Laurens – There is young, then there is the young that was the Laurens Academy football team in the just completed year.
The Crusaders 8-man team had just two seniors on the roster this year in Buddy Baker and Hector Rubio. Rubio was an international student who didn’t become eligible until after Baker was done for the year with an injury.
Baker was having a nice season as well, having 386 rushing yards and one touchdown on 64 carries to go with 18 catches for 197 yards and four TDs. Defensively, he had 32 tackles, seven tackles for loss, one quarterback sack, one interception, one fumble recovery and one forced fumble.
Still, Laurens managed to finish with a 4-8 record and earn a berth in the state playoffs in their first season under head coach Jolly Doolittle.
“We would have like to won a little more,” Doolittle said. “We had a very young team. We never had the two seniors on the field at the same time. We were young so we certainly had our share of youthful mistakes.
“I felt like we got better as the year went along though, and that’s what you want to do. It’s taken us a couple of weeks and you can see the improvement when you look back at it.”
Junior Garrett Murphy and sophomore Garrison Vaughan were the two All-Region selections for the Crusaders.
Murphy was the catalyst of the offense, carrying the ball 61 times for 573 yards and seven touchdowns and catching 65 passes for 734 yards and six touchdowns. He averaged 11.0 yards per carry and 11.3 yards per catch.
“He was our most dynamic playmaker,” Doolittle said.
Defensively, Murphy had 78 tackles, 15 tackles for loss, five quarterback sacks, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.
Vaughan had 50 tackles, 15 tackles for loss, 2 ½ sacks, an interception, five forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries and was a standout at guard on offense.
“He was our best, most consistent guy up front,” Doolittle said. “We were very young up front, but to be good in this game, you have to be good on the lines. He was pretty consistent performer for us on both sides of the ball.”
Murphy and Vaughan were also named All Laurens County by the Laurens County Touchdown Club along with sophomore Nathan Bell and junior Hack Hardy.
Defensively, Bell led the team in tackles with 89 and TFLs with 17 ½ to go with five sacks, five forced fumbles and six fumble recoveries. Offensively, Bell rushed for 244 yards on 68 carries and caught 11 passes fopr 118 yards and two TDs.
Hardy had 61 tackles, 14 TFLs, 3 ½ sacks, two forced fumbles and one FR.
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