Football | 12/16/2024 11:39:00 AM

Orangeburg, SC – There is an old adage about adversity either killing you or making you stronger.
 
The Oceanside Collegiate Academy football team proved the adversity it faced during the 2024 season did, in fact, make the team stronger by winning its second consecutive state title on Saturday with a 35-17 victory over Belton-Honea Path.
 
The Landsharks moved from SCHSL Class AA in 2023 to Class AAA this year. The team also lost its head coach one game into the season, during an opening stretch that included games against three Class AAAAA powers as well as two traditional Georgia power teams.
 
Oceanside overcame a 2-3 start to the year and after the calendar turned to October went on a nine-game role that culminated in the programs' second state championship.
   
"It was a lot of adversity, but that's what football is, that's what life is," Patterson said. "That's what football teaches. You've got to keep showing up every day, grind, and if bad stuff happens you've just to overcome it."
 
The Landsharks made that march under the steady guidance of interim head coach John Patterson and were led on the field by sophomore quarterback Aidan Manavian, who also led the team to the 2023 title. Manavian connected regularly with his senior receivers against Belton-Honea Path to pull away from the Bears in the fourth quarter.
 
Manavian finished 21-for-26 in passing for 326 yards and four touchdowns.
 
"I don't get nervous," Manavian said. "It was great to come back here and get the win. We've put in a lot of film hours this year, a lot hard work, so we kind of expected to play this well. We went through a lot this season, but we stuck together and came out every day and worked. I think that bond that we built together really paid off for us today."
 
With the victory, the Landsharks finished the 2024 season with and 11-3 record. BHP fell to 13-2, losing in the Class AAA championship game for the second year in a row.
 
Oceanside stayed on a roll Saturday, moving the football up and down the field with ease, against the Bears' defense. Manavian's primary target was Will Virgilio, who had five catches for 134 yards. Peyton Shaw also had five catches for 66 yards and Gavin Gasper had four catches for 65 yards and two TDs. Junior running back Terrence Johnson had five receptions for 57 yards and a score.
 
"We come out every day to work as hard as we can, stay late, getting extra routes in," Manavian said. "When you come out here and get a Dub, we're already here, we're on time, we're ready to go. It feels great."
 
On defense the Landsharks knew they would have to deal with the powerful running of BHP back and Clemson commit Marquise Henderson. He came into the game with 1,934 yards and did his normal damage, finishing with 188 yards and a touchdown on 42 carries.
 
"Defense did a great job," Patterson said. "Henderson is a great back, he's going to have a great career at Clemson, but give our defensive coaches and players all the credit."
 
Henderson had to fill in for quarterback for the second half after starter Noah Thomas went down with an injury late in the second quarter.
 
Oceanside opened the scoring when Manavian connected with Johnson on a nine-yard scoring strike in the first quarter. Belton-Honea Path responded in the second quarter with Henderson's three-yard TD run, but the Landsharks posted back-to-back scores before the half to take a 21-7 lead.
 
Manavian connected with Shaw for a 25-yard touchdown art the 7:41 mark, and after BHP botched a pooch kickoff reception, the Sharks recovered, and Johnson closed out the short drive with a 1-yard plunge into the end zone at the 5:58 mark.
 
BHP moved downfield for most of the third quarter with Henderson running on most of the plays. On first and goal at the Oceanside 5-yard line he gave the ball to Justin Lathon, who barreled into the end zone at the 2:26 mark to cut the lead to 21-14.
 
BHP kept the pressure on when K.J. Miles picked off a Manavian pass on Oceanside's next possession, which led to Bears kicker Christian Bridwell's 42-yard field goal with 26 seconds left in the third, cutting the OCA lead to 21-17 as the game moved to the final quarter.
 
That was as close as Oceanside would let the Bears come. Manavian closed out the victory with fourth-quarter touchdown passes of 19 and 13 yards to Gaspar.
 
"We practiced for this every week," Gaspar said. "We've been ready for this, and we know what it's like to be here. I can't say anything bad about this team. I love everybody. No better way to go out."
 
With two straight state championships in hand Patterson spread the credit for the victory among the entire team.
 
"It means a lot, but I'm just a guy on a team," he said. "I don't think my role on the team's any different than anybody else's. Sometimes you play, sometimes you film, sometimes you manage the trainers, sometimes you're the assistant coach or the head coach. And the head coach gets way too much credit, honestly. All the credit should go to the assistant coaches and certainly the kids."
 

Belton-Honea Path	0	7	10	0	17
Oceanside Collegiate	7	14	0	14	35

 
First Quarter
O - Terrence Johnson 9 pass from Aiden Manavian (Nate Sturm kick) 4:47
Second Quarter
B - Marquise Henderson 3 run (Christian Bridwell kick) 9:15
O - Peyton Shaw 25 pass from Manavian (kick failed) 7:41
O - Johnson 1 run (Kyle Baldwin pass from Manavian) 5:58
Third Quarter
B - Justin Lathon 5 run (Bridwell kick) 2:26
B - Bridwell 42 field goal :26
Fourth Quarter
O - Gavin Gaspar 19 pass from Manavian (Sturm kick) 11:40
O - Gaspar 13 pass from Manavian (Sturm kick) 4:07
 

	BHP	OCA
First downs	17	16
Rushes-yards	59-234	14-22
Passing yards	16	326
Att-Com-Int	7-4-0	26-21-1
Fumbles-lost	2-1	1-0
Penalties-yards	6-49	4-30
Punts-avg	2-32.0	3-36.7

 
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
BHP - Marquise Henderson 42-188, Noah Thomas 5-30, M.J. Earl 5-19, Justin Lathon 4-6, Tajeh Watson-Martin 1-2, Ty Parnell 2-7.
OCA - Aiden Manavian 7-14, James O'Connor 4-9, Terrence Johnson 1-1, Team 2-2
PASSING
BHP - Noah Thomas 3-4-0, Marquise Henderson 1-1-0, Ty Parnell 0-1-0, Tajeh Watson-Martin 0-1-0.
OCA - Aiden Manavian 21-26-1.
RECEIVING
BHP -Tajeh Watson-Martin 4-16
?OCA - Will Virgilio 5-134, Peyton Shaw 5-66, Gavin Gaspar 4-65, Terrence Johnson 5-57, James O'Connor 1-4, Kyle Baldwin 1-0.
 
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.