FAIRFIELD COUNTY – Fairfield Central native son Demetrius Davis took top honors among Class 2A head football coaches after the 2024 football season. The South Carolina Football Coaches Association named Davis as the 2A Upper State Head Coach of the year in late December.
The 14-year Griffins head coach led his team to a 12-2 record and an appearance in the upper state final at Clinton. The Red Devils ended the Fairfield Central season with a 32-21 victory and went on to beat Barnwell for the 2A state championship, but the Griffins had a lot to be proud of this fall.
“This team played like heck. This defense played, and let me tell you, man, I’m super proud of these kids,” Davis said after the game. “This group is special.”
The Griffins won 12 straight games after a season-opening loss to 5A Ridge View. Led by running back and Shrine Bowl pick Ty’Darion Grier, who rushed for 2,184 yards and 37 touchdowns on the season, Fairfield Central caught fire early and outscored opponents 608-231 this fall.
“If you would have told me back in May that we would have made it to the upper state championship, I would’ve looked at you like you was crazy,” he said, adding that the season was extra special because his son, Ford Davis, played as a quarterback and had 517 passing yards and six TDs.
Davis led the Griffins to two state semifinal appearances in 2012 and 2013. Dillon beat Fairfield Central for the lower state championship both times. Ever since that time, Davis hoped he would coach his son in a state final.
“When we lost back in 2012 my son was 5 years old at the time and I was thinking ‘what if I could win this thing with my son,” Davis said. “It didn’t quite work out that way, but I wouldn’t trade none of this for anything. This team right here is a special football team.”
Besides Davis earning Coach of the Year honors, Grier was named the 2A upper state offensive player of the year. Chancery Turner, who had 120 tackles, 15 for loss, six sacks and two interceptions, was named the 2A upper state’s top defensive player.
Davis’s long tenure as head coach is weighted down with his time in the county. The Winnsboro native played quarterback under Buddy Pough when the retired South Carolina State head coach roamed the sidelines at E.K. McLendon Stadium as the head man of the Griffins.
Davis was a senior when Coach Pough led the team to a 15-0 record and a 3A state championship in 1996. After graduating from Fayetteville State and serving as a graduate assistant at South Carolina, Davis became the quarterbacks coach under Pough at South Carolina State.
He stayed with the Bulldogs for eight years before hearing the head coaching job calling for him back home. Since then, Fairfield Central has gone 122-52 under Davis.
Knowing how Pough’s coaching at Fairfield Central energized Winnsboro in the four years he was there, Davis looks to keep that energy going.
“It’s a community thing,” he said about the importance of the 2024 season. “This is the first time we’ve played in this game in 12 years. It brings the community together. Being from Winnsboro and being a hometown guy, that’s what I want to do. I want to be able to bring some joy and some excitement to Winnsboro. We’ll have our day. Today wasn’t it but we’ll have our day.”
