BE's Ponkow joins top SC seniors to play in North-South game
Bishop England High School football standout Matthew Ponkow has been selected to play in the 79th Annual Touchstone Energy North-South All-Star Football Game.
The 6-1, 225-pound defensive end/linebacker is a team captain and owns the BE career quarterback sack record with 38 and is closing in on the school record for career tackles. He has 326 tackles entering this weekend’s game against Georgetown. Hunter Alex currently holds the school record with 336 stops.
Ponkow also excels as a lacrosse player and in the classroom. He has a 4.6 GPA. He has received offers from Charleston Southern, Newberry, and four Ivy League schools: Dartmouth, Brown, Penn, and Yale.
Ponkow is a member of the National Honor Society and Finance Club.
“He’s a great person on and off the field,” BE coach Logan Hall said in an interview earlier this season. “He is the true definition of what it means to be a Battling Bishop. He shows up every day and competes.”
The North-South game, which features 88 of the Palmetto State’s top senior players, will be contested Dec. 12 at Myrtle Beach High School’s Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium with kickoff slated for noon. The Palmetto State’s Mr. Football will be announced at halftime.
STATE PLAYOFFS
The South Carolina High School League’s state playoffs for girls’ volleyball, boys’ volleyball, and girls’ tennis began this week and concludes with the Weekend of Champions on Nov. 6-7.
Defending Class AA girls’ volleyball state champ Philip Simmons is the No. 1 seed in the Lower State bracket. The Iron Horses posted a 36-5 record, including 12-0 in region play.
The Iron Horses earned a first-round bye and will host the winner of the Saluda vs. Pelion match on Oct. 26.
The Bishop England girls are the No. 6 seed in Class AAA Lower State. The Bishops were 14-24, including 6-2 in region play. The Bishops host No. 11 seed Darlington on Oct. 21, and the winner advances to play at Gilbert on Oct. 26.
The Bishop England boys’ volleyball team was scheduled to travel to Bluffton in a first-round Class AAAA match on Oct. 20. The winner was scheduled to advance to play St. James on Oct. 22.
In girls’ tennis, Bishop England, a No. 5 seed, hosts Lower Richland on Oct. 22, with the winner advancing to play at Hartsville on Oct. 27.
Philip Simmons, a No. 4 seed in Class AA, earned a first-round bye and will host the winner of the East Clarendon-Orangeburg-Wilkinson match on Oct. 27.
IRON HORSE DERBY
Host school Philip Simmons fared well in the Oct. 14 Iron Horse Derby cross-country meet.
The Iron Horse girls finished first with a 46-60 victory over Summerville. Porter-Gaud was third with 86 points.
Flynn Taylor, Stella Wininger, Sarah Perry, and Caroline Oberly all finished in the top 10.
The Philip Simmons boys claimed second place as Summerville posted a 24-57 victory over the Iron Horses. Ashley Ridge was third with 106.
Matthew Perry finished third to lead PSHS while Grady Castiglia was fifth.