This was supposed to be the Year of the Jaguar. And in a roundabout way, it was.
When the curtain dropped on the 2019 high school football season, Ridgeland-Hardeeville was left with a disappointing 2-8 record and a first-round playoff loss, but a talented sophomore class had the Jaguars dreaming about a brighter future.
We all know what happened next. The COVID-19 pandemic ripped up our reality, and by fall of 2020, the only thing left was uncertainty about whether there would even be a football season.
At Ridgeland-Hardeeville, there wasn’t. Jasper County was hit especially hard by the pandemic, putting all in danger, but particularly multi-generational households where elderly relatives were more susceptible to the deadly virus. The school district made the difficult decision to shut down sports for the 2020-21 school year, leaving many student-athletes with a difficult decision of their own.
Brandon Howard had the most to lose. A standout linebacker with aspirations of playing at the NCAA Division I level and beyond, Howard couldn’t bear to watch his junior year pass by, taking the most important stage in his recruitment with it.
He enrolled at Thomas Heyward Academy, where it was apparent nothing would stop football from taking center stage.
“It was very tough, but when I came here, the guys just welcomed me with open arms and it just felt like home,” Howard said. “I would have stayed at Ridgeland, but it was a waste of my junior year, and then I just built relationships with these guys that I’ll have forever. I love all of these guys, man.”
Two years later, Howard is a two-time SCISA 1A state champion, and if the “Go Blazers!” he shouted into my recorder last Saturday is any indication, it appears he will join former THA teammate Therion Cannon at UAB next season.
“Obviously his skill set speaks for itself when you watch the game. Everybody wants to talk about what a great football player he is, and he is, but off the field you’re not gonna meet a better individual than Brandon,” THA coach NIc Shuford said. “Great student, great teammate. He just finds a way. People just gravitate towards him and he leads in the right direction, and people follow him.”
And follow him they did.
After getting settled in his new digs, Howard made a call to former Jaguars teammate Jordan Mikell, who was tiring of playing Call of Duty and eager to get back on the field.
“I was ready to go, because I’d be fat by this time next year,” Mikell said. “They brought me in, and I had a starting job off the rip. I wasn’t expecting that. It felt like home. Everybody looks out for each other.”
The pipeline continued after Howard and Mikell earned their first ring with the Rebels last fall, and former RHHS teammates James “Turbo” Townsend and Symir MItchell joined the fray for their senior seasons, giving the Rebels another electric playmaker and a hulking presence in the trenches.
“It was like a brotherhood from our first game,” Mikell said. Once we got James and Sy over this year, all the pieces came together. We were finally doing it, and we’re here now. State champs.”
And the trend spilled over to Hilton Head Christian Academy, too.
One of the biggest pieces of that sensational sophomore class for the Jaguars, Joseph “Speedy” Robinson went over 1,000 yards rushing even on that 2019 RHHS team that was a work in progress, and when he landed at HHCA, the Eagles found the missing link they needed to run back their SCISA 2A title.
Hungry after losing his junior season, Robinson was a dominant force from the jump for the Eagles, totaling 28 touchdowns — 18 on just 62 carries on the ground and eight on 30 receptions along with two punt return scores — and dominating in a limited role on defense with four sacks and seven forced fumbles.
After watching his day-one brothers triumph in the noon matinee last Saturday at Charleston Southern, Speedy was motivated to do the same.
“Since LIttle League, since we were 4 years old or 6 years old, we did it all together, won countless championships,” Robinson said. “To see them inspired me. I’ve got to get this so we can all post up with our rings.”
And he made sure to hold up his end of the deal, scoring three rushing touchdowns and forcing a key fumble to help power HHCA to a dominant performance and a second straight state title.
“What a great young man on and off the field,” HHCA coach Ron Peduzzi said. “Mature, doesn’t say much, he just leads by playing.”
That was all this impressive group of Jasper County kids wanted — to play. Their junior season was taken away through no fault of their own, and they feared the same would happen to their senior season if they stayed put while the Delta variant was making a surge.
So they found a place to play, and a place to win, ensuring the Year of the Jaguar came to be after all.
“I’m proud of my boys,” Robinson said. “I’m proud of them.”
And all of Jasper County should be, regardless of the jersey they were wearing when they achieved the success that has long been expected for them.
By Justin Jarrett
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