Laurens County has a rich history of high school football. Clinton is dominating the scene in Laurens right now, but in the same town of Clinton, lies Thornwell Charter School. Thornwell is fielding a varsity football team for the first time in 18 years.
“For the community, this is something that is long overdue,” said Saints head coach, Charlie Washington. “They are definitely happy with the football program and the direction, it’s bringing a family atmosphere back to Thornwell from a football standpoint.”
2006 was the last time Thornwell Charter played a varsity football game prior to this season. For Coach Washington, he has been building this program from the ground up since he took the job in June. Prior to coaching at Thornwell, he was an assistant at J.L Mann last year.
“This biggest challenge is the complete buy-in,” Washington said. “We just put forty to fifty thousand dollars into our new weight equipment, redesigning the weightroom. The kids are getting in there.”
Social media presence has been a big vocal point for the Saints early on this season. Their twitter page (@TCS_SaintsFB) is a must-follow. Peeling back a layer between school and fan, they posted their “tale of the tape” after the opening week loss to Calhoun Falls.
Thornwell has a star player who is already making headlines. Coach Washington’s son, Kaevon Washington, had a phenomenal game in week one on both sides of the ball. As quarterback, Kaevon Washington carried the ball 26 times and racked up 161 yards, plus 31 yards through the air. On the defensive end, Washington totaled a team-high 10 tackles vs the Blue Flashes.
“He didn’t become the quarterback until the first day of fall practice,” coach Washington said. “We had a kid transfer out going into the fall and had to restructure. [Kaevon Washington] had played quarterback at the youth level, so it wasn’t like he was a zero experience QB. Right now, he’s our number one receiver that is playing quarterback for us.”
The Saints are sporting an eight game schedule, which includes fellow Lakelands teams: Calhoun Falls (twice), McCormick, and Ware Shoals. After a loss last week to the Blue Flashes they are running it back in Calhoun Falls again this week, looking for revenge.
“Size doesn’t matter,” Washington stated. “Everybody puts on the same pads, you’ve got to go out there and hit. You can’t allow [Calhoun Falls] to get into their groove.”
It’s no secret Thornwell has a lot of growing to do being such a young team, but coach Washington believes things are being put into place.
“Every game that we play is a step to the championship,” Washington said. “There comes a point in football where your priority is winning and every time we play, we are playing towards a state championship.”