Green Sea Floyds is motivated to defend one state title, avenge losing another
Returning the core of a state championship team brings about high expectations, but Green Sea Floyds has dealt with the pressure the only way it knows how: more hard work.
A season ago, the Trojans caught fire late in the year, turning in seven straight wins to be crowned Class A football champions in coach Donnie Kiefer’s second year as the head man of the program.
The Trojans (12-1) go for their second consecutive state championship at 8 p.m. Friday against Ridge Spring-Monetta (10-4) at Benedict College’s Charlie W. Johnson Stadium.
That experience from 2018 has been critical to the success of this team, but another motivating factor has driven some of the Trojans this year.
“Losing the baseball state championship (series) definitely hurt and motivated me to work hard over the (football) offseason,” said Jaquan Dixon, the Trojans’ top offensive weapon, earlier this season. “Being that close to having two state titles in a year, for a school like Green Sea would have been huge. You don’t ever want to get that close and fail.”
The Trojans baseball team dropped two games to McBee in the Class A baseball championship series, losing the title on their home field.
Joining Dixon on the diamond was backfield mate Bubba Elliott, whose play on the football field has been that of a player with something else to prove.
“This team, we play for each other and want to do well for the guy beside us,” he said after beating Lake View 29-18 in the Class A Lower State championship game on Friday. “That’s one thing that coach Kiefer has brought to us, not just the hard work at practice and in the weight room and on the field, but that we do it together. I can’t wait to go play for another state championship with my (friends).”
Looking deeper than the motivation for Green Sea Floyds, this year’s football team has thoroughly dominated any and all similarly-sized opponents. The team’s only loss came to Region 6-3A champion Aynor and its other close contest, a 28-27 win over Class 3A Loris, came in mid-September.
Since then, the Trojans have outscored opponents by 340 points over eight games, including the playoffs where the competition has stepped up from the region slate.
“We take every game very seriously, preparation is key,” Kiefer said at the SCHSL Class A news conference this week. “Usually, we’re more concerned about ourselves than so much about the other team. Each week, we try to take the attitude that we have to be the best that we can be and make sure that we’re doing everything we can do to make ourselves better, as well as preparing for the opponent. Each game takes on its own personality and takes on its own dynamic.”
Scouting Ridge Spring-Monetta
Facing GSF in the Class A championship game is another set of Trojans, these hailing from Aiken County. Ridge Spring-Monetta has gotten healthy at the right time, according to coach Brian Smith, who is in his first year with the program.
Ridge Spring-Monetta had a pair of two-game losing streaks this season, losing its first two games and then two region games, but avenged its region losses to Blackville-Hilda and Wagener-Salley by defeating them in the playoffs. Wagener-Salley was the top-ranked team in Class A, and Ridge Spring-Monetta defeated it 26-22 to earn the trip to the state championship.
Rare for Class A, Ridge Spring-Monetta runs a spread formation with sophomore quarterback Remedee Leaphart acting as the triggerman and players like running back Collier Sullivan and receiver Daniel Harris providing big plays on the outside.
Aiken County’s Trojans have faced — and stopped — potent rushing attacks throughout the playoffs, relying on play in the trenches to shut down their opponents.
The Game
What: S.C. Class A state championship
Who: Green Sea Floyds (12-1) vs. Ridge Spring-Monetta (10-4)
When: 8 p.m. Friday
Where: Charlie W. Johnson Stadium at Benedict College, Columbia
TV: Live streaming on NFHSnetwork.com
This story was originally published December 5, 2019 at 5:52 PM.