Waccamaw hoping growth helps breed more postseason success in 2015

Tyronne Davis didn’t have much of a choice.

The Waccamaw coach wanted to quit asking certain players to quit playing both ways, keeping them healthy and stronger in bigger games and bigger moments. In order to make that happen, he had to turn to some youth.

Davis recognizes the potential drawback.

“We’re going to make some mistakes,” he said. “But in the long run, it’s going to give us an opportunity to be fresher and make more impact plays.”

As the Warriors draw closer to the 2015 season, they have hopes of a third straight year with a playoff victory. It happened two years ago, the final year of the all-inclusive Class AA postseason.

Waccamaw then backed it up last season, when it finished third in Region VIII-AA and picked up a two-touchdown first-round victory over Lake Marion in the more traditional playoff system. Davis’ team ran into the buzz saw that was Dillon – the squad that won its third straight championship after also knocking out fellow region squads Aynor and Loris – but the first non-losing season of the Davis era at Waccamaw was in the books.

“It didn’t end the way we wanted to. It’s not the way any team wants,” running back Kevin Gasque said.

But?

“We won our first region game in a while,” he continued. “We had a couple players make all-region. We had a Shrine Bowl center [in Tyler Davis]. We had a built-up team. We can still compete.”

Gasque is a big reason why.

Now a senior, the 6-foot, 195-pound tailback is coming off a 1,300-yard season in which he was often the lone Waccamaw player doing statistical offensive damage in many of the Warriors’ games. He averaged more than a 100 yards per game over the team’s final eight contests and placed himself in elite category among the local running backs.

Keeping him there may not be the easiest thing to do. The team lost Tyler Davis, now at The Citadel, as well as fellow lineman Luke Odom, who signed with Methodist.

“What we’re trying to do is get him the ball in multiple ways,” Tyronne Davis said. “He had a big season for us. The biggest thing we need to do is get some guys up front who can block for him.”

Much like the team did with Jalen Simmons a couple years ago, the Warriors have put their second-best running back, Kelton Grant, at quarterback. The two-pronged rushing attack, with a touch of Grant’s throwing ability, could keep people from keying on Gasque to the point of stopping Waccamaw’s offense.

The ball-hawking defensive style, then, may be the perfect complement toward the team’s streak of postseason success.

“Winning the playoff game last season, two years ago, there is some excitement,” Davis said. “It’s not just about making the playoffs.”

This story was originally published August 11, 2015 at 5:59 PM with the headline "Waccamaw hoping growth helps breed more postseason success in 2015."