COLUMBIA — The last pass of Hayden Shinn’s high school career was an interception. That doesn’t seem right.
Shinn’s sensational two-year run as QB1 for Hilton Head Christian Academy ended with him standing on the sideline, watching helplessly as Trinity-Byrnes scored the winning touchdown in overtime moments after Shinn’s desperate throw to the corner of the end zone was intercepted.
It was not the ending Shinn deserved after transforming the Eagles’ offense and helping return a once dominant program to the level of state championship contender.
Shinn endured a similarly unjust fate last season, when a season-ending injury to the quarterback derailed the Eagles’ postseason hopes. Maybe that’s why he was so grateful to have the opportunity to go toe-to-toe with the Titans for three-plus hours in an epic title bout Saturday at Benedict College’s Charles W. Johnson Stadium, as he threw seven touchdown passes — but also five interceptions — while playing through a driving rain for much of the evening.
Shinn choked back tears outside the Eagles’ locker room as he thanked his coaches one by one and praised his teammates for allowing him to come into a new school and program and become a leader.
Few teams are more dependent on one player than HHCA, as evidence by the fact that Shinn led the team in rushing this season — and Saturday night, with 106 yards on seven carries — and passed for more than 3,600 yards with an incredible 50 touchdowns and 15 interceptions.
The Eagles were so reliant on Shinn spreading the ball around to their stable of talented receivers that they asked him to throw it 45 times in the title game. He completed 23 for 405 yards in nasty conditions.
“We always like to pride ourselves that we can score on every drive, regardless of the weather,” Shinn said. “We knew we would be able to throw in the rain. Rain or shine, we were gonna try to win.”
It’s easy to say the Eagles might have enjoyed a different fate if Shinn had put a little more air under a couple of his throws that ended up in the wrong hands, but the reality is they would have been on the wrong side of a blowout without him. Shinn made numerous throws that few others in the SCISA ranks can make, even as the rain poured down.
“Hayden makes mistakes, but he comes back and makes three big plays,” HHCA coach Ron Peduzzi said. “He kept on plugging. The ball was wet. It was hard to throw, but he just hung in there and battled and they all rallied around him. He’s a true leader.
“Without him, we’re not here,” Peduzzi added. “We’re not standing on this field.”
Now they have to try to figure out how to get back there without him.
— Justin Jarrett, LowcoSports.com
