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Over 20 In-State 2025 Football Prospect Commit to Major Colleges At This Time
Billy Baker • July 25, 2024
Westside's Cutter Woods, QB - Class of 2025
By Billy G. Baker
Publisher
Moncks Corner — With 20 prep players committed to major college football by the time of the annual SCACA Coaches Clinic (July 21-24) being held this year in Greenville the state is a little behind where we normally are just before August football drills begin.
The HSSR would like to once again thank Mark Grainger and his team at Modern Turf over in Rembert, SC for their sponsorship of our monthly recruiting page.
We have heard of at least three or four layers being listed as committed to certain colleges, but those colleges have not placed them on their official commitment list, just yet, and the HSSR waits for that to happen before we count them in the official totals.
In a recent visit with head Shrine Bowl coach Reggie Kennedy, he shared an opinion that I too have had over the years. On July 13th the staffs of the Shrine Bowl and North South met at Airport High for an all-star combine with 220 players from the 2025 class from all over the state in skills combine test. These were by invitation only, based on these players performances at one of three other combines earlier in the Spring.
“Yes, there were several big-time major college looking kids that had speed, size, and passed the bigger, stronger, faster test among the 220 kids we had at the all-star combine, and several of them have no major colleges yet and that really surprised me,” said Shrine Bowl head coach Reggie Kennedy. “Some players do not even have small college offers.”
(I guess this is why recruiting has always been called an inexact science.)
Going into the start of prep football, South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer is very pleased with Westside quarterback Cutter Woods flipping from Wake Forest to South Carolina. You have to give his former head coach Scott Early credit because he has been singing this young man’s praises for the past two years.
With Woods, the HSSSR number four prospect, committing to South Carolina, that gives the Gamecocks seven in-state commitments to date (July, 28) and they have a chance to pick up two more players by mid-October. The one player of high priority they are hoping to get Rock Hill receiver Malik Clark (6-2, 172) and we have always felt he was a lean-to North Carolina.
South Carolina has Gaffney's HSSR number two rated Sheldrick Sarratt (6-4,296) committed along with Abbeville FS Demarcus Leach in the HSSR 5th slot. The Gamecocks have landed a sprint champion athlete in Jaquel Holman (6-2, 200) ranked number six by the HSSR from Blackville-Hilda. Holman was recruited as a LB but is also an excellent RB. Holman is a true 4.4 player with a great future.
South Carolina gained a commitment from sure-handed South Florence WR Jayden Sellers (5-11, 165) last in November 2022. Sellers is HSSR ranked at number 14 and he is the brother of LaNorris Sellers who is a QB at SC right now. Anthony Addison (6-2, 215) is an edge rusher from Sumter pledged to SC and he is ranked at the HSSR number 16 slot. Addison needs to adds some weight but he has excellent speed. The final Gamecock commitment to date is Eastside DE Jaquavios Dodd (6-5, 225) ranked as the 21st best over-all prospect in the 2025 class.
Clemson has done an excellent job also to date landing the top player in SC in South Florence DL Amare Adams (6-3, 285). The Tigers also have the top RB in SC from Belton-Honea Path in number three rated Marquis Henderson (5-10, 170) who has run a 4.35 forty.
HSSR Top 25 players committed out-of-state are number 12 rated Kevin Peay (6-3, 310) of Lancaster headed to Ga. Tech, number 15 rated Richland Northeast QB Will Wilson (6-1, 215) is headed to NC State, and number 25 TE Mikkel Skinner of Riverside is headed to Cincy.
The HSSR Top 5 2026 Prospects could all play in the NFL one day. They are big-time looking for prime time.
Georgia offered Timberland junior OL Desmond Green (6-5, 333) over a year ago and Tony O’Banner (6-0,207) is an RB/Ath from Thomas Heyward the Gamecocks have been high on for nearly two years. J’zavien Currence (6-1, 190) a DB from South Pointe is already committed to SC.
These prospects just keep getting bigger, stronger and faster.
Pinewood Prep's running back sensation Jeremiah Singleton, photo by Roger Lee
Barons to face Pinewood Prep in second straight state championship contest
Important Information For Schools, Parents, & Fans Concerning The Upcoming SCISA State Football Championship Games Moncks Corner -- The “ High School Sports Report” will be devoting our time, energy and resources this week towards producing individual full-color keepsake souvenir state championship football programs for the 10 teams competing for state titles on Friday (Nov. 22) and Saturday (Nov. 23). All four of the SCISA AAAA, AAA, AA and Class A games will be hosted by Charleston Southern University located in North Charleston at the I-26 205 exit. The SCISA 8-man championship game will be played at W.W. King Academy (near Saluda ) at 7:30 on Friday night. The Hammond School (12-0) will face Porter Gaud (11-1) at Charleston Southern at 7 p.m. Friday night. Then on Saturday, the Class A state title game between Williamsburg Academy (9-1) and Thomas Heyward Academy (11-1) begins at noon. The SCISA AA title game between Pee Dee Academy (11-0) and Bethesda Academy (9-3) follows at 3:30. The night-cap AAA title game on Saturday night is at 7 p.m. between Pinewood Prep (9-2) and Wilson Hall (11-1). Ther HSSR would like to inform all schools involved to please e mail to hsreport@aol.com your varsity football and cheer team pictures by 6 p.m. on Monday. Every team will have their respective football team on the cover of their edition, and your cheer squad will be pictured inside your respective edition. (Important) Each Head of School is offered a free “Welcome Letter” page geared towards your team, fans and community. We need your “Welcome Letter” in at hsreport@aol.com by 7 p.m. on Tuesday (Nov., 19). Please include a picture of yourself and a school logo. The HSSR has four marketing reps assigned to market programs. Should you have interest in supporting your team, along with your favorite player, or cheerleader reps include: Swift Bethea is assigned to market Pee Dee Academy and he can be reached at 843-774-3482. Larry Gamble will be marketing the Hammond School and Wilson Hall’s programs and he can be reached at 414-699-9061. Neill Kirkpatrick will be marketing the Porter - Guad championship program and he can be reached at 704-996-3333. The remaining five schools will be marketed by HSSR Publisher Billy G. Baker and he can be reached at 843-200-9555. Baker will be in Kingstree on Monday with the WA program, Ridgeland on Tuesday with the THA program, and in Summerville on Wednesday wrapping up the Pinewood Prep program. However, feel free to call him or any marketing rep on this list anytime Monday-Thursday. We hope to have the majority of the best wishes ads in house by 9 p.m. on Wednesday night, due to a tight print schedule, but 6 p.m. on Thursday is the final deadline. Fans are asked to follow instructions on the attached official state championship form. Feel free to send your ad information to hsreport@aol.com and Berna Noll will be available at the HSSR “home office” between 9 am and 9 pm to take payment for sponsor ads, or answer any questions. The one request is that once you have all the content for your best wishes ad, please send just one e-mail, and not three or four e mails, so we make sure everything gets in your ad. Participating schools are asked to forward this attached team football program ad order form to the parents and boosters of your team! Good luck to all teams competing for SCISA football championships this weekend!
By WORTHY EVANS Contributing Writer Columbia – The Westwood football team’s offense was lacking at key moments in their 5A Division 2 playoff opener Friday night. Luckily for the Redhawks, the defense put in a clutch second-half effort to beat Socastee 34-14 for its first playoff victory since 2019. Westwood (6-5) is in the lower state bracket and travels to Moncks Corner next week to take on Berkeley. The Stags (5-5) received a first-round bye with a second-place finish in Region 7. “It feels good, for sure,” said head coach Robert O’Connell , who won his first playoff game in his three years as head coach of the Redhawks. “It wasn’t pretty, but it doesn’t have to be. We just talk about being 1-0. That’s all that matters, you just gotta beat the people you’re in front of and keep advancing.” Quarterback Carrington Carter had two touchdown passes, running back Angelo Rios had 102 yards on 14 carries, and Quentin McGill Jr. had a rushing score, but Westwood struggled to sustain drives. Carter threw two interceptions—both to Socastee defensive back Brayden Bolinger —and the Redhawks turned the ball over on downs inside the Braves’ 10-yard line on their opening drive. “We kind of hurt ourselves on some penalties, got off schedule. Nobody’s good in third-and-long,” O’Connell said. “We put ourselves in some bad spots on third down, and we’ve got to keep improving.” The Westwood defense, which held Socastee to 204 total yards, forced two fumbles and three second-half turnovers on downs, all from inside the Westwood 20-yard line. “That’s kind of been our M.O. this year,” O’Connell said. “That ball gets in the red zone, and we bend but don’t break. I’m just really proud of those guys defensively.” D.J. Jones had a solo sack and shared a second sack with Jayce Rios . Rios also had a 36-yard fumble return for his first career touchdown, a drive-ending interception, and another drive-ending pass breakup. “It’s an effort from everybody.,” Rios, a senior and older brother of the sophomore Angelo Rios, said. “Everybody’s always facing some type of adversity.” Westwood scored first, taking over after holding Socastee to a 3-and-out and closing out a quick 53-yard drive with Carter’s 9-yard touchdown pass to Sean Goddard at the 4:27 mark of the first quarter to go up 6-0. The Braves came back quickly, with Brayden Bolinger scoring seconds letter on an 85-yard kickoff return. They took a 7-6 lead on Daniel Devaux’s extra point. Socastee added another score after Bolinger picked off a Carter pass that set up the Braves on the Westwood 12-yard line. Amare Godfrey’s score from six yards out made it 14-6. That lead lasted all of 13 seconds. Westwood’s Cameron Bennett took the kickoff at around the 5-yard line and raced it all the way back for a touchdown at the 6:35 mark of the second quarter. Angelo Rios’ 2-point conversion run evened the score at 14. Westwood capitalized on a Socastee fumble late in the second quarter that set up the Redhawks at the Braves’ 41-yard line. Six plays later Quentin McGill Jr. ran it into the end zone from three yards out to put the Redhawks up 21-14 with 2 minutes left in the first half, a lead they held at intermission. Westwood’s defense led the way in the second half. Rios scooped up a Socastee fumble two minutes into the third quarter. The defensive back returned it 36 yards for a score to give the Redhawks a 27-14 lead. After that touchdown Socastee held onto the ball and threatened Westwood with three long possessions that put the Braves inside the 20-yard line in the third and fourth quarters. Each time Socastee moved into scoring position, Westwood held. First came a turnover on downs at the Redhawks’ 4-yard line after 11 plays beginning at midfield. The Westwood offense went nowhere on the next series and punted from its own 15-yard line, Socastee took the short punt and started at the Redhawks’ 14-yard line after a personal foul. That short drive would have resulted in a 3-yard Haze Weaver touchdown run were it not for a chop block call that set the Braves back at the 18, and an unsportsmanlike conduct flag moved them back to the 33-yard line. Even with those setbacks, Royals completed big passes to Hayes Hardwick and Jonathan Goswick that moved the Braves to a fourth-and-goal situation on the 4-yard line. Once again, Rios crushed the threat with an interception in the end zone. And once again, Westwood’s offense came up short, this time with Carter throwing his second interception of the evening to Brayden Bolinger. By then in the fourth quarter, Bolinger’s return put Socastee at the Westwood 35-yard line, and the Braves moved into scoring position for a third time. Just like the other two attempts, Socastee fell short, and Rios was there for a pass breakup at the goal line on fourth down at the 9-yard line. The Redhawks still could not put together an offensive drive to drain the clock, but Cullen Henderson’s 47-yard punt pinned Socastee back at the 23-yard line, and the Westwood defense picked up another turnover on downs. Westwood’s last score of the game came on fourth down, when Carter inadvertently connected with Bennett, who fell in the end zone but reached for and grabbed the tipped ball to complete a 28-yard touchdown pass play. “We just came together,” Rios said about the second-half defensive effort. “We knew we had to get a stop, and if we got a stop it would end the game. It was a group effort. Everybody played up and physical and it won us the game.” Socastee 7 7 0 0 – 14 Westwood 6 15 6 7 – 34 First Quarter W - Sean Goddard 9 pass from Carrington Carter (kick failed) 4:27 S - Brayden Bolinger 85 kickoff return (Daniel Devaux kick) 4:16 Second Quarter S - Amare Godfrey 8 run (Devaux kick) 6:48 W - Cameron Bennett 95 kickoff return (Angelo Rios run) 6:35 W - Quentin McGill Jr. 4 run (Cullen Henderson kick) 1:56 Third Quarter W – Jayce Rios 36 fumble return (run failed) 10:01 Fourth Quarter W – Bennett 28 pass from Carter (Henderson kick) 2:14 SHS WHS First downs 12 12 Rushes-yds 34-73 31-182 Passing yds 131 85 Att-Com-Int 26-18-1 12-8-2 Fumbles-lost 2-2 0-0 Penalties-yds 6-63 6-55 Punts-avg 2-28.0 3-38.0 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING S – Jonathan Goswick 11-27, Christian Royals 9-13, Amare Godfrey 4-14, David Covalli 4-7, Josh Brown 1-10, Daniel Devaux 1-5, Marcus Brown 1-0, Hayes Hardwick 1-1, Team 3-(-4). W – Angelo Rios 15-102, Quentin McGill Jr. 8-37, Devon Howard 6-37, Kham Cunningham 1-(-1). PASSING S – Christian Royals 18-26-1. W – Carrington Carter 8-12-2. RECEIVING S – Jonathan Goswick 10-68, Hayes Hardwick 3-33, Josh Brown 3-23, Haze Weaver 1-4, Amare Godfrey1-3. W – Kham Cunningham 3-30, Angelo Rios 2-8, Cameron Bennett 1-28, Sean Goddard 1-9, Quentin McGill Jr. 1-10.
Porter Gaud's RB/CB, JJ Flood (6-1, 180) finding the gaps and gaining yards!
SCISA championship games November 22-23
Hammond's senior RB Immanuel Johnson (5-10, 190) looking for more yards.
HSSR Playoffs Rankings! Now available on the HSSR home page banner. https://www.hssr.com/hssr-football-rankings-page
By Billy G. Baker Publisher Moncks Corner —The region winners in the AAAAA SCHSL football classification all received byes for the first round of the play-offs that started on November, 15 th so if any upsets are brewing involving the top seeded teams in the two divisions we will have to wait until Nov., 22 nd for that to possibly happen. In the Upper State AAAAA D-1 a bye went to number one rated Dutch Fork (9-0) and they will play the winner of the Boiling Springs (6-3) versus Dorman (6-3) in a week two in Irmo. Rock Hill (5-5) received a bye and they will play the winner of the Mauldin (2-8) versus River Bluff (8-2) game in week two. JL Mann (8-2) got a bye and they await the winner of the Blythewood versus Clover (7-3) game on Nov., 15. Number four- rated Spartanburg , fresh off a close game loss with rival Gaffney awaits the winner of Lexington versus Byrnes in week one. In Lower State Div. I Summerville (10-0) has a bye and they await the winner between Fort Dorchester and Stratford. Cane Bay , a winner over Berkeley last week, received a bye and they await the winner between Spring Valley and Ridge View. Carolina Forest has a round one bye and they await the winner between Wando and James Island . Highly regarded Sumter (9-0) has a first- round bye and they will host the winner between West Ashley and Ashley Ridge on Nov. 15. Now, we move on to Div. II AAAAA: In the Upper state number one rated Northwestern (10-0) will host the winner between Eastside and Indian Land on Nov., 15. Greenwood received a first- round bye and they will host the winner of the nation Ford versus Hillcrest first round game on Nov., 15. T.L Hanna earned a bye and they await the winner of the Woodmont versus Catawba Ridge winner in round two. Gaffney , fresh off of a come from behind win over Spartanburg that clinched the region title, awaits the winner of the Greenville versus Riverside game. In the Lower state Div. II AAAAA: Irmo (9-1), fresh off of a loss to Dutch Fork , awaits the winner between Goose Creek and Chapin in week one. West Florence has a week one bye and they will host the winner between Lucy Beckham and North Myrtle Beach in round two. Berkeley has earned a bye and they await the winner between Socastee and Westwood in round one. Finally, Myrtle Beach earned a first- round bye and they await the winner between Lugoff - Elgin and White Knoll from first round action. The HSSR predicts that Dutch Fork and Summerville will emerge as respective bracket winners in Div. I AAAAA and will meet in the gold medal round at South Carolian State University on Friday Dec., 13 at 2 p.m. Tom Knotts , the head coach at Dutch Fork, told the HSSR after his 24-14 big win over Irmo last week, ““I pay attention to Dutch Fork, but now that I’ve played Irmo, these are the two best teams in the state,” said Coach Knotts after the Irmo win. “They’re going to be in the smaller (school size) 5A and we’re in the larger 5A, so thank goodness we don’t have to play them again and they’re probably saying thank goodness they don’t have to play us again. “We like to get to this time of year, the kids behave better, they focus better, they lift better, they meet better,” Knotts said. “This is our time of year. We’re used to it.” Summerville head coach Ian Rafferty shared these thoughts about the play-offs, ““Unfortunately we will have to play some teams we’ve already seen in the playoffs but it is what it is,” said Coach Rafferty. “Against Fort Dorchester we did some uncharacteristic things on special teams and turned the ball over near the goal line, but moving forward the key is the way our guy’s work. We have kind of built a good mentality throughout the season and just work and show up to play on game night. Basically, we just need to be the Green Wave.” The Summerville offense spreads the ball around and the team suffered some key injuries on both sides of the ball this season so a lot of players have seen action and contributed to the second consecutive undefeated regular season. In Div. II AAAA, the HSSR predicts a Northwestern versus Gaffney final in the gold medal round scheduled for 06 p.m. on December, 14 at South Carolina State University. Gaffney head coach Dan Jones told the HSSR after his win over Spartanburg last week, “Coach Jones said that during the bye week Gaffney would stay focused on getting ready to compete in the second round of the play-offs on November, 22. “We will study film and lift weights on Monday but we will have three full practices on Tuesday through Thursday,” said Coach Jones. “We will be hard-at-work getting ready to play wither Greenville or Riverside.” For the regular season, the Gaffney offense produced 1,423 yards rushing and 1,849 yards passing and that defines a balanced attack on offense. Gaffney out-scored teams 275-139. Northwestern , led by veteran QB Finley Polk has dominated teams 514-158 this year. Head coach Paige Wofford has done a great job coaching the Trojans for the past several years and his team is expected to plow through the competition in the play-offs on the way to the finals.
By Billy G. Baker Publisher Moncks Corner —In AAAA of the SCHSL, the Westside (9-0) Rams finished the regular season undefeated and they are favored to defend the state title they won a year ago with a fourth quarter rally to defeat South Florence . The AAAA state title game will be played at South Carolina State University on Friday December, 13 at 7:30 p.m. While Westside has the horses to pull another state championship wagon in a future victory parade, “we” can’t rule out Daniel, as the spoiler if the two teams keep winning in the play-offs, when could meet at Westside on December, 6 for the upper state AAAA championship. After going a combined 8-14 in his first two seasons at Daniel back in 2016 and 2017, head Daniel coach Jeff Fruster , has said he was thankful that he was not fired at the time. What a great decision school officials made to retain him. Since 2018, under Coach Fruster, Daniel has a collective record of 82-5, including three state titles as they prepare to play host Dreher High this week in the first round of the AAAA play-offs. Daniel’s only loss was to AAAAA member JL Mann (28-23) early in the season. To date Daniel is 9-1 and they have defeated teams 496-153 at the end of the regular season. Daniel won the Region 2-AAAA title with a 6-0 record after beating Seneca 42-21 in the regular-season finale last week. Daniel was trailing 14-7 late in the first half before coming up with a pair of long touchdown passes in the final minute to take a 21-14 lead to the locker room. That started a run of 35 straight points. Quarterback Grayson Clary had a monster game, completing 19 of 27 passes for 374 yards and five touchdowns. Trey Wimbley had a big night, catching four passes for 157 yards and three touchdowns. Jason Bish had seven catches for 147 yards and the other two touchdown receptions. Clary’s performance put an exclamation point on what was a tremendous regular season for him. Heading into the Seneca contest, the sophomore had completed 120- of-162 passes for 1,847 yards and 26 touchdowns. That means he has 31 touchdown passes on the season when you add in his performance against the Bobcats. Bish had 29 catches for 481 yards and six scores while Wimbley had 21 receptions for 405 yards and five scores. Quint Cumbie had 30 catches for 354 yards and five scores, and Elijah Lipsey had 23 catches for 438 yards and six touchdowns. Clary had also rushed for 240 yards and five touchdowns. Tremaine Davis Jr. was the leading rusher with 332 yards and five scores on 29 carries. The Daniel defense is led by senior linebacker Spencer Conn and junior defensive end Dexter Johnson . Conn has a team high 78 tackles to go with nine tackles for loss. Johnson has a team 14 ½ TFLs among his 57 stops. Johnson is also the sack leader with 6 ½. Junior Bryson Freeman has 4 ½. Davis and Christian Chancellor Jr. led in interceptions with two apiece. They had both returned an interception for a touchdown as had Conn. When the Lions can’t get the ball in the end zone, they have pretty good opportunity to get some points. Placekicker Bruce Brown, a North-South pick , was 9- of -11 on field goal attempts with a long of 48 yards. He’s also made 48- of 49- PAT’s. extra points. Westside will host Lakewood this week in the first round of the play-offs. Woods, a South Carolina football commitment, was also chosen for the Shrine Bowl. After 8 games of the season Woods had completed 107-0f-164 passes for 2,045 yards and 24 TD’s. His top WR targets are fellow Shrine Bowl member Chamarryus Bomar who had 777 receiving yards on 77 catches and 11 TD’s after 8 games. The leading rusher for the Rams is senior Sharode Richardson with 650 net yards on 80 carries and 9 TD’s after 8 games. On defense the rams are very stout. They are led by junior MLB Jaxx Wilson (55 tackles) and senior OLB Jameson Wilson (50 tackles), Soph LB Malachi Peterson has also contributed (42 tackles, 1 TFL). MLB Jaydon Hall (5-10, 190) has 44 tackles and the sack leader is junior DT Kwon Simpkins with four. A favorite to win the lower state AAAA is ball control Hartsville (8-1-1) who is ranked third in the current HSSR AAAA ranking. The Red Foxes have out-scored teams 453-181 this season and they have a quality win over Dillon on their resume this season. Hartsville has pounded out 2,628 rushing yards on 348 carries. Their top three running backs are Hakeen Watters (119-1,053-17 TD’s) along with Kylif Miller (102-696). Dual threat QB EJ Smith has completed 66-0f-123 passes for 1,302 yards and as a rusher he has gained 535 yards on 78 carries and 9 TD’s. (Please see feature story on Hartsville on page 55 of this issue) South Pointe is also loaded with a lot of talent and they have state championship tradition on their resume as well.
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