Looking For Class 2A Front Runners? Start Here

When Gray Collegiate ran away with the 2021 Class 2A state championship, it was a bit of a glitch in the matrix. Behind running back [player_tooltip player_id="89314" first="Kazarius" last="Adams"] and a few other future college guys, the War Eagles didn’t have an easy run through the playoffs. They defeated traditional contenders Abbeville (which had won four of the last five Class 2A titles), Newberry and Silver Bluff in the process. It remains to be seen if Gray can keep up that type of success without Adams. But if we’re looking at the four teams best positioned to take the proverbial throne, we are going to start with these four. <strong>BARNWELL (Last year: 9-5)</strong> The Warhorses have an incoming starting quarterback in [player_tooltip player_id="272720" first="Cameron" last="Austin"] who could be the next piece of the puzzle Barnwell has been looking for. The athletic and accurate quarterback gives this team a bigger playbook to go along with existing and soon-to-be highly decorated offensive standouts [player_tooltip player_id="262552" first="Tyler" last="J Smith"] and [player_tooltip player_id="124455" first="Clay" last="Pender"]. Tack on an experience and high-quality center in [player_tooltip player_id="139292" first="Seneca" last="Baines"], and this squad has the pieces in place to dominate. <strong>KINGSTREE (First-year program)</strong> The new-look, old name program - borne out of the combination of the former Kingstree and C.E. Murray High Schools - the Kingstree Blazers are the pure definition of a Class 2A wild card heading into 2022. The team will be joining the forces of [player_tooltip player_id="89347" first="Nic" last="Brown"], <strong>Amond Meyers</strong>, <strong>Taylor Wilson</strong>, <strong>Jafari Slay</strong>, <strong>Khamis Wilson</strong> and <strong>Henry Evans</strong>. Immediately, that group will look longer and taller than most small-class programs. Keeping in mind that C.E. Murray was a Class A Lower State runner-up a year ago, wins and playoff runs are already the norm for most of the new squad. <strong>OCEANSIDE COLLEGIATE (Last year: 8-4)</strong> Trust that a bunch of Lower State teams weren’t thrilled with the Landsharks dropping a classification in the latest realignment. After all, this is a squad with six players - led by [player_tooltip player_id="89337" first="Monroe" last="Freeling"], [player_tooltip player_id="89344" first="Vaughn" last="Blue"] and [player_tooltip player_id="146357" first="Tim" last="Castain"] - ranked in the Prep Red Zone Class of 2023, another three ([player_tooltip player_id="139300" first="Ben" last="Britton"], [player_tooltip player_id="91354" first="Coleman" last="Franzone"] and [player_tooltip player_id="139316" first="Zai" last="Offord"]) already appearing in the Class of 2024 rankings and some budding stars coming up around them. <strong>SILVER BLUFF (Last year: 11-1)</strong> The Bulldogs’ lone loss of the 2021 season came in the state championship game against Gray. And with the bulk of its talent returning this coming year, Silver Bluff is every bit a contender. The top Class of 2024 tailback in [player_tooltip player_id="91348" first="Traevon" last="Dunbar"]. An electric quarterback in [player_tooltip player_id="91161" first="Maleik" last="Williams"]. A dynamic linebacker in [player_tooltip player_id="139299" first="Jordan" last="Boyd"]. An ultra-experienced lineman in [player_tooltip player_id="139306" first="Christian" last="Echols"]. Rising sophomore starters in [player_tooltip player_id="272706" first="Garris" last="Chambers"] and [player_tooltip player_id="272710" first="Malik" last="Mozone"]. This team is stacked.