Great eight! South Pointe secures latest state title with dominating performance
South Pointe made it a clean sweep for Football City USA in this year’s S.C. High School League football championship games.
RJ Brown and USC Gamecocks signee J’Zavien Currence each ran for two touchdowns as the Stallions defeated South Florence, 35-14, in the Class 4A championship at Oliver C. Dawson on Saturday.
It’s the Stallions’ eighth state championship in program history and first since 2021. The title is the second for a Rock Hill football school this week. Northwestern won the Class 5A Division II championship over Irmo on Friday.
“That is what you do in Rock Hill. It is Football City USA,” South Pointe coach Bobby Collins said. “It is the standard, and the standard is to win championships.”
South Pointe has been a football force since it opened in 2006, with only one losing season and winning 10 or more games in a season 15 times. Saturday’s win means every senior class that has come through the school has one at least one state title.
Collins, who is in his third year, becomes the fourth different South Pointe coach to win a title, joining Bobby Carroll (1), Strait Herron (5) and DeVonte Holloman (1).
“It is tough to coach football in Rock Hill. But the pressure the community puts on me, I put it on the players every day in practice,” Collins said. “I thank God for his grace and mercy and for putting me at South Pointe for this assignment. I’m excited for my kids to fulfill a dream of theirs.”
South Pointe (14-1) was atop the Class 4A rankings for most of the season and capped it off with another dominating performance. The lone blemish came against Hough High (N.C.) in the opener. The Stallions finished on a 14-game winning streak and won by more than 10 points in all of those contests except one.
Currence capped off a big week with a state championship in his final high school game. The senior signed with the Gamecocks on Wednesday and was named S.C. Gatorade Player of the Year on Friday.
Currence was visibly excited for his first championship appearance. He backed up his emotions on the field.
The senior rushed for 124 yards and completed a pair of passes as the Stallions relied mostly on their running game against the Bruins. South Pointe rushed for 316 yards.
After the game, Currence was the first to grab the trophy from Collins and hold it up in the air, letting out a big scream.
“Super special week,” Currence said. “It was a week of focus but having fun at the same time. You had to find the balance in between. … This means everything, going out with the guys I came with and winning a title.”
Currence scored on a 13-yard run on the Stallions’ first drive to make it 7-0. Running back RJ Brown put South Pointe up 14-0 with a 53-yard run later in the first quarter. The senior finished with a career-high 193 yards, breaking his previous high of 140 yards set earlier this season against A.C. Flora.
After another Currence touchdown, Kaiden Watkins picked off South Florence quarterback Messiah Jackson for the second time and returned it 13 yards for a score to make it 28-0 early in the third quarter.
“Had to show up in big moments like this,” Watkins said. “We prepare all year, all summer. Workouts, sprints. This is what we prepare for.”
The Bruins cut the Stallions’ lead in half with a pair of touchdowns in a 90-second span. Jackson had an 11-yard TD run and then a 21-yard pass to Gabe McLaughlin to cut the lead to 28-14 with 1:10 left in the third quarter.
The Stallions didn’t fold. Brown capped things off with a 1-yard touchdown run with 4:54 left.
The loss denied South Florence its second-straight championship. The Bruins were appearing in their fourth-straight title game.
South Florence struggled against the Stallions’ defense, racking up just 113 yards of offense.
SCORING SUMMARY
1st quarter
SP - Currence 13 run (Miller kick), 8:04
2nd quarter
SP - Brown 53 run (Miller kick), 11:39
SP - Currence 9 run (Miller kick), 1:31
3rd quarter
SP - Watkins 13 INT return (Miller kick), 10:23
SF - Jackson 11 runs (Joyner kick), 2:59
SF - McLaughlin 21 pass from Jackson (Joyner kick), 1:10
4th quarter
SP - Brown 1 run (Miller kick), 4:54
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
PASSING - SF: Jackson 8-6-3 36; SP: Currence 2-3-0 18
RUSHING - SF: Jackson 20-36, James 8-31, McLaughlin 6-10. SP: RJ Brown 21-193, Currence 18-124, RA Brown 4-32, Gordon-Miles 1-2
RECEIVING - SF: McLaughlin 1-21, Perkins 2-9, Robinson 2-5, James 2-2, Parker 1 (-1). SP: Duncan 2-18.
This story was originally published December 6, 2025 at 3:41 PM.
