Heathwood Hall standout wins Richland County Mr. Football

Heathwood Hall’s Ronnie Porter was named the fourth annual Mr. Richland County Football Player of the Year on Thursday evening.

Porter is the first Heathwood player to win the honor and second straight SCISA player to win it. Hammond’s Alex Huntley won the award last year.

“I like to thank God and everyone that believed in me, the Heathwood Hall coaches and the community,” Porter said. “I honestly didn’t think I would win this award. ... but this means everything to me.”

Porter, a running back/linebacker for Heathwood, rushed for 1,638 yards and 15 touchdowns during the regular season and had 98 tackles with seven sacks.

Porter was one of 17 nominees for the award, given to a senior and recognizes on and off the field achievements. The other finalists were Blythewood’s Joshua Burrell, Dutch Fork’s Will Taylor, CA Johnson’s Desmond Martin and AC Flora’s Eriq Rice.

“Ronnie is an outstanding football player but an even better person.,” Heathwood coach Danny Lewis said. “He means so much to our Heathwood Hall football program and our community. I’m tickled to death for him and I’m excited to watch what the next phase of his life. He has a bright future.”

The ceremony was done virtually because of COVID-19. Former Dreher and Gamecocks standout Corey Jenkins was the guest speaker for the event.

This story was originally published December 3, 2020 at 7:28 PM.