Williamsburg Playing in Fourth Straight Championship Game

  By Dennis Brunson

            hssr.com Associate Editor

           Kingstree – Williamsburg Academy will be playing in its fourth consecutive SCISA football state championship game on Saturday. The Stallions will face Thomas Heyward Academy for the Class A state title beginning at noon at Charleston Southern University’s Buccaneer Field in North Charleston.

           And it’s not like WA has accomplished this with the same cast of characters over that time frame. When it played for the AA state title in 2021, Williamsburg had 15 seniors on the team, according to head coach Tyler Boyd. The following year when the Stallions won the AA title, they had 12 seniors. Last season when it lost to Bethesda Academy in the AA title game, WA had 16 seniors, several of whom were starters on each of those three teams.

           So for Williamsburg to be doing this again speaks volumes to Boyd about the character of his players.

           “It’s really crazy that we’re such a small school and have lost that many players over the last three years and still we’re back here again,” said Boyd, who is completing his second season as head coach after being the offensive coordinator for Don Shelley the first two years of the run. “It’s pretty cool, and it means a lot to these seniors. There was a lot of negativity and doubt about how good they were going to be. They’ve proved everybody wrong to this point.”

           Boyd gives some credit for this team’s success to the ones from the previous three campaigns.

“Obviously, you have to say culture has a lot to do with this,” Boyd said. “They’ve learned from the best because they had to go against the best in practice the last three years. They learned from them because they practiced with them. They’ve developed a tightness over the years. They’re all tough and they want to play hard for each other is the main thing.”

The Stallions will take a 10-1 record into the championship contest. Their lone loss came to undefeated AA state finalist Pee Dee by a 25-0 score in the second game of the season. That was the anomaly though as WA has scored 332 points in 10 games (it won one by forfeit) and allowed just 112.

Junior Micah Balder has matured at quarterback after winning the job held by his brother, Conrad Balder, the three previous seasons. Micah is the leading rusher with 775 yards and 10 touchdowns on 123 carries and has really come on as a passer down the stretch. He has completed 50 of 95 passes for 854 yards and 13 touchdowns against just three interceptions.

“I I think Micah has really grown in his confidence,” Boyd said. “”He wants the ball in his hands as much as possible. He’s become better as a runner and a passer. He’s getting a few extra yards in the run game. He always knew where to throw the ball, he’s just doing it with confidence now.

“He’s throwing with confidence, getting the passes out quicker. He’s got a lot more trust in the guys around him. There were a lot of unknowns coming into the season, so he had to develop that trust in confidence with them.”

Balder’s favorite target is senior Bryce Blackburn with 16 catches for 265 yards. Sophomore tight end Charlie Caulder has 12 catches for 233 yards and three touchdowns. Sophomore running back Grant Small has five catches for 144 yards and two touchdowns, sophomore H back Michael Ard had four catches for 83 yards and two touchdowns, junior H back Jay Kellahan has four catches for 55 yards, senior wide receiver William Caulder has four catches for 47 yards and at TD, and freshman wide receiver Gamble Wilson has six catches for 74 yards.

           Small is the starting running back and he has come on as well down the stretch. He has 651 yards and eight touchdowns on 92 carries. Senior running back Ty Tilton has 268 yards and a score on 59 carries.

Ard, who just recently moved from the offensive line to H back, has seven carries for 45 yards and two touchdowns. Kellahan has eight carries for 46 yards.

The offensive line is anchored by sophomore Sammy Tomlinson at center. On the left side are senior Wyatt Floyd at tackle and senior Drake Evans at guard. Senior Layton Morris is the left guard and sophomore Marlin Morris is the left tackle.

The Stallions work out of a 3-4 defensive alignment. Boyd said the defensive unit has improved by leaps and bounds.

“The defense has gotten a lot better,” he said. “We moved some pieces around, and our players just understand their reads and trust more in our reads. They know where they’re supposed to be. We’ve got a lot of sophomores who keep getting better.”

Junior Connor Morris is the noseguard and has 31 tackles and six tackles for a loss. Floyd and Evans are the main defensive ends. Floyd has 52 tackles and shares the team lead in TFLs with nine, while Evans has 46 tackles and seven TFLs. Also seeing time are Tomlinson with seven tackles and Marlin Morris with 23 tackles.

The inside linebackers are Layton Morris, who has 58 tackles with five TFLs, and Tilton, who has a team high 62 tackles to go with six TFLs. Lining up on the outside are Charlie Caulder with 37 tackles and nine TFLs and Ard with 46 tackles and six TFLs. Small, who has 24 tackles and one TFL, also sees time.

The cornerbacks are Blackburn and Wilson. Blackburn has 23 tackles and five TFLs, while Wilson has 37 tackles and one TFL.

Several players see time at the safety positions. They include Balder with 23 tackles and two TFLs, William Caulder with 52 tackles and five TFLs, sophomore Seth Cherinko with 30 tackles and Kellahan with nine tackles and one TFL.

Wilson leads the team in interceptions with three, while Balder and Ard both have two. Layton Morris, William Caulder, Small and freshman safety Weston McKenzie each have one.

Layton Morris is the punter while Small handles the kicking duties with sophomore Al Casselman serving as the holder. Floyd is the long snapper. Blackburn and Small are kickoff returners and William Caulder returns punts. 

Wiliamsburg and Thomas Heyward met on September 13 in Ridgeland, and the Stallions pulled out a 28-26 victory. Boyd doesn’t think the outcome of that game will have much of a bearing on the title game.

“They’re almost a different team,” Boyd said of the Rebels, who are 11-1 on the season. “They’re a better team than when we faced them the first time. I think both teams are a lot better than they were then.”

OFFENSE

QB - Micah Balder #5 Jr.

RB - Grant Small #10 So.

HB - Michael Ard #44 So.

WR - Bryce Blackburn #12 Sr.

WR - William Caulder #13 Sr.

TE - Charlie Caulder #7 So.

RT - Wyatt Floyd #52 Sr.

RG - Drake Evans #75 Sr.

C - Sammy Tomlinson #54 So.

LG - Layton Morris #61 Sr.

LT - Marlin Morris #60 So.

DEFENSE

NG - Connor Morris #56 Jr.

DE - Wyatt Floyd #52 Sr.

DE - Drake Evans #75 Sr.

ILB - Layton Morris #61 Sr.

ILB - Ty Tilton #28 Sr.

OLB - Charlie Caulder #6 Soph.

OLB - Michael Ard #44 Soph.

CB - Bryce Blackburn #12 Sr.

CB - Gamble Wilson #3 Fr.

SS - Micah Balder #5 Jr.

FS - William Caulder #13 Sr.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Punter - Layton Morris #61 Sr.

PK - Grant Small #10 So.

Holder - Al Casselman #8 So.

Long Snapper - Connor Morris #56 Jr.

Punt Returns - William Caulder #13 Sr.

Kickoff Returns - Bryce Blackburn #12 Sr.

Kickoff Returns - Grant Small #10 So.