(Photo by Chad McGinty)
By Thomas Grant Jr.
A Lake Murray region team celebrated a state football championship over the Thanksgiving holiday.
W.W. King Academy defeated Laurens Academy 50-36 last Friday in the SCISA 8-Man championship at Calhoun Academy. The victory capped a perfect 12-0 season and marked the Knights’ first state title since 2013.
Joseph Morse rushed for three touchdowns, and Elija Hutto added both a rushing and passing score for W.W. King Academy. The win was the Knights’ second over the Chargers this season.
Meanwhile, the 2025 campaign came to an end for the two remaining Lake Murray teams in the S.C. High School League playoffs.
Previously undefeated Newberry suffered its first loss of the season in the Class 3A third round, falling 51-31 to fellow unbeaten Loris. The Lions opened the game with 23 unanswered points before Newberry broke through on a 6-yard touchdown run by Kenton Caldwell, who scored two more times on the ground in the loss.
Newberry finishes the year 12-1, while Loris advances to face Oceanside Collegiate Academy in the Lower State final.
At W.C. Hawkins Stadium, White Knoll sought to finally break through against Irmo after dropping the previous three meetings over the past 13 months—including last year’s Class 5A Division II Lower State final.
After falling behind 14-0, the Timberwolves rallied to tie the game in the third quarter. Quarterback Jhais McKeiver connected with Tyler Brown on a 16-yard touchdown pass to get White Knoll on the board. On the ensuing kickoff, Irmo fumbled, and the Timberwolves took over at the 18-yard line. Richmond commit Caleb Geronomi scored from nine yards out to even the game.
Geronomi then intercepted a pass on Irmo’s next possession, but White Knoll came up empty when a 44-yard field goal attempt fell short.
With 57 seconds remaining in the third quarter, Irmo used trickery to retake the lead. Maleek Miller took a handoff, rolled right, and found an open Jay Eady to make it 21-14. Miller later added a 3-yard touchdown run with 3:06 left, securing the Yellow Jackets’ third straight state semifinal appearance under head coach Aaron Brand.
Irmo will host Berkeley in the Lower State final.
White Knoll ends the season with an 8-4 record.
