Heathwood Hall’s Xander Pertile gets a tackle against Ben Lippen. Photos by Mike Maddock
The Heathwood Hall Highlanders face the Northwood Chargers in the SCISA 4A State Championship game Friday, November 21 at South Carolina State’s Oliver C. Dawson Stadium. Here is a look at both teams.
Heathwood Hall
Highlanders
Overview:
Heathwood Hall is in its second season with Tymere Zimmerman as the full time head coach, after serving as the interim head coach for part of 2023. After back-to-back two-win seasons, the Highlanders broke through with nine wins, the most wins since the program’s last state championship appearance in 2009. Heathwood Hall needed a last second field goal from James Richardson to knock off rival and eight-time defending SCISA 4A state champion Hammond to make it to the state title game.
Quarterback:
Patrick Belk
Belk has completed 159-of-285 passes for 2,206 yards and 20 touchdowns.
Heathwood Hall’s Jackson Noble returns a punt against Ben Lippen.
While he’s been effective with his arm, he can be most dangerous to opposing defenses when he gets out of the pocket and takes off running. He has rushed for 478 yards and six touchdowns on 61 carries.
Running back:
Julian Hughes,
Heyward Belser
When Heathwood decides to run the ball, and it’s not Belk, chances are the ball is going to Hughes. He’s done a little bit of everything during his Highlander career. He also plays defense. In 2024, he mainly lined up as a slot receiver before moving to running back this year. He’s rushed for 650 yards and four touchdowns on 80-plus carries.
Belser is the short yardage back. He’s rushed for 134 yards and two touchdowns on 27 carries.
The Highlanders are averaging 102 rushing yards per game.
Wide Receivers:
Keon McKinnley,
Jamonie Batts,
Charlie Hudson,
Jackson Noble,
Henry Morris, and
Chip Ravenell
Heathwood Hall’s Julian Hughes gets in the open field against Ben Lippen.
This is one of the deepest units on Heathwood Hall’s roster. Aside from an unusual eight drops against Hammond, this group is typically consistent. The offensive success depends on how well the wide receivers are doing.
McKinnley leads the receivers with 51 catches for 701 yards and three touchdowns. Batts and Noble have four touchdowns each. Batts has 36 catches for 536 yards, while Noble has 19 catches for 283 yards. Charlie Hudson has 17 catches for 227 yards and three touchdowns. Ravenell has 11 catches for 137 yards and three touchdowns, and Morris has caught 10 passes for 148 yards and two touchdowns.
Heathwood Hall is averaging 186.5 yards receiving yards per game.
Offensive Line:
Xander Pertile LT
Brady Murphy LG,
Oliver Logsdon C,
Hill Belser RG,
and A.J. Morgan RT
These were among the hardest working players in the offseason and it’s shown. Perhaps the biggest evidence of their growth is the two games against Hammond. In the first one, the Highlanders had 131 total yards, 99 passing and 32 rushing. During Heathwood Hall’s semifinal win, the Highlanders finished with 338 total yards, 268 passing and 70 rushing.
There is a good deal of experience with this group as Pertile and Murphy are seniors and Belser and Morgan are juniors. Even Logsdon, a sophomore, started as a freshman.
Defensive Line:
Xander Pertile,
A.J. Morgan,
Cole Moore,
Levi Glass,
and Evan Johnson
As is often the case in SCISA, some players play both sides of the ball. Pertile and Morgan are two of those players for the Highlanders. Pertile has 18 tackles, with five for loss, five hurries, two pass deflections, and one sack. Morgan has 23 tackles, with two hurries and one sack. Moore has stepped up along the defensive line. He has 19 tackles, with one hurry and a fumble recovery. Glass has become one of the most improved players in SCISA this year. He has 14 tackles and one hurry. Johnson doesn’t have as much in the way of stats, but Zimmerman is excited about his future. So far he has six tackles with three for loss.
Linebacker:
Heyward Belser,
Henry Morris,
John Thompson,
Christian Hitchcock,
and Charlie Taylor
Belser is one of the best linebackers in the state. He is the anchor of the defense. He has a team leading 116 tackles with 18 tackles for loss. Belser also has five hurries, three sacks, one interception, and a fumble recovery. Morris is third on the team with 60 tackles, with eight for loss, three hurries, two sacks, and three pass deflections. Thompson has 33 tackles, with seven for loss, eight hurries, two fumble recoveries, and one sack. Hitchcock has 48 tackles, with six for loss, one hurry, and a fumble recovery. Taylor has 32 tackles, with five for loss, three hurries, and a fumble recovery.
Secondary:
Ryan Pfister,
Liam Edwards,
Jackson Noble,
and Julian Hughes
Hughes is the second leading tackler on the team with 71, with nine being for loss. He has an interception, one fumble recovery, and a blocked kick. This is Pfister’s first year ever playing football, and he’s turned in a very productive season. He has 28 tackles, with two for loss, eight pass deflections, and one fumble recovery. Edwards has 37 tackles with four for loss, 14 pass deflections, and one hurry. Noble has 42 tackles, with a team high three interceptions and 12 pass deflections.
Special Teams:
Jackson Noble P
James Richardson K
One of the best stories in this championship game is Richardson, who returned in Heathwood Hall’s regular season finale against Northwood after being out since March with a torn ACL. He was 3-for-4 against Hammond, including a game-winning 22 yard field goal with seconds left. For the season, Richardson is 6-for-6 on extra points and 7-for-9 on field goals with a long of 37.
Noble does the punting. He’s averaging 42 yards per punt.
Keys
Zimmerman says, “Give 100 percent attitude, 100 percent effort, and we will live with the results. That’s all we have to do. If we do that part, everything else will work itself out. I want them to leave with no regrets.”
Northwood Chargers
Overview:
Northwood head coach Johnny Waters is in his third season as the Chargers head coach after nine seasons and multiple state championships at First Baptist. He took over a team that had lost 29 straight games over three seasons. Aftger losing to Porter-Gaud in last year’s semifinals, the Chargers got their revenge by knocking out the Cyclones in this year’s semifinals.
Quarterback:
Kevin Johnson
Johnson makes the Northwood offense go. He’s completed 161-of-256 passes for 2,149 yards and 19 touchdowns. According to Waters, Johnson can make all the throws and has the trust from coaches to audible out of play calls. Waters does run some RPO plays with Johnson at quarterback.
Northwood is averaging 195.4 per game passing.
Running back:
Kaven Ford, Michael
Polite, Bryson Ford,
and Jordin Carter
Northwood is especially deep at running back and uses all four. Kaven Ford is the starter. He went over 1,000 yards on a touchdown run against Heathwood Hall on Halloween. For the season, Ford has rushed for 1,115 yards and 21 touchdowns on 152 carries. He can also be a bit of a factor in the passing game. He’s caught two passes for 47 yards and a touchdown. Michael Polite is the next in line. He’s had a solid season rushing for 456 yards and five touchdowns on 76 carries. Bryson Ford, with 120 yards and two touchdowns, and Jordin Carter, with 456 yards and seven touchdowns, provide quality depth.
The Chargers are averaging 219.8 rushing yards per game.
Wide Receivers:
Aydan Hogan, Drew
Wolfe, Scott Geisel, and
Jacair Medlock
Wide receiver is another deep position group for Northwood. Aydan Hogan is the Chargers’ leading receiver with 66 catches for 908 yards and eight touchdowns. Wolfe has 30 catches for 587 yards and five touchdowns. Medlock is third on the team with 28 catches for 376 yards and four touchdowns, while Geisel has 32 catches for 226 yards and one touchdown.
Offensive Line:
Kaeden Wagner LT,
Jacob Harrelson LG,
Kenny Robbins C,
K.J. Burroughs RG,
and Breayden Andy RT
This is an experienced group, with most returning next season. Four started as underclassmen. Burroughs and Robbins are the seniors of the group. Wagner and Harrelson are juniors, while Andy is a sophomore.
Defensive Line:
Mitchell Lanier DE,
Hammer White DT,
Garrett Andy DT,
and Nate Cross DE
The defensive line was hit hard by graduation following the 2024 season. However, Waters has had some new starters step up. Lanier has 23 tackles and 2.5 sacks. White has 45 tackles with 5.5 sacks and two fumble recoveries. Andy has 27 tackles, with three sacks and a fumble recovery; and Cross has 25 tackles and four sacks.
This unit consists of two seniors, a junior, and a senior.
Linebacker:
Cody McCleary,
Dominic Russell
Waters believes he has the best two linebackers in the state. Russell is the team leader in tackles with 75. He also has 4.5 sacks, one interception, and a pass deflection. McCleary is third on the team with 50 tackles. He also has 3.5 sacks.
Secondary:
Jordin Carter,
Bryce Jenkins,
M.J. Davis,
Antwaun Henderson,
and Quincy Lingard
The secondary is also an active group. Carter has 38 tackles and three interceptions. Jenkins has 17 tackles, a team-high five interceptions, four pass deflections, and two fumble recoveries. Davis is second on the team with 57 tackles. He also has two interceptions, two blocked field goals, and one fumble recovery. Henderson has 48 tackles, with 2.5 sacks, two interceptions, and one pass deflection; and Lingard has 40 tackles, one interception, and one pass deflection.
Special Teams:
Cole McLeod PK/P
McLeod handles all the kicking duties for Northwood. For the season he’s 49-of-51 on extra points and 3-of-5 on field goals with a long of 30.
Keys
Waters believes the keys for his team are to cut down on penalties, particularly at the wrong time, and turnovers. On defense, he wants to see them limit big plays.
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