HS Football Pivot: which locals made the Shrine Bowl?

Five high school football players from The Herald’s coverage area will represent South Carolina in the 82nd annual Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas.

Chester’s Wyatt Tunall, Northwestern’s Fentrell Cypress and Jamario Holley, and South Pointe’s Jaylen Mahoney and Jackson Chappell were selected to play in the nation’s oldest annual high school football all-star game. This year’s Shrine Bowl will be held at Wofford College on Dec. 15.

Tunall, an offensive lineman, is committed to Appalachian State and is also a finalist for the Mr. Football award.

Cypress is a long, rangy defensive back headed to the University of Virginia. He’ll be joined at the Shrine Bowl by his teammate, Jamario Holley, a receiver committed to South Carolina and one of the state’s most dynamic offensive talents.

And South Pointe duo Mahoney and Chappell round out the local contingent. Mahoney is a tough-tackling defensive back committed to Vanderbilt, while Chappell, South Pointe’s center, was one of The Herald’s 2017 Hawgs of the Year and a college football recruit.

Dillon’s Jackie Hayes is coaching the South Carolina team. Dudley’s Steven Davis is coaching the North Carolina squad.

South Carolina Shrine Bowl roster

Quarterbacks – Davis Beville, Greenville; Alex Meredith, T.L, Hanna

Running backs – Ailym Ford, West Florence; Cortney Jackson, Abbeville; Ta Meric Williams, Greer

Receivers – Cortes Braham, Westwood; Jalon Calhoun,Southside; D.J. Chisolm, Berkeley; Jamario Holley, Northwestern; Quendarius Jefferson, Hillcrest; Donte Stanley, Latta

Tight ends – Luke Deal, Emerald; Avery Reece, Belton-Honea Path; Keshawn Toney, Williston-Elko

Offensive linemen – Jackson Chappell, South Pointe; Jysaiah Cromer Broome; Jaylen Dunbar, Ridge View; John Gelotte Dorman; Evan Jumper,Myrtle Beach; Zion Nelson, Sumter; Kameren Stewart, Dutch Fork; Mason Trotter, Dorman; Wyatt Tunall, Chester;

Defensive linemen – Quack Cohen, Greer; Cooper Dawson, Hanahan; Devante Gambrell, Westside; Tysheik Galloway Belton-Honea Path; Zacch Pickens, T.L. Hanna; Nate Temple, Abbeville

Linebackers – Logan Billings, Boiling Springs; Deandre Cornish, Byrnes; Nick Dixon, Spartanburg; Davon Gilmore, Fort Dorchester; Shamar McCollum, Dillon; Mike McDowell, Boiling Springs; Jaquez Smith, Gaffney; Greg Williams, Swansea

Defensive backs – Fentrell Cypress, Northwestern; Jalen Geiger, Spring Valley; Jaylen Mahoney, South Pointe; Hugh Ryan, Dutch Fork; Cam Smith, Westwood; Anthony Wilson, Spring Valley

Kicker/punter – Michael Hayes, West Florence

Head Coach: Jackie Hayes, Dillon; assistants: Steve Blanchard, Hanahan; Marion Brown, Baptist Hill; Steve LaPrad, Fort Dorchester; Chris Miller, Spartanburg; Ken Tucker, Bethune Bowman.

North Carolina Shrine Bowl roster

Quarterbacks - Sam Howell, Sun Valley; Kennique Bonner-Steward

Running backs - Zonovan Knight, Southern Nash; Demetrius Mauney, East Rutherford; Syheam McQueen, Scotland

Receivers - Welton Spottsville, Havelock; Mateo Sudipo, Wake Forest; Khafre Brown, West Meck; Emery Simmons, South View; Elijah Bowick, Myers Park; Nolan Groulx, Hough

Tight ends - Ken Walker, Pisgah

Offensive linemen - Larry Dowdy, South Point; Isaac Chapman, Alexander Central; Jack Cutler, South Iredell; Billy Hambrook, Charlotte Catholic; Parker Moorer, Mallard Creek; Sam Hartsell, Concord; C.J. Elmonus, A.C. Reynolds; Isaiah Helms, West Caldwell; Jacob Monk, Corinth Holders

Defensive linemen - C.J. Clark, North Stanly; Jaden McKenzie, Wake Forest; John Oxce, Southwest Guilford; Savion Jackson, Clayton; Joshua Harris, Person; Keziah Everett, Farmville Central

Linebackers - Prince Bemah, Hunter Huss; Jurriente Davis, Page; Jacob Roberts, Mallard Creek; Derek Boykins, Central Cabarrus; Treveon Freshwater, Northeastern; Jaylon Scott, Shelby; Lee Kpogba, Parkland; Drake Thomas, Heritage

Defensive backs - Anthony Harris, Havelock; Tony Davis, Hunter Huss; Shyheim Battle, Rocky Mount; Khalid Martin, East Forsyth; Alex Angus, Page; JaQuan McMillian, West Forsyth; Kam Walker, Clayton

Kicker/punter/long snapper - Drew Little, North Stanly; Matthew Chmil, Page

Strait Herron fastest to 100 wins in South Carolina high school football history?

This is one of those moments when you need to pause and take a step back to appreciate what’s happening at South Pointe. Head coach Strait Herron just became the fastest public school coach in state history to reach 100 wins, as best we can tell. Folks in Rock Hill are so used to the Stallions’ success that it may not always be as appreciated as it should be. So let’s smell the roses for a moment.

Herron reached 100 wins in his eighth season (which isn’t completed). His teams have never won less than 11 games in a season during that span. And they’ve only lost 12 games total in the same eight-year stretch, while putting together a 29-game region win streak that stretches back to 2013.

Of the coaches I checked for this list (over 30), none had double-digit wins in each of their first seven seasons, except Herron, who also has five state titles in seven years.

Here are first eight season-win totals for some other coaches from our area: Johnny Roscoe (formerly at Lancaster, 69 wins), Kyle Richardson (formerly at Northwestern, 58 wins in just five seasons) and Jim Ringer (formerly at Rock Hill, 43 wins).

Some of South Carolina’s coaching greats -- John McKissick, Pinky Babb and Willie Varner for example -- aren’t on the list because I couldn’t locate definitive win-loss records for their first eight seasons, some of which occurred in the 1940s. Many of them also didn’t coach 100 games in their first eight seasons, because there were fewer games played back then. Likewise for some of the state’s great African-American coaches, such as Union County Sims’ James Moorer, or Lancaster Barr School’s Sandy Gilliam, who coached at segregated black schools prior to the 1970s, for which records are extremely hard to come by.

READ: Strait Herron is ready for his championship hug from son, Dalton

Two weeks off for Chester. Time to study potential playoff opponents

Victor Floyd’s Cyclones clinched a 10-0 regular season last Friday night at Fairfield Central and now they have two weeks off -- one a predetermined bye week and the other idle week because the SCHSL added a week to the regular season because of Hurricane Florence’s impact. That’ll give the Cyclones time to rest -- they don’t carry a very deep varsity roster -- and also give Chester fans time to do some homework. Chester should be considered a state championship contender, and it’s time to look around and see who else might be, starting with the Upper State.

Defending 3A state champs Chapman are the biggest name on that list. If the Panthers win Region 2, they’ll be the No. 1 seed and placed at the very top of the 3A Upper State bracket. The Cyclones wouldn’t meet them until the Upper State final.

Two other teams to keep an eye on in the Upper State: Woodruff and Union County both from Region 3. Should Chester advance from the first round, the team that finished second in Region 3 would await in the second round (provided they too won their first round matchup). Union County is 6-3 (4-0 in region), with its losses coming to Chapman, Gaffney and Greer, teams that would beat most anybody in the state. Woodruff is 7-2 (3-1) with losses to Chapman and Union County.

Chester will play at home in the first two rounds. Liberty or Powdersville are the likely first round visitor. Those two teams are tied for fourth in Region 1.

Looking ahead

• Not going into great detail yet (much more coming later in the week), but this Friday’s Northwestern-Rock Hill game is shaping up to be a dandy. Last year was the first time the two teams met since 2009 with anything on the line (a region title), and now it’s happening two years in a row. Both the Bearcats and Trojans are 3-0 in Region 3-5A play and the winner will take the top league’s top seed in the playoffs and at least two home playoff games (if they advance that far). Rock Hill has closed the gap on South Pointe and Northwestern this season. A win would clinch the city championship for Rock Hill, which last claimed that title in 2009.
• South Pointe has won five out of six against York, so the odds are against the Cougars Friday when they host the Stallions. The game’s winner takes the Region 3-4A championship. But York has been overcoming long odds since an 0-3 start. The Cougars have won five straight games and look stronger each week. Also impressive: the Stallions’ staying power. After destroying seemingly every opponent in 2017, South Pointe has won three games this fall by a touchdown or less, including last week’s game against Ridge View. They’re getting everyone’s best shot (as usual) and hanging tough.
• Indian Land can finish second in Region 4-3A with a home win Friday against Fairfield Central. That’d be a great accomplishment for the Warriors, and probably some justification for their brutal non-region schedule. The Warriors played York, Rock Hill and South Pointe for the first time in school history, and even beat the Cougars in a game with just six completed passes total. Offensive problems haven’t been fully alleviated, but Indian Land’s defense, full of potential college players, has kept the team in contention. They’ve allowed just 26 points in three region games. And last week’s win at Camden was more proof that young head coach Horatio Blades can successfully gameplan and motivate his team in matchups where they’re not favored. That could be a big deal in the postseason.

This story was originally published October 21, 2018 at 2:16 PM.