Saluda remains No. 1 in HSSR AA football poll

By Dennis Brunson

hssr.com Associate Editor

Saluda – Life as the people of Saluda County – as well as other counties in South Carolina and throughout the Southeast – took a drastic turn a couple of weeks ago because of Hurricane Helene.

For the time being, what was the start of a tremendous football season for Saluda High School has been brought to a halt. The Tigers, ranked first in the High School Sports Report AA poll, are 4-0 on the season.

Saluda has yet to begin region play. The Tigers had beaten Crescent 20-6, Ridge Spring-Monetta 41-0, Chester 16-12 and Southside Christian School 19-14.

Saluda’s defense has made it very hard on the opposition. The unit is led by All-State defensive lineman JT Lott. He has 36 tackles, nine tackles for loss, two quarterback sacks, a forced fumble and an interception.

Amir Johnson and Devon Wallace are the sack leaders with five apiece. Johnson has 14 tackles and two forced fumbles and Wallace has 21 tackles and six TFLs.

Jordan Hagler has 25 tackles, a sack, two interceptions, a defensive touchdown, a fumble recovery and two TFLs. Jayden Foulks also had two interceptions to go with 15 tackles.

The offense is led by quarterback Brayden Williams, who has passed for a touchdown, rushed for a touchdown and caught a pass for a touchdown. He has rushed for 217 yards and four touchdowns on 44 carries while completing 18 of 35 passes for 371 yards and four TDs. He has two catches for 73 yards and a score.

Tristan Daniels is the leading rusher with 224 yards and a touchdown on 63 carries. Victavis Gaines is the leading pass catcher with 10 receptions for 187 yards and two scores. Daniels has two catches for 82 yards and a score Josh Uhlar has three catches for 36 yards.

VOLLEYBALL TEAM OFF TO GOOD START

Like every other sport at Saluda, volleyball has been in a holding pattern as well. However, the Tigers were off to a 5-2 start. That means Saluda had already won two more matches than it did in all of 2023 when it was 3-13 and lost in the first round of the state playoffs.

Head coach Meredith Wertz said a lot of hard work has gone into making that marked improvement happen.

“We have started off a lot stronger this year than last year,” said Wertz, who is in her fourth season as head coach. “The girls have worked hard at practice. We only lost one senior and most of our starters are returning players.”

The starting lineup is made up of junior setter Addy Buzhardt, senior outside hitter Abby Moore, sophomore middle hitter Amy Sorcia, senior rightside hitter Eboni Thomas, senior outside hitter Alyssa McDonald and outside hitter/middle hitter junior Ava Martin. The libero is junior Dayna Ortiz-Lopez.

The rest of the roster is made up of sophomore defensive specialist Karalynn Clary, sophomore middle hitter Kristy Long, outside hitter/middle hitter Abril Rodriguez, sophomore outside hitter/defensive specialist MariCarmen Sanchez and rightside hitter Oz’Lyn Springs.

“We have a good team chemistry, and we are working hard to get to where we need to be,” Wertz said. “I believe if we keep up the hard work we will be able to make the playoffs, but it will take a lot of hard work and dedication.”