By Thomas Grant Jr.
Dean Howell is having a rewarding time this season at Northside Christian Academy.
He led the Crusaders to their best record season record in school history and surpassed 100 career victories.
“Man I’m so proud of these kids, but more than that I’m so happy for them,” he said. “They have worked their tails off to get to where they are and they are deserving of the success we’ve had.”
Now it’s the post-season where Northside Christian Academy (9-1) opens the SCISA Class 3A playoffs. They will open Friday at Palmetto State Armory Field against First Baptist School (3-7) at 7:30 p.m.
The two teams had their lone meeting last season in Week Zero in Charleston. Northside Christian got 253 yards and four of five touchdowns scored by Sam Burks on the ground in the 45-42 victory.
The Crusaders enter this year’s game riding a 7-game winning streak. The Hurricanes have dropped their last two games to Pinewood Prep (45-17) and Wilson Hall (45-7).
“We have been talking quite a bit lately about hoping we get everyone’s best so we can find out how good we are or are not,” Howell said. “It’s the time of year when everyone is in the same boat, either you win or you go home. We proved last year that we had taken some steps forward in the big win at Colleton (Prep), but now we are playing a level up so it will only be that much more of a challenge.
“All of the teams still playing are great teams with great coaches so, no, I’m not thrilled with the bracket.”
Burks leads the Crusaders in rushing with 747 yards and 10 touchdowns in seven games. J.R. Kinard is second with 645 yards and seven touchdowns and B.J. Suits has 516 passing yards and two touchdowns to go with 419 rushing yards and six scores.
Defensively, Trevor Hoffman leads the team with 133 tackles and Jake Jeffrey has a team-high 10 ½ sacks to go with four sacks.
The winner faces either Trinity Collegiate or Pinewood Prep in the semifinals next week.
Bearcats beat Eagles
Brookland-Cayce closed out the regular season in its annual rivalry matchup against Airport.
For the sixth straight time, the Bearcats came away victorious by a score of 49-14.
Brookland-Cayce quarterback Drevon Dopson threw three touchdowns and rushed for a score and running back Tyronne Jackson had two rushing touchdowns and a receiving one.
Amarii King and David Daniels both caught touchdowns for the Bearcats (3-7). They will return to action Nov. 15 to open the Class 4A playoffs.
Quarterback Jay Eady accounted for both scores for Airport (1-9) with a passing and rushing touchdown. The Eagles travel Thursday to South Aiken for their regular-season finale.
await the release of the Class 4A playoff brackets.
S.C. PREP FOOTBALL MEDIA RANKINGS
Class 5A
1. Dutch Fork (15) (8-0)
2. Northwestern (1) (10-0)
3. Summerville (10-0)
4. Irmo (9-0)
5. Sumter (9-0)
6. Spartanburg (7-1)
7. Gaffney (7-1)
8. JL Mann (7-2)
9. TL Hanna (7-2)
10. Greenwood (7-2)
Others receiving votes: Hillcrest, Dorman, Clover, River Bluff
Class 4A
1. Westside (16) (8-0)
2. Daniel (8-1)
3. South Pointe (8-2)
4. Hartsville (8-1-1)
5. North Augusta (8-1)
6. Seneca (8-1)
7. South Florence (7-3)
8. Gray Collegiate (7-2)
9. May River (7-2) ↓ 3
10. (tie) Wren (6-2) ↓ 2
10. (tie) Bishop England (8-2)
Others receiving votes: Camden, Hilton Head Island, AC Flora, Greer
RPI RATINGS
Class 5A
Division I
(Upper State)
1.Dutch Fork, 8-0, 0.86398, 2. Spartanburg, 7-1, 0.76197, 3. River Bluff, 7-2, 0.69895, 4. JL Mann, 7-2, 0.67508, 5. Dorman, 6-3, 0.62036, 6. Clover, 7-3, 0.61893, 7. Lexington, 5-4, 0.595882, 8. Boiling Springs, 5-3, 0.56335, 9. Blythewood, 6-4, 0.56370, 10. Rock Hill, 5-5, 0.54581, 11. J.F. Byrnes, 4-5, 0.54255, 12. Mauldin, 2-7, 0.35300 13. Wade Hampton, 0-8, 0.21096
(Lower State)
1.Summerville, 10-0, 0.77742, 2. Sumter, 9-0, 0.75349, 3. Ridge View, 6-3, 0.64056, 4. Ashley Ridge, 7-3, 0.61842, 5. James Island, 6-3, 0.61337, 6. Carolina Forest, 5-3-1, 0.58531, 7. Fort Dorchester, 5-5, 0.51585, 8. Stratford, 4-5, 0.47463, 9. Wando, 5-5, 0.46604, 10. West Ashley, 4-6, 0.45999, 11. Cane Bay, 2-7, 0.36164, 12. Spring Valley, 0-9, 0.29078, 13. Stall, 0-8, 0.24439
Division II
(Upper State)
1.Northwestern, 10-0, 0.81007, 2. Gaffney, 7-1, 0.69433 3. TL Hanna, 7-2, 0.66099, 4. Greenwood, 7-2, 0.64891, 5. Hillcrest, 7-2, 0.61847, 6. Catawba Ridge, 7-3, 0.58371, 7. Riverside, 4-4, 0.52357, 8. Indian Land, 5-5, 0.48252, 9. Eastside, 4-4, 0.44713, 10. Woodmont, 3-6, 0.43356, 11. Nation Ford, 2-8, 0.38028, 12. Greenville, 1-8, 0.34853, 13. Easley, 1-8, 0.30387, 14. Fort Mill, 1-8, 0.29509
(Lower State)
1.Irmo, 9-0, 0.81206, 2. White Knoll, 5-4, 0.61561, 3. West Florence, 6-3, 0.60009, 4. Chapin, 4-5, 0.57090, 5. Berkeley, 5-4, 0.53771, 6. Goose Creek, 5-4, 0.52977, 7. Myrtle Beach, 4-4, 0.50912, 8. Westwood, 5-5, 0.50762, 9. Socastee, 4-5, 0.46390, 10. Lugoff-Elgin, 4-6, 0.45239, 11. Lucy Beckham, 4-6, 0.42940, 12. North Myrtle Beach, 3-4, 0.42128, 13. Conway, 1-8, 0.35036, 14. St. James, 0-9, 0.23213
Class 4A
(Upper State)
1.Westside, 8-0, 0.84002, 2. Daniel, 8-1, 0.70141, 3. Seneca, 8-1, 0.67316, 4. South Pointe, 7-2, 0.66548, 5. Camden, 7-3, 0.63912, 6. Wren, 6-2, 0.61754, 7. Richland Northeast, 7-3, 0.60525, 8. A.C. Flora. 7-3, 0.59607, 9. Greer 5-4, 0.59060, 10. Fountain Inn, 5-4, 0.53906, 11. Emerald, 5-4, 0.51161, 12. Pickens, 4-5, 0.48357, 13. Blue Ridge, 4-5, 0.43417, 14. Lancaster, 3-6, 0.42711, 15. Dreher, 3-6, 0.41108, 16. Berea, 3-6, 0.38973, 17. York, 2-7, 0.37113, 18. Laurens, 1-8, 0.36080, 19. Travelers Rest, 1-7, 0.28390, 18. Southside, 0-9, 0.20874
(Lower State)
1.Hartsville, 8-1-1, 0.69866, 2. Bishop England, 8-2, 0.68648, 3. North Augusta, 8-1, 0.67600, 4. Gray Collegiate, 7-2, 0.64976, 5. South Florence, 7-3, 0.64816, 6. May River, 7-2, 0.61617, 7. Hilton Head Island, 7-2, 0.60629, 8. Bluffton, 6-3, 0.58025, 9. Crestwood, 5-5, 0.53930, 10. Darlington. 4-5, 0.49969, 11. South Aiken, 4-5, 0.48232, 12. Lower Richland, 5-5, 0.47326, 13. Gilbert, 4-5, 0.46513, 14. Midland Valley, 4-6, 0.44444, 15. Brookland-Cayce, 3-7, 0.40017, 16. Beaufort, 2-8, 0.38396, 17. Lakewood, 2-8, 0.36600, 18. Colleton County, 1-9, 0.31167, 19. Wilson, 1-8, 0.30880, 20. Airport, 1-9, 0.30295 21. Aiken, 0-9, 0.23338
PREP FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
Thursday’s Game
Airport at South Aiken 7 p.m.
Friday’s Games
(All Games at 7:30 p.m.)
First Baptist School at Northside Christian
River Bluff at Lexington
Photo by Northside Christian Academy athletics – Northside Christian Academy head coach Dean Howell speaks with the team following the win over Camden Military.
