Whether it was a longtime nemesis, a slew of injuries or long odds, Allendale-Fairfax and Southside Christian have been able to overcome this season. The two will meet Saturday at Benedict College for the Class A Division I state title.
Allendale-Fairfax Coach Eddie Ford was knocked for a loop before the season actually ever started. In his squad's early scrimmages, he had three starters go down with ACL tears. "I had one ACL tear in 11 years, then had three in a couple of weeks," he said. Among those lost for the year were reigning Class A Player of the Year Richard Garvin, an all-state linebacker and an all-region defensive end. At Class A schools, where many of the best players start both ways and play special teams, three rapid-fire injuries to top players would have snuffed out any shot at success. The Tigers, though, are especially blessed in terms of depth. "Our back-ups are not just Joe Blow players. We had guys step in and they did a great job," Ford said. The Tigers also had to deal with an issue that could have turned into a huge distraction. Star running back Shakur Chisolm left the program (and the school) after alleging that he was hazed at an August camp. He has since filed a lawsuit in relation to the matter. Ford said he and his team sealed that issue out and kept their focus on whoever was next on the schedule. "We can't control what happens on the outside of our program. We keep out focus on the inside," he said. Once the season started, the Tigers got on a roll early. Using a clock-eating, chain-moving Wing-T offense and one of the state's best defenses, Allendale-Fairfax ran out to a 6-0 record and yielded less than nine points a game. Then came a showdown with rival and, at the time, fellow unbeaten powerhouse Bamberg-Ehrhardt. The Tigers led by a 20-0 score in the third quarter, but let things get away from them and lost 27-20. That defeat cost them a region title and a top playoff seed. They finished 9-1, but then surprisingly struggled in the first round of the post-season with a Carvers Bay team that finished with a losing record, having to pull a 14-8 win out of the fire in overtime. That put the team on the road where they would face undefeated, high-scoring Calhoun County. It didn't feel like Allendale-Fairfax would have the offense to keep up with the Saints and they didn't...but you don't have to have your offense on the field to score points. The Tigers had two kick returns for touchdowns and had another touchdown set up by recovering an errant punt snap inside the Calhoun County 10 on the way to a 28-20 win. "We hadn't returned a kick-off for a touchdown in two years," Ford said. The Tigers shut-out the potent offense of Latta in the lowerstate title game to punch their ticket to Columbia. In doing so, they exorcised the demon of losing in the lowerstate finals for two straight years. "We had a chip on our shoulder losing (it) to years in a row," said player Mike Green. Southside Christian hasn't had to contend with injuries or off-field situations this year, what they dealt with was taking their program where it had never been before. The Sabres have only fielded a football team for 10 years. Prior to this year they had only two winning seasons and had never won a playoff game. Coach Jason Kaiser said his first objective upon his hiring a few years ago was to make the team stronger and tougher. "We're committed to the weight room. Strength and conditioning was basically non-existent before I got here," he said. The Sabres opened with a loss to AAA Travelers Rest. They then clicked off a couple of nice wins over struggling programs. They first started to serve notice that things would be different in 2015 with a nice 24-14 victory over a good Fox Creek team. The team was 5-1 when the vaunted Christ Church Cavaliers came to town on October 9. The Cavs had their state-record winning streak snapped at 55 games a few weeks earlier by AA Abbeville, but they still seemed to be headed toward a fifth-straight state championship...or they did until Southside Chrisitan took them down 16-13 in overtime. It was the first regular season loss to a Class A team in eight years for the Cavs. It was also Southside Christian's first win over Christ Church. "It was a big win for our program. We've gottenmore confidence as we've played this year," Kaiser said. That win seemed to light a fuse in the Cavs. They'd won several games close through the early part of the year, but with new confidence, they beat a good Whitmire team 41-0 and St. Joe's 42-16. They demonstrated excellent offensive balance, with quarterback Clayton Coulter throwing for more than 2,000 yards and running back Quintyn Reeder running for more than 1,500. The 9-1 regular season record was a quantum leap for the Sabres. "My freshman year we won four games, my sophomore year we won four, then we won six last year," said player Connor Holden. "This year, we've really stepped up." The level of play took another jump once the playoffs began. Southside Christian rolled Wagener-Salley 63-14, thumped a good Williston-Elko team 56-32, then knocked out McBee 56-26. In those last two games, Southside Christian trailed at one point, but completely dominated the second halves of both games and shut down two of the state's best rushing attacks. Coming into the year, the idea of the Sabres beating either would have been comical, but the program has come a long way and overcome lots of hurdles to get where they are. Now, Allendale-Fairfax and Southside Christian have reached the season's final game, and their match-up should be a good one. As in most big games, the ball will undoubtedly bounce the wrong way for one or both teams at some point. A turnover, a missed tackle or a special teams miscue will almost certainly come into play, but when it does, it isn't likely to shake up either team. They've gotten where they are by overcoming.
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November 2021
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