OCA football looks to finish strong

By David Shelton

Senior Writer

Mt. Pleasant – Coming off their first-ever state championship, the Oceanside Collegiate football team came into the 2024 season with the highest of expectations.

The Landsharks won the Class AA title a season ago but moved up to Class AAA this season. While the competition was expected to be tougher, the Landsharks returned a large amount of starters with more than a year of experience.

Things have not gone as smoothly as expected but the goals set early on are still attainable. The Landsharks played one of the toughest non-region slate of games, including games against top AAAAA state contenders Dutch Fork and Irmo.

After the season-opening loss to Irmo, head coach Chad Wilkes resigned from his post due to personal reasons, leaving the program in disarray. Named interim head coach was assistant John Patterson, a veteran coach with head coaching experience.

The Landsharks also have battled some injuries and have had a few discipline issues that required some time off the field. After a 2-4 non-region record, the Landsharks opened region 6-AAA play with a resounding 49-7 win over Hanahan.

“With all this group has been through, getting off to a good start in the region is exactly what we needed,” Patterson said. “It’s been a struggle but everyone knows the potential we have on this team. We have good players and good coaches. If we can stay healthy and stay focused on what we have to do we can have a great finish to the season.”

The Landsharks were as healthy as they have been in a few weeks in the win over Hanahan. Sophomore quarterback Aiden Manavian took advantage of a healthy receiving corps, tossing five touchdown passes in the win. Will Virgilio and Terence Johnson each caught two scoring tosses while Gavin Gaspar also snared a six-pointer. Transfer Payton Shaw has been a key addition at receiver as well.

“The quarterback, when we give him time, he’s as good as anyone. He’s very accurate and he has a bunch of guys he can throw to,” Patterson said.

Junior Mike Jones has been a mainstay as a leader along the offensive and defensive lines. Charlie Bean and Carson Lee also return as starters on the offensive line.

Sawyer Arnold, Max Moorman and Grayson Freeling also rate as key defenders. Freeling, a safety, returned a fumble for a touchdown against Hanahan.

The win over Hanahan put OCA in the driver’s seat for a region title. They have remaining region games against North Charleston, Orangeburg-Wilkinson and Battery Creek. They will be favored to win all three games.