WINNSBORO – The Richard Winn Academy head football coach Paul Brigman knew this year’s team had a lot of promise, but he said the young Eagles have worked hard to make it to the final game.
“It has been a special season,” Brigman said. “We had a very senior-laden team last year, lost eight guys and most of them had played a lot. We had several spots that we were just unsure about.”
Replacing those seniors proved to be easier than Brigman and his coaching staff thought. This year the Eagles (11-0) blew through its regular-season schedule and scored at least 44 points in nine games. With its 31-12 victory over Wardlaw last week, Richard Winn reached the 8-man football state championship for the first time since 2020.
“We were unsure of these guys, but we found that we have some awesome leaders on this team,” Brigman said. “They’ve really stepped up and have been the backbone. We haven’t really had that down game where we were far below the expectations.”
The Eagles meet Laurens Academy (10-3) at W.W. King Academy in Batesburg for the 8-man state championship. Richard Winn beat the Crusaders 62-12 in the regular season Oct. 25.
Junior quarterback Charlie Bonds leads the offense. Bonds is a dual threat, passing 52-for-69 for 1,251 yards, 21 touchdowns and no interceptions, and rushing 95 times for 1,117 yards and 20 TDs.
Junior running back Eli Smith provides run support behind Bonds. Smith has 1,165 yards and 15 touchdowns on 118 carries.
“We run the ball a lot more than we were doing last year,” Brigman said. “We have an excellent running back in Eli Smith and he and Charlie have been an unbelievable 1-2 punch running the football. Charlie’s not just one-dimensional, he can throw it as well.”
Bonds also has more than capable receivers. The Eagles’ top receivers include senior Josh Tyndall, who has 16 catches for 523 yards and 11 touchdowns, and junior Bennett Nicholson with 18 catches for 291 yards and four TDs. Senior Jake Gaillard has eight receptions for 255 yards and four scores. Smith has six catches for 118 yards and a TD as well.
Behind the skill people is a seasoned front line that includes seniors Justin Autry, Harlan Kamb and Aaron Geddens.
On defense, Autry, Kamb, Geddens and others hold down the defensive line as well. Autry has a sack and six tackles on the year, while Kamb has two sacks and six tackles and Geddens, an interior lineman, has a sack, 28 tackles and a fumble recovery.
Guillard can set on the line as a defensive end or as an outside linebacker. Guillard the team in tackles with 62 and has a sack, an interception, and a fumble recovery.
Wilkes can also double as a defensive lineman or an outside linebacker. An All-Region selection, Wilkes has 57 tackles, four sacks and an interception this year.
Bonds leads the secondary with four interceptions, two sacks and 33 tackles. Bennett Nicholson also starts in the secondary with four interceptions, 19 tackles and two fumble recoveries.
The kicking game is something of a secret weapon for the Eagles, as most 8-man squads don’t have accomplished kickers and have to try for 2-point conversions instead. Tyndall gives Richard Winn a good shot at extra points and has good kickoff and field goal range as well.
“We’re fortunate to have the ability to kick field goals this year along with having an extra-point guy who’s about 95 percent,” Brigman said. “It gives us a lot of flexibility to kick or to go for two. He did all our kickoffs and hit all of our PATs.”
In addition to quarterbacking and secondary management, Bonds also serves as the team’s punter. Although Brigman said with a laugh, “we didn’t use him a lot,” considering the Eagles scored 564 points on offense in the last 11 games, an average of 51.3 points per game.
Richard Winn’s ball control and scoring ability has Brigman and the team feeling good about the final game. Four years earlier, the Eagles reached the SCISA 8-man final against Holly Hill, which quickly turned into a 56-14 rout at the Northside Christian football field.
This time around, Brigman said he has a good feeling that the Eagles may celebrate their first state championship since 2014.
“When we went to play Holly Hill a lot of us were just getting used to getting deep in playoffs again, myself included,” Brigman said. “We learned a lot about us back then and in recent years. But this team has really resolved to make it happen. We know it’s still in front of us though, and we’ve got a lot of work to do.”