Williamsburg gets “signature” win over THA

By Dennis Brunson

hssr.com Associate Editor

Kingstree – The Williamsburg Academy football team had gone 34-2 over the three seasons prior to this one, winning the SCISA AA state title in 2022 with the losses coming in state championship contests.

The Stallions had some outstanding players who were part of all three squads who are now graduated. That meant some other players needed to step up, and head coach Tyler Boyd believes that is happening.

Williamsburg, now playing at Class A, beat perennial Class A power Thomas Heyward 28-26 on September 13 and followed it with a 35-20 triumph over AAA Florence Christian School on September 20.

We haven’t lost many games the last few years,” said Boyd, who is in his second season in charge of the program. “For this group the win over Thomas Heyward is one of their first signature wins. I thing them winning that big game, it gives them confidence to keep things going. It reasserts the confidence in themselves.

“They became more of a team that night and last week (against Florence Christian). It was awesome for us.”

Those victories helped the Stallions take a 4-1 record into their Region 1 opener against Carolina Academy on October 4. Boyd thinks his players are starting to realize the impetus is on them for Williamsburg to be successful.

“The key thing is we have some older guys at key positions on the team who finally realized we’re counting on them,” Boyd said. “Even guys who may have started last year and had a role and were able to make sone plays, they’re starting to see how important they are to the team. They’re starting to see the difference that they make.”

Williamsburg got major contributions from a number of players in the wins over Thomas Heyward and Florence Christian. Against THA, the defense was led by senior linebacker Ty Tilton. He had 11 tackles and two quarterback sacks. He also had a solid game on offense, rushing for 71 yards on 10 carries.

Senior defensive lineman Wyatt Floyd had 10 tackles and two tackles for loss, while freshman defensive back Gamble Wilson had nine tackles and two pass breakups. Senior linebacker Layton Morris had eight tackles and one TFL, senior defensive back William Caulder had seven tackles and one TFL, sophomore linebacker Charlie Caulder had five tackles and two TFLs, and senior defensive lineman Drake Evans and sophomore linebacker Grant Small both had five tackles and one TFL.

Senior defensive back Bryce Blackburn had four tackles, one TFL and one PBU, sophomore linebacker Michael Ard had two tackles, including a sack, and junior defensive lineman Connor Morris had a sack.

Junior quarterback Micah Balder had a solid game. He completed 5 of 10 passes for 87 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 42 yards and two scores on 15 carries. Balder, who started a few games last season when older brother Conrad Balder was out with an injury, also ran for a pair of 2-point conversions.

Blackburn, playing wide receiver on offense, caught two passes for 40 yards, one of them a 36-yard touchdown. Caulder had a 15-yard reception at tight end.

Against Florence Christian, William Caulder and Wilson had huge games. Caulder had 14 tackles and one TFL, while Wilson had two interceptions, 10 tackles and one TFL.

Tilton had nine tackles and a TFL at linebacker while Ard had eight tackles and a TFL, Layton Morris seven tackles and a TFL, Charlie Caulder five tackles and two TFLs, Connor Morris one sack and Blackburn two TFLs and one PBU.

Balder had a solid game on both sides of the ball. Defensively in the secondary, he had four tackles and an interception. Offensively, Balder completed 8 of 13 passes for 93 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 76 yards and another score on 17 carries.

Small had a big game at running back, picking up 129 yards and a score on just eight carries. Tilton ran for 35 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries.

Blackburn was Balder’s favorite receiver, making five catches for 76 yards and a score. Floyd caught a 7-yard touchdown pass.

“On defense we’re starting to get a better idea of where we need to be,” Boyd said. “We changed things around a little bit in the secondary and against the run on defense. Offensively we’re not shooting ourselves in the foot as much and we’re putting points on the  board.”

WILLIAMSBURG VOLLEYBALL TEAM GROWING

Will Epps is in his first season as the volleyball head coach at Williamsburg. It’s his first year ever as a head coach in volleyball and just his second coaching volleyball. So, there is a lot of learning going on between Epps and his players as well as between Epps and the sport itself.

“We are a team that is growing and learning how to play together,” said Epps, the longtime boys basketball head coach at Laurence Manning Academy, where he served as an assistant coach for volleyball last year. “We have a great group of girls with parents that support us. We are having a hard time finding consistency in matches, but I love how our girls compete and fight until the end.”

Audrey Wadford, Trystan Burroughs, Abigail Wilkes, Maggie Jones, Mary Hanna Price and Brayleigh Matthews have been the primary starters with Lizzie McGee as the libero. Carson Ann McCutcheon and Blakely Moore are seeing time in the rotation as well.

Williamsburg competes at the AAA level in volleyball as a member of Region 3. The rest of the region includes Florence Christian, Pee Dee, Dillon Christian School and Christian Academy of Myrtle Beach.

Epps is hoping the Stallions will have a chance to complete in the state tournament in Myrtle Beach on October 18-19.

“Our goal is to make the playoffs and compete with the best teams in the state,” he said.