Champs! Hilton Head Christian football dominates way to SCISA Class 2A championship
Hilton Head Christian’s redemption season concluded its final chapter Saturday.
The Eagles turned in another dominating performance to defeat Carolina Academy, 42-14, to win the SCISA Class 2A championship at Charleston Southern’s Buccaneer Field.
It was Hilton Head Christian’s fifth state championship in school history and first since 2012. This was HHCA’s second straight appearance in the title game. The Eagles lost, 55-49, in overtime to Trinity-Byrnes last season.
“They had a burning desire to come back here and make it right,” HHCA coach Ron Peduzzi said. “That drove us the whole time. It was like everyone was in our way — get out of our way. We were explosive the whole year and very hard to stop and our defense really stepped it up the last two weeks.”
As the final seconds ticked away Saturday, HHCA players started putting on state championship hats and T-shirts and dumped a water bucket over their coach.
Peduzzi also shared a special moment with son JP, a senior on the team. The two hugged in the final seconds and also posed for a picture after with JP riding the back of his father. The picture was similar the two had more than a decade ago when Ron was coach at Hilton Head Prep.
“In 2005, he coached at Hilton Head Prep and won the championship there and we had a picture when I was about six,” JP Peduzzi said. “We wanted to re-create that moment as something special.
“We all worked so hard. We all were determined to get back here and not lose this game. And that is what we did.”
Peduzzi ran for a TD and also picked off two passes, returning the second for a touchdown to put the Eagles up 28-0 with 2:23 left in the third quarter.
The duo of Peduzzi and Jace Blackshear combined for another big performance on offense to lead HHCA. The two players came into the game accounting for 80 touchdowns this season and rotated at quarterback like they have all season, with Peduzzi starting and finishing.
Blackshear came in and accounted for three scores, two on runs and one TD pass to Jackson Lanier, before leaving the game in the third quarter with leg cramps.
Blackshear was 4-of-7 passing for 89 yards and also rushed for 69 yards. Peduzzi was 6-of-11 for 127 yards.
“He was the better quarterback and I was better at receiver,” JP Peduzzi said of the quarterback rotation. “We had something unstoppable and no one has really seen. You don’t see teams with two quarterbacks. That is what we did and it worked.’
Lanier had a TD catch and run for the Eagles, who finished with 348 total yards.
Carolina Academy finished the season at 8-2. It was the final game for Bobcats coach TJ Joye, who was elected Florence County Sheriff earlier this month.
This story was originally published November 21, 2020 at 3:52 PM.
