Wando's place as #1 in South Carolina isn't so much of a surprise to observers, but few would have expected the Mount Pleasant school team to have shut out all four of their league opponents.

In any competition, that takes some doing. Wando Head Coach Tod Shepherd joked that it was luck, but he also knows it's partly by design.

"We've been very fortunate this year - we've had two goalline stands where the opposition seemed destined to score, but our forwards made their tackles," said Shepherd. "But my philosophy is that it's difficult to score a try from 80 meters, so we play a simple territory game."  

Wando scrumhalf, Charlie van Vliet, has a good box kick, which helps, and the team's flyhalf, Kane Waterbury, is a snappy kicker in his own right.

"Any time a team ventures into our half, we try to create a turnover and immediately push them deep into their own 22 with kicks," said Shepherd, who added that such a plan is "easier said than done."

Wando is keenly aware that the only league game they have lost in the last three years was last year's final against South Greenville. Now, they see that South Greenville is likely their biggest rival once more. South Greenville is 3-0, and also has not allowed a point.

Wando and South Greenville won't meet until April, so there's plenty of time for somebody to find a way to score against them. We're not holding our breath.

See the full HS standings here.