2025 Weekend of Champions Day 2 Notes

ORANGEBURG | A lot of the focus after South Pointe won its 8th state championship in school history was focused on the play of [player_tooltip player_id='1819627' first='J'Zavien' last='Currence'] on both sides of the ball. He dazzled at quarterback, made plays in the secondary and after signing with South Carolina earlier in the week, we know where he's going to play his college ball.     We still have to wait out realignment and what each classification is going to look like next season but one thing you can expect is the Stallions to be right back in the title conversation next season.   The defense was loaded with juniors, and they will return looking to go back-to-back. Linebacker [player_tooltip player_id='1271263' first='KJ' last='Burg'] made plays all over the field and he finished with seven tackles and a tackle for loss in the 35-14 win over South Florence. He also was a huge contributor on special teams.   Defensive linemen [player_tooltip player_id='1817067' first='Joshua' last='McClure'] [player_tooltip player_id='1809198' first='Jasiah' last='Lewis'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1591712' first='Seth' last='Tillman'] will be back to form one of the best defensive fronts in the state next season. Tillman likely has the biggest upside of the three as he already has several Power 4 offers. He was only credited with one tackle on Saturday but he's big, strong and physical and those attributes will carry over well to the next level. McClure added two tackles and 0.5 tackles for loss with Lewis contributing a tackle and 0.5 tackles for loss as well. That group helped limit the Bruins to 113 yards of total offense.   [player_tooltip player_id='1036779' first='Kaiden' last='Watkins'] (pictured above) and [player_tooltip player_id='1603697' first='Zymier' last='Gordon-Miles'] return in the secondary. Watkins had a banner afternoon with two of the three interceptions by South Pointe. He also added one tackle to his resume. Gordon-Miles had two tackles and played sparingly on offense.   DUTCH FORK CAPS OFF FOUR-PEAT WITHOUT SALTERS   The Silver Foxes made history on Saturday, giving coach Tom Knotts his 10th state title in the last 13 years with the 40-20 win over Summerville. The 10 championships tie him with the legendary John McKissick (Summerville) and Willie Varner (Woodruff) for most state titles in school history.   There was one black eye on the victory though. Linebacker [player_tooltip player_id='1025776' first='Raleigh' last='Salters'], a three-year starter during this most recent run of four straight championships, was carted off in the first quarter with Knotts described as having a fractured forearm.   Several of the Silver Foxes players were visibly upset when Salters came up injured. As they walked to the sideline while Salters was being tended to, a lot of players had their hands on their helmets in disbelief that one of their leaders was down. Knotts has routinely described Salters as another coach on the field and his production has been indicative of that as well as he was selected to play in the Shrine Bowl in two weeks.   That gave more responsibility to seniors [player_tooltip player_id='1821104' first='Jackson' last='Stengel'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1734522' first='Mario' last='Anderson'] to take his place. Stengel moved to the middle and responded with seven tackles. Anderson filled in at several different positions and finished with two tackles, two tackles for loss and a blocked field goal attempt. Dutch Fork finished with eight sacks.   Recent South Carolina signee edge [player_tooltip player_id='1592529' first='Julian' last='Walker'] has played with Salters for four seasons.He said when Salters went down, that was a rallying cry for the rest of the defense.    “That ignited a whole new fire under the defense,” Walker said when Salters went down. “That happening was probably worse than that could happened to me because that's our guy. He's been with us since starting on varsity and as a group he's impacted on this team a lot. Him being gone definitely hurt, but it made an even bigger emphasis to play for him even more. We did it for him.”   STROM THURMOND SENIORS GO OUT WITH A BANG   When players like running back [player_tooltip player_id='1820530' first='Deonte' last='Phillips'] quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='1820528' first='Bri'Shaun' last='Lee'] and athletes Sha Williams [player_tooltip player_id='1515761' first='Jalin' last='Collins'] and [player_tooltip player_id='617663' first='Kaleb' last='Simpkins'] began playing together on the rec fields in Edgefield County, they envisioned the moment that arrived Saturday evening for a long time.   That also includes an offensive line that features seniors Amari McClenney [player_tooltip player_id='1823105' first='Carter' last='Boatwright'] and Micah Warrant and juniors Hezekiah East and [player_tooltip player_id='1820537' first='John' last='Laster']. They helped the Rebels go 4-of-8 on third downs and 1-of-1 on fourth down.   Lee was playing in his 35th game as the quarterback and the others had played in just as many, helping out all over the field. He executed the offense well and made the most of his opportunities in throwing the ball. He was 5-of-7 for 126 yards but threw touchdown passes of 55 yards to Simpkins and 11 yards to Williams. The pass to Simpkins was on the money and he made an over the shoulder catch to glide into the end zone untouched. The 11-yarder to Williams came on fourth down and capped the scoring late in the third quarter of the 26-7 victory.   Simpkins finished with three catches for 107 yards and all three of them went for a touchdown or a first down. He added two tackles on defense and more importantly returned a fumble 62 yards to set up the first Rebels touchdown on a 37-yard run from Phillips.   Williams finished with 10 tackles and one of the three Strom Thurmond picks. Collins added the other two. Phillips was the bulk of the ground game with 155 yards on 25 carries and two touchdowns. He added two tackles on defense.   “Twenty years, man,” Williams said. “When I was growing up, I went to games, and I just wanted to be a part of the Rebels family, and we got it done. This means the world to me and the rest of the guys.”

ORANGEBURG | A lot of the focus after South Pointe won its 8^th state championship in school history was focused on the play of J’Zavien Currence J’Zavien Currence South Pointe | 2026 SC on both sides of the ball. He dazzled at quarterback, made plays in the secondary and after signing with South Carolina earlier in the week, we know where he's going to play his college ball.