Back-to-back! Southside Christian wins second-straight Class A football championship

COLUMBIA — Southside Christian has done it again.

For the third time since winning the schools first state championship in 2015, the Sabres have won the Class A high school football state championship. Southside Christian defeated Bamberg-Ehrhardt, 28-0, in Columbia on Saturday to win their second straight title and complete another perfect season.

The Sabres finished the year 14-0, extending their winning streak that dates back to last season to 22 games.

"These guys have been playing football since middle school together," Southside Christian coach Mike Sonneborn said, "and to see them grow through the program and finish out like this – it's special. It was a good football game and they made us earn it."

After the first half of the Class A high school football state championship, it seemed as Bamberg-Ehrhardt might be able to hand the Sabres their first loss since 2019. The last time Southside Christian lost was November 2019 in the playoffs to Saluda.

But the Sabres weren't going to let that happen. Behind a big defensive showing and a dazzling display of athleticism from quarterback Ja'Corey Martin, SCS was able to complete their title run. The Sabres rode their senior laden front four and held the Red Raiders offense to only 114 yards despite having two first-half turnovers and a turnover on downs early in the first quarter.

"This one, we had to work hard for," Southside Christian senior and defensive lineman Michael Kennedy said. "That's one heckuva team that we just played and I'm just thanking God that your team pulled through."

Bamberg-Ehrhardt D bends, then breaks

The game started with the B-E defense forcing a turnover on downs on SCS's first offensive drive. But the Sabres responded, despite the first offensive snap for B-E seeing Quintin Banks rush for 35 yards to spark what ended up being a quiet offensive outing for the Red Raiders.

B-E, after that play, didn't have an offensive play from scrimmage go for more than 11 yards after the initial 35-yard run.

The Bamberg-Ehrhardt defense was stout for the entire first half. Despite only having 47 yards of offense, the Red Raiders trailed 14-0 at the half and were in a position to make it a one-score game at the start of the third quarter. Martin had also thrown two interceptions by halftime.

"I told Ja'Corey, just keep doing what you're doing. You're doing a great job," Sonneborn said. "He made some really good throws (all game) and (in the first half) made two not-so-good throws. But he came back and I thought he did a good job of responding."

Southside Christian's overpowering offense found a second-half rhythm. Martin rushed for two touchdowns after the halftime buzzer and totaled 272 passing yards and 77 rushing yards in the game. The Sabres wore down the B-E defense, which played well early on.

"It was a little shaky (in the first half)," Kennedy said. "We just started getting into a groove and found our momentum once the defense started clicking."

Kennedy made the shifting play to setup Southside Christian's second touchdown of the game: His pressure on B-E quarterback Isaiah Johnson with 10:29 to play in the second quarter resulted in an interception by SCS defensive back Mykel Woodfield. The play that followed was a rushing touchdown by Sabres senior tailback TJ Goldsmith to make it 14-0 Southside Christian.

From then on, despite the shaky first half, Southside Christian dominated. The Sabres held B-E to 1-of-9 on third down and were only penalized twice. The Sabres scored twice in the second-half, both rushing touchdowns from Martin, to put the game on ice.

Tyler Harof led the Sabres with 104 receiving yards in the game – on just three catches. Woodfield had five total tackles, the interception and a tackle-for-loss.

Senior and coach share special memory with win

For the Sonneborn family, Saturday's win was a memory that head coach Mike Sonneborn and his son Tyler Sonneborn, a senior offensive lineman and defensive end, will get to remember for years.

"It's the best," Tyler said after the game. "He might yell at me a bunch ... but we just overcame and got another win."

And another win was just that: Sonneborn and his son never lost a game during Tyler's last two years of high school. They also won two state championships.

"For us to not lose a game for his junior and senior year and two state titles – it's special man," Mike Sonneborn said. "Any time you've gotta chance to do it with your kid ... It makes it unique. All these guys man, they've been together for so long. I've been coaching these kids since seventh and eighth grade."

Southside Christian, which returns Martin and a majority of their starters on both sides of the ball next season, could very well go for a third straight Class A championship next fall.

Joe Dandron covers high school sports for The Greenville News. You can contact him at jdandron@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter: @JoeMDandron.

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Southside Christian wins second straight high school football title