Getting ready for his first State Championship game with Clinton, Corey Fountain, football head coach, gave a shout-out to the CHS Cafeteria staff at the pre-game news conference.
The question Tuesday morning was what are the coaches go-to pre-game meals. Fountain detailed the chicken wings bar that Red Devil players enjoy before their games.
“We’re going to eat it at 9:30 Thursday morning,” Fountain said, of the schedule of getting on buses and traveling to Oliver Dawson Stadium at South Carolina State University in Orangeburg, for a 2:06 p.m. kick-off.
Fountain, who coached 4 State Champion teams at Lamar and now in his 5th season at Clinton has the Red Devils back in the hunt for their 9th title, said, “Our cafeteria staff prepares our pre-game food, and they do a great job.”
The meal is hot wings, teriyaki wings, honey mustard wings, baked potatoes, rolls, and chocolate chip cookies.
Other coaches, on the Zoom meeting staged by the SC High School League, speaking from their schools were from Barnwell, Clinton’s opponent; Abbeville and Cross in A; and Dutch Fork and Summerville (both undefeated) in AAAAA Division 1.
Clinton’s player representatives were seniors - Tushawan Richardson, quarterback, and Brett Young, linebacker.
For Barnwell, the player reps were quarterback Cameron Austin, the AA Lower State Offensive Player of the Year, and wide receiver William Robinson. The Warhorses are coached by Brian Smith.
The Warhorses are 13-1, have 21 seniors “who have worked hard all their lives,” Smith said, and they got right back to work at the start of this season after being eliminated last season in the playoff’s 3rd round by the eventual AA State Champion, Oceanside Collegiate.
Fountain said, “We started (preparation for 2024) last year when we got put out of the playoffs. Our guys got right back to work, and that’s what it’s all about. We’re 11-2 (losing to Woodruff in the season opener and Daniel at mid-season). We beat Fairfield Central last week, Batesburg-Leesville, Chester and Pelion in the playoffs. We just try to go 1-0 every week and 1-0 at every practice.”
Asked about his preparation for this season, Richardson said it’s developing the mindset to “go 1-0 every week, like the coaches say, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
Young echoed the 1-0 every week goal and said this championship would be special for Clinton since it would be the first since 2009. “It means a lot to the community,” he said. “We had a fire downtown (Aug. 27). The community rallied around us and helped pull us through the season.”
For Barnwell, Austin said at the QB position he has worked on “the small things, being more vocal.”
Robinson said the Barnwell community is all-in on football. “It feels good to have that support,” he said. “Our community - that’s football; everyone loves football down here.”
