Chesnee volleyball was unable to get off their recent losing skid falling to Crest 3-0 in a battle just across the state line on Tuesday night.
After falling in three matches at their home tournament on Saturday the Eagles looked to rebound in the match just over the state line in North Carolina but despite a solid effort were unable to pull out a victory. In the first set the Eagles fell 25-16 and came back strong in the second set even though they fell to Crest 25-20 before falling falling 25-11 in the final set of the match. Brie Smith led the Eagles with five kills, two blocks, and ten digs while Pearl Holloway added three kills, thirteen assists, and two ace serves. Kyleigh Thompson added three kills and two ace serves as Haley Edmonds also added eleven digs. Chesnee will look to get back on the winning track on Thursday when they travel to Broome, who the Eagles are 1-1 against so far this year. On Saturday the Chesnee volleyball team hosted a varsity volleyball tournament that saw the Fort Mill Yellow Jackets come away with the victory but involved many local teams including the host team Eagles.
"I love hosting a tournament with locals teams as it was so nice to have Broome, Woodruff, Blue Ridge, High Point, and Gaffney here today," said Chesnee head coach Katie Jolley. "A lot of the girls play club together and now get to see and play against each other. I was also glad Fort Mill, Daniel, and RS Central came so that we could see competition from outside of Spartanburg County. I was happy with the mixture of teams." As far as the Eagles day went they had some big battles but came up short in all three matches they played on Saturday. In their first match they fell 0-2 to Broome (27-26, 25-16) but had strong games from Pearl Holloway (13 kills, 8 assists, and 3 aces), Brie Smith (3 kills and 10 digs), and Haley Edmonds (19 digs). In their second game the Eagles fell 0-2 to Gaffney (25-22, 25-17) and fell in the third game to Woodruff 0-2 (31-29, 25-22). In between the two games Pearl Holloway had 26 assists, 21 digs, and 3 kills while Brie Smith had 12 kills, 8 digs, and 1 block. Haley Edmonds had a combined 31 digs over both games while Kyleigh Thompson had 6 kills and 14 digs against Woodruff. "We didn't play our best today but I'm glad we were able to play in close sets to get used to pressure situations," said Jolley. "I was very pleased with our defense." Chesnee will return to action on Tuesday when they travel to Crest (NC) for their next match, The Chesnee football team fell to Broome 48-41 on the road Friday night in a high scoring game against two county rivals.
"Our kids played hard," said Chesnee head coach Clay Lewis. "They kept fighting the whole game. We definitely did some good things offensively and defensive but need to put together a complete game." Chesnee took the opening kickoff and marched seventy yards on nine plays that was capped off by an =eleven yard touchdown run from quarterback Jalen Rudisil with just over three and a half minutes coming off the clock to give the Eagles an early 7-0 lead. The opening drive set the stage for what was to be a good night for Rudisil as both he and Broome's Dylan Ramirez battled against each other all night to put each player's offense on top. The Centurions answered the Eagles score with a long drive of their own as Dylan Ramirez led an eleven play drive that he capped off with a six yard scoring toss to Cam Moore. Rudisil quickly responded as he took the snap on the second play of the ensuing drive and raced fifty yards to put the Eagles back up by a score at 14-7. Broome needed a few more plays on the ensuing drive but would also quickly respond as Ramirez once again found Moore, this time from forty-five yards out to even up the score. After the Broome defense forced a three and out the game entered a period that can best be described as a turnover frenzy as the ensuing Broome drive ended in a turnover followed by two turnovers on the ensuing two plays that finally ended with Chesnee having the ball at their own twenty yard line after Broome fumbled the ball out of the end zone. Once both teams were able to get a handle on the turnovers, Rudisil once again made some big plays for the Eagles as he led a two play scoring drive. On the first play he carried it for sixty-one yards to set up a fifteen yard scoring strike to KJ Valentine to put the Eagles up 20-14 after a failed PAT attempt Broome counter punched the Eagles score, this time it was Jamir Dewberry's turn to answer the call for Centurions as a big return set them up inside the Chesnee thirty before Dewberry carried it for a five yard touchdown run to give the Centurions a 21-20 lead. After a Chesnee fumble on the ensuing kickoff, Broome quickly extended the lead with a nine yard run by Dewberry and after a failed PAT the Centurions headed into the halftime break with a 27-20 lead. Both team's traded possessions to start the second half before Broome got a pair of big runs from Dewberry and Ramirez with the final one being a fourteen yard scoring run to put the Centurions up 34-20 with just over three minutes left in the third quarter. Noah Jolley opened the ensuing drive with a huge twenty-nine yard run to eventually set up an eleven yard Rudisil scoring run and pulled the Eagles back within 34-27 in the final minute of the third quarter. Ramirez once again landed a big shot of his own for the Centurions as he ran it in from sixteen yards out for a touchdown just over ninety seconds after the Chesnee score. Rudisil countered with a scoring drive of his own and after Rudisil completed a pair of passes to KJ Valentine and Davion Stradford he capped off the drive with a forty-four yard scoring strike for his fourth score of the night. Broome responded with another touchdown run from Jamir Dewberry, this time from twenty-five yards out to give Broome a 48-34 lead with just over four and a half minutes to go in the game. Chesnee responded with a drive that saw Rudisil hit two big passes, with the first being a twenty-two yard strike to Adonis Burgess that saw Burgess make an incredible stretched out catch and fight to stay in bounds. "That's what we are looking for," said Lewis. "We are looking for players who want to make plays and that was a great play. We need those." The second came on a scramble drill where Rudisil hit Dylan Bennett for a thirty yard gain down to the two yard line. Nick Hofer capped off the drive with a one yard run for his first career touchdown. The score cut the lead to 48-41 with just under a minute to go before Broome was able to filed a clean onside kick to give the Centurions the victory. Dylan Ramirez had a big night through the air for the Centurions as he completed twenty-two passes for 318 yards and a pair of scores while Braxtin Turner led the way for the Centurions receiving with ten catches for 103 yards. Jamir Dewberry led the way on the ground for the Centurions with 193 yards rushing and a trio of scores. Jalen Rudisil ended up with a total of five touchdowns to help lead the way offensively for the Eagles. "I think early on he did a real good job but in the second quarter he hit a bit of a lull," said Lewis. "After that I thought he did a real good job." Rudisil completed ten passes for 173 yards and a touchdown while he finished with 173 yards rushing and four scores. Dylan Jolley for the second consecutive week had a strong defensive performance for the Eagles as he recorded eight and a half tackles. Dylan Bennett, Davion Stradford, Austin Bigford, and Jayden Gossett each finished the night with five tackles with two of those by Gossett being a pair of tackles for loss. The Eagles will be back in action on Friday night for another non-region contest, this time as they host Fairfield Central at 7:30 PM. The Chesnee volleyball team played their first regular season game since winning the 2020 state championship game and kept the winning trend going by defeating Broome 3-0 on Thursday night.
After winning seventeen straight games last season the Eagles pushed their winning streak to eighteen games but after winning all those games 3-0 last season, they also pushed their consecutive sets victory to fifty-two straight victories when they won their first set 25-12 over the Centurions. Chesnee extended that streak to fifty-four straight set victories by following up the first set victory with a 25-17 victory in the second set and a 25-18 victory in the third set. Kyleigh Thompson led the team in kills with thirteen on Thursday night as Brie Smith added eight more kills with fifteen digs. Pearl Holloway led the Eagles in assists with twenty-nine assists while adding thirteen digs and two aces. Haley Edmonds led them in digs with twenty digs and two aces while Natalie Morris also had a good night with three kills, a block, and two aces. Chesnee will return to action on Saturday when they host the 2021 Chesnee Volleyball Tournament which is scheduled to start at 8:30 AM. The tournament will include such teams as Kings Mountain, Broome, Gaffney, Spartanburg, Blue Ridge, Fort Mill, High Point, RS Central, Woodruff, Daniel, and Crest. On Thursday afternoon there was a familiar sight on the podium as Chesnee senior Sydney Roberts claimed co-medalist honors at the Lady Rebel Invitational after shooting a tournament low score of 67 at the tricky River Falls Golf Course.
With the victory it makes three out of four years that Roberts has won medalist honors at the tournament as she also claimed the title in both her freshman and junior years of competition. "After winning this tournament in my freshman year and junior year I come to this tournament with a different mindset," said Roberts. "I don't know why my mindset is different but I just really like this course and this tournament. It's nice to win one out of the gate because it gets the season going on the right foot. It's also a little sad because I know it's my last time playing in this tournament and I'm really going to miss this one." Roberts said when she hit her first shot on Thursday it finally clicked to her about it being her senior and her final time playing in this tournament that she has enjoyed participating in so much. "I teed off on number ten today and it hit me that this was the last time I'd hit my first shot in this tournament," said Roberts. "It was kind of sad because I love this tournament and it will be sad I want be coming back next year. I'm going to miss it." After a busy summer of golf Roberts, where she competed in numerous big time tournaments, she said that her schedule during the summer is very similar to the one now which has just become the normal for her. "Honestly my schedule now is pretty similar to how it was in the summer because I practiced each day during the summer like we do now and most of my tournaments were during the week just like our school schedule," said Roberts. "I'm pretty busy with golf year round now so I'm pretty used to it at this point." Roberts shared the medalist honors with Ella Stalvey of Blythewood who also shot a 67 on Thursday. It took a strong effort from both Roberts and Stalvey to claim the medalist honors as all seven members of the All-Tournament team shot a score of 71 or lower. Roberts and Stalvey were joined on the All-Tournament team by Blythewood's Paige Paolucci, Lexington's Isabell Rawl, Gilbert's Alexis Hodge, along with Chapin's Emily Baker and Lily Reed Black. Blythewood won the overall tournament with a tournament low team score of 282 followed by Gilbert in second place with a score of 305. Chesnee finished the tournament with a score of 321 which was the lowest score of all the Spartanburg County schools. Roberts said this tournament is a positive for her and her team to see where their game is at going into the season, which she believes is going to be a really good one for the Eagles. "This tournament definitely lets me know where my game is at heading into the season," said Roberts. "I feel really confident about this season especially for our team because I think we're just going to grow as the season goes along. This tournament lets us figure out where we're at along with what we need to work on and just helps us get the season going." -James McBee The Chesnee football team fell on the road to Woodruff 41-28 in the season opening matchup of the 2021 season between the two rival schools.
"We did some good things and the kids played hard,” said Chesnee head coach Clay Lewis. “I think we just got worn down in the second half and ran out of gas. We did some good things though and have a lot of things we can improve on.” On a night that just didn’t seem to go the Eagles way Chesnee returned the opening kickoff past midfield only to see the ball fumbled with the Wolverines recovering the ball. Chesnee’s defense was able to quickly force a three and out after the turnover though. Jalen Rudisil's first series as starting quarterback at the varsity level ended in his first career varsity touchdown pass on his first attempt of the game. On the fourth play of the drive Rudisil found a streaking KJ Valentine on a pass about forty yards through the air along with evading would be tacklers to go the final twenty yards to complete the sixty yard touchdown reception. Ezequiel Lazarin came on for the extra point, his first varsity kick, which went right through the uprights to give Chesnee a 7-0 lead. Firsts were a theme of the night for the Eagles, as a majority of the Chesnee team saw either their first varsity snaps or their first significant varsity snaps, as on offense alone the Eagles featured eight first time starters. Woodruff quickly responded on the ensuing drive as Carson Tucker found Mathias Dial for a forty-two yard scoring drive to tie the game at 7-7. On the next Wolverine possession they once again found success through the air as Carson Tucker found Nehemiah Cochran for the thirty-two yard scoring strike with less than a minute to go to give Woodruff the 14-7 lead. On the next Woodruff possession Tucker again connected with Dial, this time from thirty-seven yards out to double the Woodruff lead. The Eagles responded with a drive that started with Dylan Bennett barreling over a pair of Wolverine defenders on a thirteen yard run and was followed by a Rudisil fifty-nine yard run to set the Eagles up deep in Woodruff territory. Jayden Gossett capped the drive off with a one yard run for his first varsity touchdown on his first career carry, as the score cut the Woodruff lead in half midway through the second quarter. Woodruff once again pulled out to a fourteen point lead when Damarian Elmore ran it in from twenty-three yards out with 6:40 left in the half for a 28-14 lead. Chesnee responded with a ten play drive that saw them keep the ball on the ground for the first seven plays and score on a seven yard pass from Rudisil to Valentine to make it 28-21 with just over two minutes left in the half. Valentine recorded his first career multi-touchdown reception game at the varsity level. The Wolverines threatened on the ensuing possession driving inside the Chesnee five yard line thanks in part to a thirty-nine yard reception by thirty-nine yard reception by Mathias Dial. The Eagle defense proved to be up to the task as two players later forced a fumble inside the three yard line and Dylan Bennett secured the ball for the Eagles to end the threat. The second half saw the Wolverines get back in the scoring column once again as Tucker dialed up Dial once again this time from twenty-two yards out. The Eagles strung together a nice drive in response that saw Rudisil run for twenty-two yards deep into Wolverines territory but a block in the back penalty negated some of the yardage. The next play resulted in more bad luck as Isaiah Sullivan fought off his blocker and picked off a screen pass at the line of scrimmage for the Eagles second turnover of the night. Damarian Elmore capped the ensuing drive with a two yard scoring run to put the Wolverines up by twenty. After a great return by KJ Valentine set the Eagles up on the Wolverines side of the fifty, the Eagles used ten plays to once again see Rudisil lead a scoring drive. This time he ran it in from four yards out for his first career varsity touchdown run to make it 41-28 with just over four minutes left. Rudisil not only picked up his first career passing and rushing touchdowns but also his first one hundred yard rushing performance as he finished with one hundred and seventeen yards and a score. He also completed three passes for seventy eight yards and two scores KJ Valentine had two receptions for sixty-seven yards and two scores while also having a excellent night at punter as he averaged over forty yards on his first two career punts. He also had two kickoff returns for a hundred and thirteen yards. The Eagles got a big night defensively from two young sophomores as Austin Bigford finished with ten tackles and Dylan Jolley added seven tackles while senior Landon Thompson added six and a half tackles. Chesnee had a solid night in the kicking game that saw them use three different players seeing action at punter or kicker for the first time in their varsity careers. Along with Valentine's punting, the Eagles saw Ezequiel Lazarin go three for three on PATs and Tyquan Dawkins also went one for one on PATs while also handling kickoff duties for the Eagles. Woodruff got a solid game from Carson Tucker as he completed thirteen passes for two hundred and fifteen yards with four scores. His favorite target of the night was Mathias Dial who caught seven balls for one hundred and forty-four yards with three scores. Damarian Elmore led the Wolverines with sixteen carries for one hundred and forty-two yards along with two scores. Jailen Gribble also passed one hundred yards as he finished with one hundred and six yards on thirteen carries. The Eagles will look to bounce back as they travel to Broome next Friday night with a 7:30pm scheduled kickoff in another matchup of Spartanburg County rivals. Chesnee VolleyballYou can't end a season in a more perfect fashion than the Chesnee volleyball team did last season as they went through their regular season undefeated and ended their playoff run with a 3-0 victory in the 2A state title game. While it could be easy for a team to just enjoy the spoils from their championship run, the 2021 Eagles volleyball team is looking to make another playoff run with a younger group that has some key returning pieces from last year's state championship team. "We're going to look to grow and learn through the season and make a strong run in the playoffs," said Chesnee head coach Katie Jolley. "We will have strong experience pin hitters in Kaitlyn Barrett, Brie Smith, and Kyleigh Thompson along with a strong backrow defense. We will be young but athletic in the setter and middle positions." One of the key members from last year's state championship team that will be returning is All-State player Kaitlyn Barrett who will also be joined by Brie Smith, Kyleigh Thompson and Haley Edmonds who will all look to help lead a young Eagles team. Pearl Holloway and Jayla Dunn will also look to bring key contributions to the Eagles volleyball team early in the season. The Eagles will be looking to make another deep playoff run this year and will get plenty of competition before the playoffs even begin as they return to a very competitive volleyball region. Region II-2A will see the Eagles face off against Blacksburg, Brashier Middle College, Greer Middle College, Landrum, and St. Joseph's. Unlike last season the region will take the top four teams instead of only the top two teams. Chesnee Girls GolfLast season the Chesnee girls golf team came up just short of their ultimate goal but that has only fueled them for this season as they look to return to the state championship tournament in 2021 and this time bring home the title. "Our ultimate goal this year is improve on last year's finish at the state tournament and bring a title back home to Chesnee," said Chesnee head coach Kyle Scruggs. "We look forward to competing in some big tournaments, like the Palmetto Preview and WSCHA High School Invitational, to prepare to make a run this postseason." Last season the Eagles finished second in the state tournament after a season that saw them go 7-0 in nine hole matches along with winning three eighteen hole tournaments. Chesnee will have three of their six starters from last season returning which will be headlined by All-State player Sydney Roberts, who was named the 2A Player of the Year from the South Carolina Coaches Association of Women's Sports last year along with having a stellar summer in junior golf where she competed in the USGA Girl's Junior Championship in Chevy Chase, Maryland just this July. Roberts will be joined by last year All-Region selection Olivia Roberts and Addy Parker as starters from last year to lead this year's Chesnee team. They will be joined by newcomers Olivia Shields and Abigail Watson, who the Eagles will be looking to get big contributions from as they make their way back towards the state championship tournament. Chesnee Girls TennisThe Chesnee girls tennis team will look to use their experience from last season to improve with the goal of being one of the top teams in the region this season.
"We are looking to have a great season this year," said Chesnee head tennis coach Kunagee Cohen-Nesbitt. "We now have a fourth team in our region (Greer Middle College) and our goal is to be one of the top two teams this season." Chesnee will return seven starters from last year's team that includes All-Region selection senior Trista Gaffney who will be joined by junior Ansley Mossburg, freshman Lanie Arrowood, and senior Faith Stewart to help lead the Eagles this season. Coach Nesbitt says that the attitude of his team is always positive and is one of the reasons the Eagles believe they'll be successful this season. "The girls are on the team are amazing," said Nesbitt. "They always keep a positive frame of mind with whomever we play." Despite losing twenty-four seniors last season, the expectations for Chesnee football team are still the same in 2021 as they look to improve on a solid performance from last year that saw them fall just short of Abbeville in the second round of the 2A playoffs. Entering the 2021 season the Eagles will also be entering their third season under head coach Clay Lewis. While the Eagles lost a large group of seniors last season they will be looking to a group of seven new seniors to help lead the young Eagles program on the field this year. "Experience is very important and we're going to rely on our group of seniors, who are a talented group," said Chesnee head coach Clay Lewis. "Outside this group we have a lot of young kids so we're going to be relying a lot on these guys to step up and be extra coaches on the field to keep us rolling." One of the seniors that the Eagles lost last season was quarterback Nyquille O'Fair and Chesnee will now enter their third year with a new quarterback leading the team, as Jalen Rudisil and Landon Thompson currently lead the battle to replace O'Fair. Lewis says that he would be comfortable with either quarterback leading the team when they take the field to start the season. "Jalen was a junior varsity quarterback last and is a little ahead right now," said Lewis. "Landon has really impressed me this summer as he was the junior varsity quarterback his sophomore year and Jalen has really developed between his freshman and sophomore years. I feel comfortable with both of them as our quarterback and that is going to be a pretty good competition." Lewis says the Eagles will still be a run based option team this season and that he can adapt his style to what fits whoever his new quarterback is the best. Lewis also added that with this year's team he likes the speed they possess which will allow them to attack the edges more this season. "My philosophy is that we're going to be some kind of option based team but you have to adapt that to your personnel," said Lewis. "With different personnel our offense could look a little different but I think this year we have a little more speed on the edges. Don't be surprised if you see us in other formations this season doing a few new things." In the Eagles regular formation they normally feature three running backs on each play and will only be returning on starter from last year's team, Bryson Thompson. Lewis believes that the 2021 season could be a standout season for Thompson. "This will be Bryson's third year at the varsity level and his third year in the offense so he has the terminology and knowledge needed for that position," said Lewis. "He is a smart kid and a fast kid who I think is going to have a standout year." Thompson will be joined in the backfield at the running back position by a mixture of players from a group that consists of Dylan Bennett, Adonis Burgess, Noah Lawter, Austin Bigford, June Jeffries, Dylan Jolley, Nick Hofer, and Jayden Gossett. On the offensive line the Eagles will have to replace four starters with Caleb Rentz being the only returning starter from last year. Luke Pearson, Ezequiel Lazarin-Chavez, Cade Fisher, Jackson Ramsey, Tyler Wood, and Ryan Burnett will all look to claim their spot along with Rentz along the offensive line. At the wide receiver position the Eagles will return KJ Valentine, who also plays safety for the Eagles, and a group of new faces at the position. "KJ is always a threat on the outside and Davion Stradford is returning with some varsity experience," said Lewis. "KJ will be the major threat for us but I'm expecting Davion and Davis Rising will have a good season for us." On the defensive side of the ball the Eagles will be looking at some new faces on the defensive line as they moved former linebacker Nick Hofer to defensive end. Lewis says that he's feeling good about the group he has along the defensive line. "We have taken Nick Hofer, who was a linebacker, and converted him to defensive end as he is a good sized kid that is strong and athletic," said Lewis. "Ezequiel Lazarin-Chavez is another good athlete who is also in the mix at defensive tackle. Luke Pearson is another one we are expecting a big year from along with Caleb Rentz. Tyler Wood and E'torian Valentine are two young guys who are really starting to develop." The linebacker group is one that the Eagles expect will be really good this season with a group consisting of Jayden Gossett, Austin Bigford, Dylan Holley, Noah Lawter and June Jeffries. "We will have Jaylen Gossett at linebacker as he has picked it up well along with being a big and athletic kid," said Lewis. "Austin Bigford will help at outside linebacker and Dylan Holley will help us in the middle." In the secondary the Eagles will be returning Davion Stradford at cornerback and KJ Valentine at safety. This season the Eagles will be looking to add an extra spark at safety as they moved hard hitting linebacker Dylan Bennett to strong safety this season. "We had Dylan at Sam linebacker last year and we're going to move him back home to safety even though in certain situations he'll still line up at linebacker," said Lewis. "This year we are looking for more consistency and leadership for us back there and I think he is going to show a lot of improvement for us this season. It's also going to allow KJ to use his length and athleticism more on the back end at free safety." Stratford will be joined at the cornerback position by a group that includes Bryson Thompson, Adonis Burgess, and Noah Lawter. While Valentine and Bennett will see a lot of time at safety they will also be joined back there by a group that includes Noah Lawter, June Jeffries, Davis Rising, and Trace Burger. Lewis says that despite his team being young this year he still believes the Eagles will be right in the hunt for the region championship. "I think we can compete for a region championship for sure this year," said Lewis. "We've got a brutal non-region schedule which is going to be tough on us but it's going to make us better. The way I've always looked at it as a coach is that non-region schedule is just there to prepare you for the region schedule as you want to build your team to where they're playing their best ball when you get to region play." With a young team Lewis implemented something new this offseason that he hopes will pay dividends this season and in the future as they held a leadership conference this offseason for eighteen different players from four different grade levels. "We did a one-day leadership workshop and the purpose behind it is to pick out some kids that have been leaders in the offseason and just in general," said Lewis. "We wanted them to realize we have leaders, which can be either positive or negative leadership. We expect the kids to be leaders so we wanted to give them tools to be positive leaders. I thought the kids done an outstanding job with it and it is something we will keep working on throughout the season." One noticeable change that Eagles fans will see this season is the new construction and brand new field turf that the team will be playing on this season. The upgrades are part of a $5 million upgrade of the Chesnee athletic fields that include a new field turf, upgrades to the stadium and pressbox, along with a new track, tennis courts, and upgrades to the baseball and softball fields. While the upgrades are a welcome sight for the community the logistics of summer football workouts have been challenging but it's something the team feels it was prepared for during last season when dealing with the numerous Covid protocols. "We've had a lot of construction around our facility that brings with it it's own challenges," said Lewis. "We all learned a lot from Covid and being able to adapt to the situation is one that we've used a lot this offseason. As coaches we've learned that you have to be flexible and sometimes things have to be changed at the last moment, which we've dealt with this offseason, but we learned how to deal with that a lot last offseason with Covid." Lewis said that even with the logistical problems its caused he still loves being able to walk out and see the new facilities that are being built. "When it all gets completed it's going to be a very nice facility," said Lewis. "We've been practicing on the new turf for the last few weeks and it's nice walking out there on this brand new field from the fieldhouse." Another difference that will be more pronounced this season is the move back to larger crowds this season which is something the Chesnee players are looking forward to this year. "It's going to be amazing to be able to play in front of all my friends and family again," said senior offensive lineman Caleb Rentz. "I love the environment at Chesnee because it's like the whole town comes out to every home game and it's a really great environment to play in." It will take a few weeks for the Eagles to introduce the public to their new facilities as their first home game won't be until September 3rd against Fairfield Central as Chesnee will kick off the season on the road for the first two weeks starting at Woodruff on August 20th and then at Broome on August 27th. Senior Player Spotlight - Jayden GossettThe 2020 Football season brought lots of change on and off the field for every lone involved. The 2021 season is bringing more changes for Chesnee Senior Jayden Gossett as he transitions from defensive tackle to middle linebacker and B-back on the offensive side of the ball. Gossett will be one of those tasked will filling the 1,000 yard rushing hole left by Camden Burns. "I'm gonna focus on what I can and give 100% effort in what I do," said Gossett about filling the void left behind by Burns. "I'll have Nick Hofer also helping me out in the backfield as well." After having a strong season in 2020, where the Eagles went 7-2 and won the Region II-AA championship, Gossett is hoping to build off of that momentum and have a strong 2021 season. "One of our goals is to win a lot of games this season," said Gossett. "Our team has worked as hard as we possibly can this offseason to hopefully have a deep playoff run." Gossett said one thing the Eagles have worked hard on this offseason is building chemistry after losing twenty-four seniors off of last year's team. "We have been working hard this offseason on building chemistry," said Gossett. "Chemistry will help us out in games and I think we have good chemistry." When asked who was someone to watch for this season that didn't get much playing time last year Gossett mentioned Austin Bigford and Adonis Burgess. "They are both hard workers and both will have good seasons for us," said Gossett. This is also Gossett's third season under head coach Clay Lewis and fourth year under defensive coordinator James Davis. "Both are great coaches and when they came in the mentality of Chesnee football changed," said Gossett. "We have been getting better and better since they came in." One positive Gossett took away from the 2020 season was the support his team got from the Chesnee community. "It makes us feel good about ourselves and like we are doing something right," said Gossett. "Even when things go wrong they still support us and we love and appreciate that." When asked what his three goals for the team this season Gossett said, "to win a ring, improve on what we did last season, and finish with no regrets." Eagles At The College LevelAs we enter the 2021 season the current Eagles aren't the only people preparing for the upcoming season as there are numerous former Eagles preparing for college seasons as both players and coaches.
Malik Busby is entering his third season at Presbyterian College in Clinton, SC as he redshirted during the spring 2021 season but has high expectations under new coach Kevin Kelley. Jacob Kimbrell is entering his second season at Wofford where he redshirted during the 2021 spring season. Kimbrell was named to the Southern Conference Academic Honor Roll for the spring season. Cole Hoskyns and Brayden Sprinkle are entering their first season at Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs, NC. Perhaps the biggest change for any Chesnee alumni at the collegiate level was made by Chris Foster who moved from Georgia Southern in Statesboro, Georgia to East Carolina University in Greenville, NC. Foster takes over the position of running backs coach at ECU, Foster is entering his 18th season coaching at the collegiate level. Bryant Foster is entering his 3rd season as the defensive backs coach at Coastal Carolina University in Conway, SC. After a stellar 2020 campaign the Chanticleers enter the season with high expectations and a top 25 ranking. Unlike in past seasons the brothers will not get to matchup on the gridiron as in years past when Georgia Southern would face Coastal Carolina. |
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