A lot of changes will be surrounding Williamsburg football

Kingstree – The 2024 football season will definitely be one full of change for Williamsburg Academy. A new group of players to depend upon, not as many players, a new classification and a new way of doing things in practice are all things with which head coach Tyler Boyd and his staff will be dealing.

The Stallions lost a group of seniors with the likes of Conrad Balder, Camden Moore, Teague Ward, Blake Hedrick, Wes Smith, JD Sholar, Landon Strong, Kam Morris, Ty Childers, Aiden Stuckey and Greyson Moore which was part of a team that went 34-2 with a AA state title the past three seasons with the two losses coming in state championship contests.

They were 12-1 last season, losing to Bethesda Academy 18-17 in the state championship game.

That means Williamsburg will have a few players returning, but not as many overall. Whereas the roster had been around 40 the last few seasons, Boyd said the numbers have been around 30 for the four spring practices and the early portion of summer workouts.

 With the smaller numbers, the Stallions will have to approach practice in a different manner.

‘We're going to have less people, so we’ll be practicing a little different,” Boyd said. “We could do several different things at one time last year, now with 30, it's going to be tough.

“Also, we’ll just miss that depth. It makes for better practices with that good competition every day. When you’re two or three deep and you’re practicing against good competition, it prepares you better.”

Rising junior Micah Balder is penciled in as the starting quarterback, taking over for older brother Conrad. Micah actually comes in with some experience, having started the first three games of last season as Conrad was still recovering from an injury suffered in the 2022 state championship game.

Micah completed 22 of 42 passes for 403 yards and two touchdowns against two interceptions. He had a strong season running the football, carrying it 41 times for 331 yards and six scores.

“It's huge having Micah come back with that experience,” Boyd said. “It makes me feel a lot better about where we’re at as opposed to how I would feel about it otherwise. We’re going to be counting on him with that experience.”

Boyd is looking for rising juniors Travis Bennett and Jay Kellahan to step up as major players in the rushing attack. Bennett rushed for 369 yards and two scores on 35 carries as he would spell both Ward and Camden Moore, who combined for around 2,800 rushing and receiving yards and 38 touchdowns. . Kellahan had 33 yards and one TD on six carries.

The Stallions return two starters on the offensive line in rising senior tackles Layton Morris and Wyatt Floyd. Boyd is concerned about sheer numbers up front as he has just eight linemen.

Williamsburg will be dropping to Class A in football in SCISA’s latest 2-year reclassification. It is dropping down a class because of the smaller number of males enrolled in grades 9-12 for the upcoming school year.

Boyd was pleased with what the Stallions got accomplished in the abbreviated spring.

“Mainly it was for the freshmen to get a hold of the base plays, how we do things, how the groups rotate and how we stretch. We wanted to make the transition smooth into the first practice in July. We got in most of what we wanted to get in.”

BASEBALL TEAM HAS FIVE ALL-REGION PICKS

The Williamsburg baseball team came oh so close to playing in a state championship series for the fourth consecutive year, but it wasn’t meant to be.

The Stallions opened the 5-team, double-elimination bracket in their half of the AAA state playoffs with an 8-0 win over Northside Christian Academy. They followed that up with a 5-1 win over No. 1 seed Hilton Head Christian Academy.

All Williamsburg needed was one more win over HHCA to advance to the title series. However, the Eagles won 11-1 and 14-1 on the way to eventually winning the state title.

Boyd, also the baseball head coach, was pleased with the season the Stallions had in spite of the disappointing finish.

“It was a great year,” said Boyd, whose team finished with a 19-7 record. “It's baseball. Hilton Head Christian is not only a really, really good team, but it also got hot at the end of the playoff run. That's just how it goes.

“I knew we had a good team. I know this group could be one of the best we’ve had. You not only have to be good, but you have to be lucky too, and we didn't have the luck part this year.”

Williamsburg had five players selected to the All-Region team in Bryce Blackburn, Blake Hedrick, Layton Morris, Greyson Moore and Conrad Balder.

           Entering the final two games against HHCA, Hedrick was leading the team with a batting average of .394 and in stolen bases with 14 to go with 19 runs batted in and 15 runs scored. Blackburn batted .370 with a team high eight doubles, three home runs, 19 RBI and 16 runs. Morris batted .362 with team highs in homers (4), RBI (24) and runs (30). He also had seven doubles.

           Balder batted .377 with 24 runs and eight RBI, while Moore batted .193 with 14 runs and seven RBI.

           Moore, Blackburn, Morris and Balder also had strong seasons on the mound. Moore had a 5-2 record with a 2.54 earned run average in 41 1/3 innings. Blackburn was 8-1 with a 1.63 ERA in 38 2/3 innings.

           Morris was 2-1 with two saves and owned a 0.32 ERA in 22 innings. Balder was 2-1 with a 3.36 ERA in 16 2/3 innings.

           SIX SOFTBALL PLAYERS NAMED ALL-REGION

           Williamsburg had six players selected to the All-Region 2 softball team. They were senior shortstop Carmela Jacobs, junior first baseman Bayleigh Matthews, senior centerfielder Jana McConnell, senior catcher Allie McFadden, junior leftfielder Audrey Wadford and eighth-grade pitcher Abby Ward.

           Ward finished the season with 271 strikeouts, a school record.

           The Lady Stallions finished with a 14-12 record. They finished second in the region and advanced to the AAA state tournament.