BEHS, PSHS top athletes shine with all-state honors, big wins

Let’s start with volleyball.

 

Bishop England and Philip Simmons both had successful seasons and were well represented on the all-state and North-South teams that were selected by the Coaches Association of Women’s Sports. 

 

Bishops England’s Langdon Blackstock and Payton Moorman were named all-state while Claire Womble was selected to play in the North-South Game. 

 

Dani Gehringer and Gabby Kakalev were the Iron Horses’ all-state picks while Jaiden Rohs played in the North-South game. 

 

Moorman, only an 8th grader, logged 258 kills, 32 blocks, 12 assists, 167 digs and 21 aces. The junior Blackstock tallied 296 kills, 273 digs, 47 aces, 30 blocks, and 28 assists. 

 

Womble collected 150 kills, 58 blocks, 10 assists, 31 digs, and five aces. 

 

Gehringer tallied 92 aces, 187 digs and 582 assists while Kakalev collected 230 kills, 85 aces, and 280 digs. 

 

Rohs had 23 kills, 57 blocks, and a .33 hitting percentage.

 

Bishops signings

Bishop England was scheduled to host an early National Signing Day ceremony on Dec. 4.

 

Student-athletes who were scheduled to sign include Daniel Donato, golf, Newberry College; Maggie Twigg, rugby, Wheeling University; Keira Tyler, lacrosse, University of Rhode Island; Jacob Mackara, baseball, University of Tampa; Jackson Winer, baseball, Coastal Carolina University; Will Rissmiller, baseball, Newberry College; Wyatt Lynn, baseball, Penn State-Scranton; Keegan Benton, archery, Lindsey Wilson College, and Peter Fulton, baseball, Anderson University.

 

PSHS football Honors

Philip Simmons was well represented on the Region 6-AA football team as quarterback Tavien Orellana was named the offensive player of the year while Eric Bendig was named coach of the year for the Iron Horses, who posted a 10-3 record, including 5-0 in league play. 

 

Orellana had a record-setting career as a quarterback and completed 127 of 201 passing attempts for 1,699 yards and 26 touchdowns as a senior. He added 346 yards and four touchdowns on the ground.

 

Coach Bendig led the Iron Horses to their second region title in its seven years of existence. He’s led the Iron Horses to 20 victories in their last 25 games. 

 

Seven other Iron Horses earned all-region honors. They include: OL Quamaine Vaughn; WR Nick Tribolet; ATH T.J. Walker; DL Jayquan Shephard; LB Brody Tonon; DB Darriel Porcher, and K C.J. Falotico.

 

BE football honors

Bishop England, one of the biggest rags-to-riches football teams in the Palmetto State, led the way in Region 6-AAAA football selections as Bishops posted a 9-3 record including 4-1, which was good enough for first place. 

 

Fletcher Ethington-Carl was named the region’s defensive player of the year while Logan Hall was named coach of the year in his first year at the school. 

 

Ethington-Carl was a force from his linebacker position. The team captain logged 114.5 tackles, including 15 tackles for a loss. He had two takeaways. 

 

Coach Hall took a BE team that had struggled with only seven wins in the previous three years and turned it into a Region 6-AAAA force. The Bishops showed improvement in every phase of the game. The offense averaged 28 points per contest while the defense surrendered 17 points per game. 

 

Other BE players who earned all-region include QB Quinn Mahoney; WR Zach Balog; DL Matthew Ponkow; LB Hunter Alex; DL Griffin Buss; OL Wyatt Lynn and OL Austin Dao.