Football | 11/19/2024 3:13:00 PM

Mt. Pleasant, SC – After enjoying a week off at the end of the season, the Oceanside Collegiate Academy football squad wasted no time in storming past Fox Creek High 56-14 in the opening round of the SCHSL Class AAA playoffs last Friday at Johnson Hagood Stadium.
 
It as the fifth consecutive victory for the Landsharks, who improved to 7-3 overall on the season, and it was the most points scored by an Oceanside team since they scored 71 against Hampton County in a second-round playoff game in 2023.
 
Oceanside jumped out quickly against the Predators (4-6), scoring on offense, defense and special teams as part of a 36-0 first quarter.
 
"I honestly don't think they were very excited about being there and playing us," OCA Interim head coach John Patterson said.
 
Even if the Fox Creek players had been excited, the Landsharks took the steam from their sails from the very start of play. Senior receiver Peyton Shaw got the show started inside the opening minute of the game when he took a handoff 52 yards for an OCA score. Senior kicker Nate Sturm, who had a major impact on the game himself, added the PAT for a 7-0 lead.
 
After pinning the Predators deep in their own territory and forcing a punt, the Landsharks got the ball at the Fox Creek 33-yard line. It took just over a minute to find the end zone again, this time on a 2-yard run by sophomore James O'Connor. Sturm connected on the PAT for a 14-0 lead less than six minutes into the game.
 
Another quick three and out by the Oceanside defense forced the second punt by Fox Creek. This time the kick was blocked by senior Grayson Freeling, with Sturm serving as "Johnny-on-the-spot" to scoop up the loose ball at the 14 and scamper in for a touchdown. Sturm added another PAT for a 21-0 lead with still better than six minutes left in the quarter.
 
Sturm again made his presence felt on the next Fox Creek possession, intercepting a pass at the 22 and returning for a Pick Six. With the PAT, it was 28-0 with still better than five minutes on the game clock.
 
The Oceanside defense continued to dominate the game following the kickoff. The Predators started on their own 20, but only went backward before the Landsharks recorded a tackle in the end zone for a safety and a 30-0 lead.
 
Oceanside's offense was finally able to get on the field after the safety and sophomore quarterback Aiden Manavian took advantage of the short field the Landsharks had after the safety and connected with senior Will Virgilio for a 33-yard touchdown. OCA missed the PAT and took a 36-0 lead into the second quarter.
 
The second period started much like the first ended with a short punt from Fox Creek to the Oceanside 45-yard line, followed by a 55-yard touchdown pass from Manavian to junior running back Terence Johnson Jr., inside the first minute of the quarter. Freshman Knox Mahoney, up from the JV squad, converted the PAT for a 43-0 lead.
 
The rest of the game was played with a running clock and saw plenty of the younger players get some playoff experience. Manavian did stay in long enough to hit Johnson Jr., for another TD pass late in the half, this time from just 8-yards away. Mahoney converted the PAT for a 50-0 OCA lead at the half.
 
With the Landsharks employing the full JV squad in the second half, the Predators were able to score on an 8-yard run in the third quarter and a 3-yard run in the final quarter. Sophomore quarterback Aiden Culler accounted for the final points of the game with a 5-yard run.
 
Manavian completed just seven of 11 passes in the game but picked up 194 yards and added four TD passes.
 
"Aiden Manavian is a really good player, we saw that last year when he came back from a broken wrist and led the team to a state title as a freshman," Patterson said. "As good of a player as he is, he is even a better kid. He is almost always the last guy off the bus when we get home and when I go look for him, he is crawling around under the seats to pick up any scraps of trash that may have been left behind."
 
One of the standouts of the win over Fox Creek was Sturm, who handles all the kickoff, punting and placekicking duties for the Landsharks, but is also an experienced defensive back.
 
"Nate was playing safety and corner before he started kicking and he is really athletic back there," Patterson said. He showed in the first half the kind of ability he has, scoring on a blocked punt and an interception. That is not the first time he has done either of those."
 
The Landsharks now turn their attention to a Waccamaw squad that is coming off a 43-23 victory over Swansea in the opening round of the playoffs. The Warriors are 6-4 on the year, 3-2 in AAA Region 5, and will challenge Oceanside with their style of offensive play.
 
"They have a much better team than the one we saw last week," Patterson said. "They have some fantastic players who are really fast and make them especially dangerous because they play a type of offense we don't see very often. It is really hard to get you defense prepared to face an option offense like they run because you just don't see it much and four days is not a lot of time."
 
The Landsharks and Warriors will square off at 7:30 p.m. on Friday back at Johnson-Hagood Stadium in Charleston. The winner will move on to host the winner of the Newberry vs Dillon game in the state quarterfinals on November 29. The state semifinals are scheduled to be played on December 6 with the state championship game set for Saturday, December 14.
 
About Oceanside Collegiate Academy: Oceanside Collegiate Academy (OCA), located in Mt. Pleasant, S.C., serves high school students in a safe, small and family-centered setting. Our students seek the opportunity and challenge of rigorous curriculum, high academic standards and elite athletics while earning up to two years of college credit. OCA serves students in grades 9-12 using an honors curriculum in 9th and 10 grades with a dual enrollment curriculum in 11th and 12th grades Learn more about OCA by visiting our website at OceansideCollegiate.Academy and by following us on social media on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. For video content, visit our YouTube channel.