Cavaliers Return Eight Offense Starters to Grid Iron This Fall
Cav’s head coach Quinn Hatfield.
By Neill Kirkpatrick
Special to the HSSR
Greenville – The 2024 Christ Church Cavaliers entered the season as the two-time defending state class A football champions, however, because of realignment they moved up to class AAA and while the started the season 1-4 they continued to work hard going 5-1in the second half of the season to finish second in region and securing a home playoff spot
Heading into spring practice the Cav’s head coach Quinn Hatfield had some main areas he wanted his team to focus on.
“We had three core areas of focus for spring ball; 1. Heavy dose of fundamentals 2. Creating opportunities for guys to compete everyday 3. medium to light installation for defense and offense,” said coach. “We return 8 starters on offense and all our special teams starters (kickers/punter/holder/snapper). We have to replace a lot of production on defense. We have a lot of younger guys that are hungry to compete. We had a productive spring...great effort and energy from this group.”
Coach continued, “Our numbers are up across the program in Middle School, JV and Varsity which exciting for our program.”
The weight room was where the Cav’s have set the tone for the upcoming 2025 season as coach Hatfield was encouraged by the Max’s of his players in May.
Offensively, the Cav’s will return eight starters on offense but will have to replace a two-year starter at quarterback in Tucker Hendrix. Vying for the job will be Judd Windham, Harley McInnis and Seldon Peden. Windham, one of the top athletes at CCE, is the only one with any varsity playing experience. Last season he went 15-29 for 166 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 35 yards and a touchdown. He started at linebacker last season as a sophomore in addition to starting on the soccer team and playing the number one seed on the tennis team.
Sophomore running back Michael Martin II had an outstanding spring after a solid freshman campaign. He has put on 20 pounds and has increased his speed. He was already being looked as a freshman so the extra wait and increased speed will increase his college prospects. Last season he rushed for 676 yards and eight touchdowns.
The Cav’s also have one of the top receivers in the state returning in Jude Hall. The 6-4, 190 wide out has offers from Cincinnati, Boston College, and Duke. Last season he led the team with 57 receptions for 795 yards and five touchdowns. As a sophomore season he caught 24 balls for 538 yards and 9 touchdowns.
Hayes Lyman, Hampton Shields, and Bates Mann have stepped up at WR and all had a good spring. Lyman had 29 receptions for 339 yards for five touchdowns tying Hall for the most TD catches last year.
Another college prospect is TE/DE Reid Hipp. The 6-4, 225 senior caught 11 balls for 149 yards and a score while posting 20 tackles with four for loss and he had three sacks and five quarterback hurries.
Sophomores right tackle Victor Sandres (6-3,225) and center Alex Drake (5-10,225) will be back to anchor the offensive line. They have gotten bigger and stronger during the off season.
Senior George Michael Stathakis (5-11, 202) and junior Will Childers (6-1,220) will be back to lead the defensive front. They are leaders in the weight room and on the field.
