The Chesnee Eagles are in a new classification, and a new region, but will once again face some familiar faces this season when they step on to the football field. The Eagles will be in Region II-2A this season where they will be joined by rivals Blacksburg and Landrum along with former region foe St. Joseph’s with the only unfamiliar team being one of the newest programs in the state, Legion Collegiate Academy, led by former South Pointe head coach Strait Herron. While Blacksburg is a familiar team to the Eagles they will have a new look as Jet Turner will take over the reins of the Wildcats program after spending the last few years at Woodmont with some pretty good success. The name is a familiar one to Eagles fans as he was the former head coach at Broome before taking over at Woodmont and his offenses are well known for being a tough to defend ground based rushing attack. St Joseph’s is coming off of a strong 2019 season where they went 10-2 with a 3-1 region record. Landrum will once again be led by longtime coach Jason Farmer and will be the Eagles only road game in the region as Legion Collegiate is playing all of their games on the road this season. Outside of their region Chesnee only has one other road game as they will travel to Airport after region play is over before returning home to play two county rivals in Broome and Woodruff. Chesnee fell to Broome and Woodruff late in both games last season and will look to get some revenge on the two county teams this season. Being in 2A should be a benefit for the Eagles as they now go from being one of the smallest 3A programs last season to now being one of the larger 2A programs this year. Coach Lewis thinks playing schools of similar size should help the Eagles, “It should help when it comes to depth when we play schools that have similar numbers as us.” Despite being an undersized team compared to their opponents last season the Eagles made it to the second round of the playoffs after picking up a win on the road over Seneca before falling in the second round to Union County. The Seneca win was a big win for the Eagles for several reasons as it was the 100th career win for Head Coach Clay Lewis, it was their first playoff win since 2014, and it was also the first road playoff win for the team since 2009. Unlike in years past where a team’s region schedule is at the end of the season, this season all SCSHL teams will kick off their seasons playing their region schedule. Coach Lewis said you have to be ready from the opening kick to have a chance at a region title, “Normally we use our non-region schedule to build and prepare our team for region. Having our region games first puts a lot more pressure on us early as the first four games will determine playoff seeds and the region championship.” The team will feel the full benefits this season of having a full year of strength and conditioning under Coach Lewis’s watch. The team has greatly improved this summer in the weight room. “We had a 100% turnaround from last summer,” said Lewis. “When we were finally able to get back in the weight room, especially our seniors came in, and we could tell that had been at home getting their work in.” The team’s work away from the coaching staff revealed a lot about his team to Lewis as he added, “the work they put in at home shows us this is a hungry and motivated group.” A Little About The EaglesChesnee is heading into the 2020 season with a year under head coach Clay Lewis and three returning All-Region members: Corey Seay, Cole Hoskyns, and Ian Harris. The Eagles have the task of replacing two year starter Jacob Kimbrell at quarterback, who is now a member of the Wofford Terriers. They will hand over the reins of the offense to senior Nyquille O’Fair. O’Fair was two of three passing for eleven yards while gaining forty-eight yards on sixteen carries in limited action as the backup last season. Lewis is excited about the athleticism O’Fair brings but also his understanding of the game. ”He is an athletic kid but he is very smart,” said Lewis. “He understands where everyone should be and how it works. He is going to step in and have a big season for us.” There will be some new faces at running back for the Eagles as they lost Rodney Alexander, Avery Fogle, and Jacob Aparis to graduation. Bryson Thompson and Camden Burns are the Eagles top two returning backs as Thompson will play the A-Back position along with Praise Edrington, Trevor Blankenship, and Michael Paslawski while Burns will play the B-Back position along with Brandon Mills and Adam Parks. Chesnee will be young at wide receiver as they will be replacing the top three players from last season at the position but are expecting big things from KJ Valentine, Blake Scruggs, Ryan Walker, Matthew Froemel, Daveon Stradford and Lorenzo Duren. They will be returning tight end Cole Hoskyns to once again help out the passing game as Hoskyns had eleven catches for 206 yards and a pair of scores last season. The offensive line will return all five starters from last season as Corey Seay, Brayden Sprinkle, Caleb Rentz, Parker Robinson, and Jose Guzman. Seay, and Sprinkle will lead the group as both averaged a grade of 75 or better last season. Lewis is excited about the offensive line heading into the season. ”Our strength offensively should be up front with our offensive line with the experience they gained last year,” said Lewis. Chesnee will be returning nine starters on the defensive side of the ball including on the defensive line where the Eagles will be returning defensive ends Cole Hoskyns and Colby Davis who combined for 100.5 tackles, 29.5 tackles for loss, 14 sacks, and forced 7 turnovers last season. “Cole is an All-Region player and Colby was right behind him,” said Lewis. “Those two have been in the battles and we expect great things out of them this season.” The Eagles graduated their two primary defensive tackles to graduation last season but have Jacob Ingle, Parker Robinson, and Jaden Gossett battling for playing time. Ingle has 16.5 tackles last season with three tackles for loss with a pair of sacks while Robinson had 4.5 tackles and a sack last season. Linebacker is another key group for the Eagles as they return Corey Seay, Camden Burns, Brandon Mills, and Dylan Bennett. Bennett finished last season with 55 tackles and seven of them for loss while Seay finished third on the team in sacks with 4.5 to add to his 38.5 tackles. Mills had 42.5 tackles while Burns had 41 tackles and two sacks. Both Burns and Bennett scored defensive touchdowns last season. In the secondary Chesnee will return Nyquille O’Fair, Lorenzo Duren, and Bryson Thompson while KJ Valentine will be coming up from the JV team to help out this season. Duren led the team with six pass breakups and two interceptions last season. The Eagles key focus for this season in the secondary is developing depth. ”We can put two good corners and two good safeties but we have to develop some depth behind them,” said Lewis. One place the Eagles didn’t have a question mark this offseason was in the kicking game as they return punter Cole Hoskyns and kicker Ian Harris. Coach Lewis said it was big to have both of them back this season. “It means a lot having both of them back,” said Lewis. “The kicking game is one third of the game.” Harris was 37 out of 40 on PATs and made four field goals with his season long being from 42 yards out while Hoskyns averaged over 33 yards per punt last season. “He is kind of invaluable kicking wise,” said Lewis about Harris. “He works at it, not just at practice, but in the offseason and on the weekends.” The Eagles will kick off the season in a home matchup against Legion Collegiate on September 25th. Eagles Player Spotlight: Nyquille O'FairThis year the Eagles will be expecting big things out of senior quarterback and defensive back Nyquille O’Fair. O’Fair played primarily defense last season for the Eagles where he finished last year with 19.5 tackles and three pass breakups along with an interception. He also had eleven yards passing and forty-eight yards rushing in his limited action on offense last season.
“Nyquille is a very athletic, and smart kid,” said Chesnee head coach Clay Lewis. “He knows what everyone is supposed to be doing and he has really grown over the offseason physically as well as gotten faster. I’m looking for big things from him this season.” Nyquille says that he is looking forward to taking over the starting quarterback role this season. “I’ve played football my whole life,” said O’Fair. “It is something I’ve have always looked forward to and something I’m really excited about.” One thing O’Fair says that he has learned from his coaches and this crazy offseason is to just keep going, “You have to battle through adversity,” said O’Fair. “Mistakes will happen but you have got to battle through adversity every time. We have grown up so much from last season and I’m really excited about the upcoming season.” O’Fair really blossomed as a basketball player this past season for the Eagles and he thinks that will benefit him on the football field. “It prepared me as a leader,” said O’Fair. “As a leader on the basketball team I knew they were needing me every day to step up and be consistent.” Chesnee head basketball coach Andy Pitt thinks that O’Fair’s success on the basketball court will help him on the football field this season as well. “I think the fact that he was thrust into a leadership role for our basketball team will benefit him,” said Pitt. “I know he has added muscle this offseason and I think he’s ready to lead.” When asked who has helped him the most to get to this point O’Fair quickly pointed his finger at his parents, Jewel and Jermaine O’Fair, saying “My parents have really helped build me up to this point.” Comments are closed.
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