“Oh when the Saints go marching in...” Nah, those were not to be the words following the Saints games with the Rams. The Saints would not be marching into the State Title game in Orangeburg on Friday. The Saints repented for having such a thought in a 35-21 loss to the Rams.

Calhoun County is a town of approximately 2100 residents, slightly 700 more occupants than the town of Chesterfield. Calhoun is located in St. Matthews, which is near Orangeburg, S.C. It sits just off Interstate 26, not very far from the site of the 1A Championship game at S.C. State football stadium. A traveler would expect to spend a little more than two hours in traveling time between Chesterfield and Calhoun. Calhoun’s mascot is a Saint; they travel with a team doctor and team chaplain, Dr. Rivera. Dr. Reivera spoke words of encouragement and said quick prayers with players as they were going through their pre-game activities. Calhoun has created a dynasty in basketball. They have won eight or so state titles during the past ten years. The basketball team is coached by former Gamecock standout player, Zam Fredrick. The Saints have recently placed several football players on Division I college rosters. Their players are physically imposing, strong, fast, and motivated by the spiritual messages of their head coach. The Saints entered the Upper State Final sporting a record of 11-1. The Rams entered the contest with a perfect 12-0 mark. The Saints have three Divisions I prospects (Erick Mack, 6’4, 315 Left Tackle/USC commitment; excellent QB/Receiver, Shamier Jeffery, a junior; and excellent Sophomore Receiver, Mark Ivory.

The Saints avenged their lone loss of the season by knocking off Bamberg-Ehrhardt last week by the score of 20-0. According to assistant coaches, “The Bamberg game was the first time we played four quarters. We have been much better since we moved Shamier to the quarterback position. We are more balanced than most people think. We run the ball as well as we pass it. Most teams quit against Chesterfield. Chesterfield is not prepared for what they are going to see from us tonight. We are not afraid of Chesterfield’s speed. Chesterfield is a solid team. You can’t take anything from them. One key for us is to get defensive pressure on their quarterback. No one has applied pressure all year on their quarterback...” Another coach could be heard saying, “This is our night...one night...our time...not about the Rams...this is about the Saints...God did not bring us here for us to not take care of business...” The Saints fans wore shirts, which read, “One beat...one sound...One God...One champion.”

The Saints huddled in respect for a team prayer before making their way to the field and the expectation of being led into the promise land of victory showed upon the face of each player. Yes, the Saints were poised, ready, and hopeful for their prayer to be answered. However, there was just one simple and small thing missing, God does not play football.

When opposing teams view the Rams on film, they underestimate the team speed; they fail to see how fundamentally sound the players are; and they cannot see the fire of determination in the heart of the players. Who knows how much longer Coach Taneyhill will be in Chesterfield and why wait until he has gone before we publicly announce how great the Rams have been under his guidance. This team will go down in history as being one of the all-time great teams from South Carolina. We are blessed to be able to partake of the history that has transpired before us. In Taneyhill’s first trip to the title game in 2006, he was out coached in the loss to Carver’s Bay. Since that time, he has been the best in the business. In the game against the Saints, Coach Taneyhill was brilliant in his play calling. He threw all of his ‘pass happy first tendencies’ out of the window and kept the Saints off balance with his outstanding rushing game. The Saints had definitely prepared to defend the pass, but Coach Taneyhill showed patience and confidence in his team’s ability to handle the athleticism of the Saints. However, each time the Rams were within thirty yards of the Saints end zone, Coach Taneyhill quickly dialed up a passing play and connected for three touch downs on several of the plays. The word among the Saint’s coaches was that no team put pressure on the Rams quarterback. That was true, but it was true because of a greater truth, teams have not been allowed to keep Seth Truesdale under pressure due to the great protection he continued to experience from his great offensive line.

The defensive fire ants really controlled the athletic and physically imposing Saints. There isn’t enough to be said about the standout play of Brandon Williams, “Moon” Edwards, Chris Reynolds and the entire defensive line. Josh McCall, Eric McQueen, Sergio Johnson, and Jonathan Murvin played big roles in defending the excellent receiving corps of the Saints.

The High School League banned fireworks from being fired prior to football games at the Rams’ stadium. Nevertheless, that did not keep the potent Ram offense from lightning up the scoreboard on their opening drive of the game. Jonathan Murvin gave the Rams excellent field position by returning the opening kick off to the 47-yard line of the Saints. In a drive that covered 47 yards, 7 plays, and consumed only 2:58 off the game clock, the Rams scored on a 3 yard touch down run by Sergio Johnson to go up 7-0. The Rams’ defense held the Saints on three plays and forced them to punt. Sergio Johnson fielded a line drive punt and raced behind a wall of blockers on the left side of the field for a 65-yard touch down. Once again, J.T. Cutchins was good on the all important point after attempt, giving the Rams a 14-0 lead with 7:30 left to go in the first quarter. The Saints were able to pull within a touch down following a second and goal touch down run by star quarter back, Shamier Jeffery for a 14-7 score at the 9:04 mark of the second quarter. The remainder of the second quarter was very exciting with both teams making entertaining plays on offense and defense but the halftime score remained 14-7 in favor of the Rams. As the teams exited the field at halftime, the Rams remained energetic and their heads were lifted. In contrast, the Saints appeared to be a little dejected and their heads were not looking upwards.

To start the third quarter, the Rams defense forced the Saints to punt. However, a bobbled attempt to field the punt by the Rams led to a recovery by the Saints and set up a 20 yard scoring drive to make the score 14-13 in favor of the Rams at the 9:28 mark of the third quarter. The Saints missed the point after attempt and this prevented them from gaining momentum by scoring. On their next series, the Rams marched 79 yards in 3 minutes to score on a 5 yard touch down pass from Seth Truesdale to Sergio Johnson to put the Rams up 21-13 following the extra point by J.T. Cutchins at the 6:13 mark of the third quarter. By answering the score of the Saints, the Rams were never in doubt of the outcome. The Rams also put up another touch down when Truesdale connected with Jonathan Murvin on a 29 yard scoring strike to give the Rams a commanding 28-13 advantage. Each team scored once more and the Saints made good on a two-point conversion to close the scoring at 35-21 in favor of the Rams.

The Rams travel to Orangeburg on Friday to play the Lamar Silver Foxes in the state title game at 3:00 p.m. Lamar is the only team to win three state titles in a row in class 1A. Lamar had a few bad years after the departure of Coach J.R. Boyd. Since Coach Boyd’s return to Lamar, he has made them a state title contender. In spite of that, Chesterfield and Calhoun County were the best two teams of the remaining four teams in the playoffs. Since they played each other, the winner would likely be crowned state champion this Friday. Chesterfield should come away with a convincing win and Lamar will be very lucky to score more than once. My pick in the Upper State game was the Rams coming away with a 35-20 victory. We missed it by one point. My title game pick is a score of 42-7; the Rams win!