Hammond is close to cracking the MaxPreps SC Top 40. No. 1 Byrnes HS is also No. 1 nationally according to MaxPreps:

1. Byrnes HS
2. South Pointe HS
3. Dorman HS

42. Airport HS
43. HAMMOND SCHOOL
44. Lexington HS

73. Woodruff HS
74. WILSON HALL
75. AUGUSTA CHRISTIAN SCHOOL
76. Socastee HS

81. West Ashley HS
82. HEATHWOOD HALL EPISCOPAL SCHOOL
83. Chesnee HS

112. J.L. Mann HS
113. BISHOP ENGLAND HIGH SCHOOL
114. Calhoun County HS

135. Ridge Spring-Monetta HS
136. PINEWOOD PREPARATORY SCHOOL
137. PORTER-GAUD SCHOOL
138. Waccamaw HS
139. Wade Hampton HS (Hampton)
140. ORANGEBURG PREPARATORY SCHOOL
141. Swansea HS
142. CHRIST CHURCH EPISCOPAL SCHOOL
143. North Central HS

146. Walhalla HS
147. THOMAS HEYWARD ACADEMY
148. Dreher HS

152. Landrum HS
153. THOMAS SUMTER ACADEMY
154. HILTON HEAD PREPARATORY SCHOOL
155. Woodmont HS

164. West-Oak HS
165. LAURENCE MANNING ACADEMY
166. Nation Ford HS
167. Eau Claire HS
168. BEN LIPPEN SCHOOL
169. HILTON HEAD CHRISTIAN ACADEMY
170. Indian Land HS
171. CHARLESTON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL
172. NORTHWOOD ACADEMY
173. Aynor HS

177. Burke HS
178. COLLETON PREPARATORY ACADEMY
179. Southside HS
180. CALHOUN ACADEMY
181. Hunter-Kinard-Tyler HS
182. Timmonsville HS
183. PEE DEE ACADEMY
184. Denmark-Olar HS
185. Brookland-Cayce HS
186. ST. ANDREW'S SCHOOL
187. WILLIAMSBURG ACADEMY
188. CARDINAL NEWMAN SCHOOL
189. Ridgeland HS

198. Estill HS
199. SOUTHSIDE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL
200. FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH SCHOOL

If you intended to differentiate between the SCHSL and SCISA schools by typing the names of the SCISA schools in all capital letters, you need to retype Bishop England and Christ Church Episcopal School. While both are private schools, they are also SCHSL members.

Actually, I was trying to show the relative strength (according to MaxPreps anyway) of independent school football to public school football in SC.

Independent schools are on the verge of dominating high school basketball in SC (as they already do in NC and VA). Football? SCISA football has greatly improved in the last 5 or so years but still has a looong way to go to be in the position of those NCISAA football teams (Charlotte Latin, Charlotte Country Day) that can compete with most any public school in the Tar Heel State (except Independence HS and a couple others). But, that ought to be the objective for Hammond, Augusta Christian, Wilson Hall, Heathwood, Pinewood, Porter-Gaud and maybe a few others. In the meantime, the independent schools playing in SCHSL (BE, CCES, SCS) are a decent barometer to measure SCISA strength.

MaxPreps SC Rankings
10/21/08

1. Byrnes HS
2. South Pointe HS
3. Dorman HS

62. Chapin HS
63. AUGUSTA CHRISTIAN SCHOOL
64. Southside HS
65. Blackville-Hilda HS
66. HAMMOND SCHOOL
67. Wando HS

71. Batesburg-Leesville HS
72. HEATHWOOD HALL EPISCOPAL SCHOOL
73. Woodmont HS

98. Woodland HS
99. BEN LIPPEN SCHOOL
100. BISHOP ENGLAND HIGH SCHOOL
101. Lower Richland HS

110. Ware Shoals HS
111. ORANGEBURG PREPARATORY SCHOOL
112. PINEWOOD PREPARATORY SCHOOL
113. Darlington HS
114. CHRIST CHURCH EPISCOPAL SCHOOL
115. Blue Ridge HS
116. Hemingway HS
117. WILSON HALL
118. Buford HS

130. Wade Hampton HS (Hampton)
131. NORTHWOOD ACADEMY
132. Burke HS

141. McBee HS
142. LAURENS ACADEMY
143. Georgetown HS

150. Allendale-Fairfax HS
151. THOMAS SUMTER ACADEMY
152. Chapman
153. Walhalla HS
154. PORTER-GAUD SCHOOL
155. Travelers Rest HS
156. DILLON CHRISTIAN SCHOOL
157. Riverside HS
158. HILTON HEAD CHRISTIAN ACADEMY
159. Crescent HS
160. LAURENCE MANNING ACADEMY
161. Whitmire HS

170. Hunter-Kinard-Tyler HS
171. CARDINAL NEWMAN SCHOOL
172. ST. JOHN'S CHRISTIAN ACADEMY
173. CALHOUN ACADEMY
174. C.E. Murray HS
175. Dreher HS
176. HILTON HEAD PREPARATORY SCHOOL
177. Ridgeland HS

179. Stall HS
180. COLLETON PREPARATORY ACADEMY
181. ST. ANDREW'S SCHOOL
182. Easley HS

190. Eastside HS
191. BIBLE BAPTIST SCHOOL
192. Green Sea-Floyds HS

Thats laughable..... Take nothing away from Calhoun or SJCA, but do you really believe these two schools are better then Dreher, Easley, and Eastside??? Come on, lets get serious........

quote:

Thats laughable..... Take nothing away from Calhoun or SJCA, but do you really believe these two schools are better then Dreher, Easley, and Eastside??? Come on, lets get serious........

Its hard to imagine Easley HS has fallen on THAT hard of times so I agree with you to that extent. Dreher and Eastside are pretty bad though and I am not sure at all that the Calhoun Academy Cavaliers couldn't take them.

I haven't seen St. John's Christian play so I will withhold judgment. Just keeping it within SCISA, I am not convinced that St. John's is better than Hilton Head Prep, Colleton Prep, St. Andrew's or Bible Baptist. The St. John's Cavaliers will have their chance to prove themselves at least regarding Bible Baptist.

I dont think the rankings mean 1 team is better than other, just their relative strength within your division. Obviously there is no comparing to AA public schools, but I do believe SJCA could beat most A public schools in the area like Cross and CE Murray and even be competitive in the AA playoffs.

quote:

Originally posted by lilCavdad:
I dont think the rankings mean 1 team is better than other, just their relative strength within your division. Obviously there is no comparing to AA public schools, but I do believe SJCA could beat most A public schools in the area like Cross and CE Murray and even be competitive in the AA playoffs.

SJCA would not be competitive in the AA SCISA playoffs much less the AA SCHSL playoffs. People just don't understand the gap between the classifications. It is HUGE.

Northwood is far and away the best AA team and they are not competitive with the AAA playoff teams. If SCJA played 8 games against the top 8 teams in AA, they would lose 7 of them.

Colleton Prep is a great example. They were dominant as a Single A team last year and won the state championship, but they have moved up to AA now and are fighting tooth and nail for a playoff spot.

Did Collton Prep and SCJA play last year? What was the score?

No, SJCA was 8 man.

thanks. I had forgotten about that.

Anyone who thinks that SJCA could compete with AA public schools has lost their mind. They would be in a region with Timberland, Manning, and Hannahan. SJCA would not even sniff the playoffs, and may not complete the year with enough players to dress out an 11 man roster. Good SCISA teams can compete in basketball because it only takes five, and if you find two that can really play you will have the ability to hang with public schools. Football is a numbers game. Compare the number of boys in grades 9-12 at Timberland or Woodland with 9-12 boys at SJCA. Top that off with these AA teams having a lot more talent at every position. Go watch a public school AA football game first hand if you don't believe me. There is a huge discrepancy with both lines of scrimmage. Good AA teams have an o-line that averages between 250-260 pounds per man. Does SJCA have a single student that weighs 260?

I happen to agree with TSAGeneral01 on this. Our Wolves would be too much for any SCISA schools that I have seen. Baseball, Softball or other sports may be a different story. When you are comparing a football team with over 50 players to one with 15, it is hard to compete. THS coaches take great pride in a highly conditioned team and has many strength competitors as well.

All SCISA schools would be single A in SCHSL - even Porter-Gaud.

Most SCISA AAA schools would prosper in SCHSL A. Some SCISA AA (Northwood, Thomas Sumter, Calhoun) would prosper in SCHSL A, others would not. All SCISA A schools (even Laurens and Dillon Christian) would suffer mightily in SCHSL A.

My point is not even SCHSL classifications. I am just talking SCISA classifications. I am one of those that believes very few SCISA schools could compete on a consistent level with any SCHSL teams in any sport.

Of course there are examples:

Pinewood and Porter Gaud in boys basketball
HHP in girls basketball
any of the top 3 or 4 soccer teams in both boys and girls
but other than that, the numbers game is just to huge.

I do agree that the top AA and AAA teams in SCISA football could compete well in SCHSL A.

As far as SCISA classifications go, none of the A teams could compete at AA and none of the AA teams could compete at the AAA level.

When I say compete, I mean legitimately compete for Championships.

That's really hard to determine! I think that they are on the verge of being competitive! Hammond, BL, OB Prep, did not impress me, but Goose Creek, Stratford, James Island, and West Ashely didn't impress me either! I think that some of those above SCISA schools would compete very well with those AAAA teams. Whether they would beat them, don't know, but they could compete.