South Aiken football looking to get tougher after difficult season

South Aiken head football coach Chris Hamilton sat down with each of his players individually, like he always does, once last season came to an end.

It was a tough one for the T-Breds, who struggled to a 3-8 record and at times had a habit of waiting for bad things to happen to them rather than putting a foot down to prevent them.

The post-season conversations covered the good, the bad and the ugly, and Hamilton found that a lot of his players were in agreement about what they'd need to change.

"Overwhelmingly, they said we need to get tougher. Mentally and physically," he said. "That was from the players' mouths, and I agree with them, totally. I thought we needed to get a lot tougher, both mentally and physically, so we put them through some stuff this spring and made it pretty tough on them. Situations that they really had to bear down on and test their fortitude a little bit. I think that's paid off."

They'll look to do that against another gauntlet of a schedule in the new Region 4-AAAA, but they'll do so with a new enthusiasm after a positive offseason.

"Everybody seems upbeat and excited," Hamilton said. "Of course, we've got to develop some depth, like always. You're going to get hit by that injury bug. You do your best not to, but it just is what it is. We're going to develop some depth, and hopefully we can continue to get some of those young guys better. We've got some guys that are going to pretty good, I think, for us."

Senior running back Jevon Edwards is the headliner, already the program's all-time leading rusher with 4,215 yards and one short of Chris Roberts' career rushing touchdowns record with 50.

Edwards was held out of spring ball after pulling a hamstring at the region track meet, and Hamilton said his star rusher is itching to get this season started. Expectations are once again high, as Edwards is going to be counted on to carry the load a little more than in years past.

Helping him on that journey is an offensive line loaded with returning starters.

"The offensive line, everybody's back from there," Hamilton said. "Santos Whitt, he plays left guard, he's had a really good offseason. Wrestled last year as a sophomore, and this year as a junior he looks really good. Put on some good weight and got a little nasty in him, so he plays offensive line the right way. Caden Eichelberger, he's put on really good weight and looks really good. Same with Sebastian Galo, he's starting at right tackle."

Michael Cohen is another returning guard, and Elijah Phillips is back to play center after getting some snaps there last year when John Fogle missed time due to injury. Plus, veteran tight end Ryan Lubeck returns and is equally valuable as a blocker and receiver.

Kyson McLeod returns at wide receiver after a big freshman campaign, and he'll look to receive passes from senior quarterback Tucker Bryan. Bryan has big shoes to fill following the graduation of Terrence Smith, who's now at the University of Connecticut, but he also went 2-0 as a starter last year when Smith was injured and knows how this offense works.

The entire defense is back, and that's been an area where the T-Breds have had some trouble. But they all come back with another year under their belts, and Hamilton is hopeful some offseason tweaks will put them in position to put it all together.

Junior linebacker Akeem Walcott and seniors like cornerbacks Krisopher Lee and Justin Bradley, linebacker Garrett Still, defensive back Jordan Williams and defensive lineman/linebacker Markell Brown are players being counted on to lead the defense, as is sophomore lineman Ray Harris.

It's a tough schedule, but that's nothing new for South Aiken. Hamilton is hopeful their hard work pays off for them and they're able to have an enjoyable season.

"Win, lose or draw, I really like this team. I like the way they work. I like the way they do things," he said. "We're going to have to have some things go for us. Ain't no doubt we're in a tough region. I put it up against any right now. ... It's a tough region. You can't sleep on nobody. There's no cakewalks, ever, on it. You're going to have to come, and you're going to have to hit it early. We've got to be ready to go and ready to go quickly."