AA this season. Chester will begin the 2024 season hosting Lancaster on August, 23 rd . Second year May River head coach Richard Bonneville was accompanied to media day by five of his leadership players for the 2024 season. “Today we have with us running back and receiver Gage Duncan , (5-10,165) probably the captain of the team, who will be starting for his third season, and senior three-year starter Tanner Macey (6-1, 170) is here and he is a three-year starter at quarterback,” said Coach Bonneville.“ William Bonneville (6-2, 280) will be back for his third season at right tackle, along with Ethan Sprinkle (6-2, 230) a three-year returning starter at linebacker, and Will Bostick (6-2, 280) is with us today and he is a two-year defensive back returning starter.” Bonneville is ranked as the 55 th over-all prospect in the 2025 class in South Carolina by the HSSR starting the season. May River was 4-7 in Bonneville’s first season and in year two the coach is expecting vast improvement. “Our goals are that we want to be competitive in our region, we never want to quit, and we want to win,” said Coach Bonneville. “We want to win our season opener, compete to win a region title, and then sew how far we can advance in the playoffs. “We have worked really hard in the off-season and we are anxious to see how all our hard work is going to pay off in our second season,” said Coach Bonneville. “In realignment, we lost both Lucy Beckham and James Island and they were a handful I promise you. We picked up Bishop England and Beaufort (Region 6-AAAA) and Hilton Head , Colleton County and Bluffton were in our region last year.” May River competed as a AAA program the past two seasons. “In the past we competed against teams like Gilbert and Dillon in the playoffs so moving up a classification will be a challenge,” said Coach Bonneville. “In the past we were known for our toughness and we have been working hard at getting the toughness back in our program,” he said. May River will scrimmage Hampton County on August, 12 before participating in the Lake City Sonic Jamboree against Kingstree on August, 16. They will start the regular season hosting Airport on August, 23rd.