In the cyclical world of high school sports, gravity doesn’t apply to South Pointe

High school sports is a cyclical enterprise. Talent comes and goes. Program priorities change. Communities evolve, too.

And while good coaching and meaningful outside support can heighten a program’s heights and soften a program’s lows, the cyclical (and beautiful) nature of high school sports normally finds a way to tug even the most successful programs back down to earth.

Operative word: Normally.

That is, of course, unless you’re South Pointe football.

On Thursday night, the Stallions from Rock Hill thrashed Lower State champion Beaufort 41-7 to deliver the program’s seventh title in 17 seasons. Seven titles in 17 tries.

The program has yet to go four years without winning it all since its opening in 2005. The city of Rock Hill — between its three high schools South Pointe, Northwestern and Rock Hill High — has yet to go four years without earning a football state championship, too, since the turn of the century. (The last time Football City USA has gone more than four years without a state champion? Between 1989, when Northwestern won, and 2002, when Rock Hill won.)

Again: No gravity.

Resist shrugging this success off. Resist taking it for granted. Resist conveniently forgetting the perfect blend of talent, time and luck required to win a championship like this.

Resist lumping in this 2021 South Pointe team with Stallions of old, too. Because this one was unique.

It was unique in how the season’s story lines and characters converged:

▪ Take for example Zay McCrorey’s rise to the top of the depth chart after not starting a regular season varsity game in 2020.

▪ Take a defensive backfield that was old and a defensive front that was young and watching it turn into arguably one of the best defenses in the state.

▪ Take the maturation of head coach DeVonte Holloman, a 30-year-old who has steadily improved each year at the helm after “coming home” to his alma mater in 2019.

▪ Take everything else, too: the injuries the Stallions persevered through, the COVID-19 protocols (remember these?), the immense improvement made from last season to this season and the subtle improvements made from game to game, week to week.

But it was also unique in that these guys were unheralded in comparison to their predecessors. And they knew it. It made them hungry. Gave them an edge. A desire to prove they were “still South Pointe” — still of the ilk of the teams before them and still deserving of an elusive respect they had never quite received.

“From the moment I walked in, this was the dream,” Holloman told a group of reporters after the game on Thursday. He added, “Now we’re back.”

So bottom line: Be in awe of this program. Recognize this 2021 team’s uniqueness. But also don’t forget the valuable lesson this South Pointe team reminded us of: The sky’s the limit, always, for these guys from Rock Hill. Because at least for this moment in history, gravity doesn’t apply.

South Pointe and Beaufort postseason history

South Pointe postseason history: Upper State titles (2008, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2021); State championships (2008, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2021). The school opened in 2005.

Beaufort postseason history: Lower State titles (1935, 1945, 2007, 2021); State championships (1935, 1945)