By Thomas Grant Jr.
A new season, a new head coach and a new stadium press box.
It’s what Chapin High School football fans were presented this past Friday at Cecil Woolbright Field.
Prior to the start of the Chapin Kickoff Classic, a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held by Lexington-Richland School District Five officials. After over a year of work, they were ready to put on display the completed work done on the $8.5 million stadium renovations project.
Hours later, the 2024 Eagles took to the field with first-year head coach Ryan Cole to close out the Classic against Ridge View. The hard-fought scrimmage ended in a 10-10 tie with both teams making big plays in preparation for their respective season-openers.
The contest started on an unfortunate note for Chapin. Senior linebacker Adam Pollack suffered an apparent arm injury during an early play and was helped off the field.
He later returned to the sidelines wearing a sling for his right arm. On Sunday, Cole confirmed Pollack had undergone surgery to repair a torn labrum and his status for the rest of the season is undetermined at this time.
Ridge View took a 10-0 lead on a 4-yard touchdown run by quarterback Derek Howard and a field goal by Issaija Yohannes following a Cayden Harris interception.
In the second quarter, Chapin made a goal-line stand to take over at its own 5. Quarterback Brady Albro found Gaffney transfer Stone Furrey for a long completion and, following two penalties on the Blazer, completed a 4-yard touchdown pass to Cooper Canady to make it 10-7.
After Chapin’s next drive ended with an interception, it returned the favor with a forced turnover. Linebacker Harrison Ambrose blindsided Howard with a hit that dislodged the football.
Gavin Stam made the recovery near midfield and raced toward the Ridge View endzone. Sprinting at high speed behind him was the Blazers’ Bradley Wilson who forced Stam out of bounds at the 5-yard line.
The Eagles settled on a game-tying field goal by Cooper Derrick with 2:27 left. Ridge View moved into position for a game-winning field goal from 30 yards, but Yohannes’ attempt missed wide right with six seconds left.
“We just didn’t give up,” Cole said. “The defense made a couple of big plays. The offense kind of got settled down. We started to run the ball a little bit. Stone had a great run going across there. (Ridge View) committed a couple of personal fouls. You know, it’s just trusting the process and buying in. Just that relentless pursuit of trying to get there.”
Canady and linebacker Tanner Short were named the Offensive and Defensive Players of the Game for Chapin. The Eagles will open the regular season Friday at Catawba Ridge.
Photos by Thomas Grant Jr.
