Florence Christian football altering offensive style
Eagles open season with 35-12 victory over Dillon Christian
Florence – The Florence Christian School football program has a reputation of being a punishing running offense that takes advantage of its physical strength. While the Eagles will still run the ball plenty, it will be a bit more diverse out of necessity this season.
“We know we’re not going to be bigger, we know we’re not going to be faster,” said veteran FCS head coach Neil Minton. “We’re going to be trying to outnumber people more. We ran a lot of power football in the past, but we just can’t line up and do what we want to do naturally.
“We’ve got a good group of kids. I feel good about that. If we can avoid a lot of injuries, it’s going to be a fun year. We’re not going to blow out a lot of people, but I on’t think people are going to blow us out either.”
The biggest starter on the offensive line is returning senior left tackle Parker Watson at 6 feet, 245 pounds. Sophomore right tackle Preston Fowler (6-0, 205) returns as well.
Senior Wyatt Clark (5-feet-9-inches, 190) will be the center, senior Jamison McDaniel (6-0, 225) will be the left guard, and sophomore Daley Winburn (5-10, 165) will be the right guard.
Sophomore Riley Minton, the coach’s son, will be back at quarterback. completed 48 of 88 passes for 571 yards and five touchdowns.
“I’m proud of him,” Coach Minton said of his son, who is the firsts freshman he ever had start at quarterback. “He’s developing. Mentally he’s past being a sophomore quarterback. We’re running a different offense than in the past. Mentally he helps the other kids, putting us in the right plays, making the right reads. He’s a leader, and he’s 20 pounds bigger.”
He will be joined in the backfield again by junior Andrew Miller and senior Josh Davis. Miller ran for 924 yards and eight scores, while Davis had 591 yards and seven TDs for FCS, which went 6-5.
Senior Brooks Poston is a returning starter at wide receiver. The other wide receiver will be senior Landon Feagin, and the tight end will be sophomore Braiden Berry.
Florence Christian returns six starters on defense as well. Junior Hayden Schwab is the lone returning defensive line. He will be joined up front by senior Pierce Boykin, junior Jayce Johnson and senior Hayden Johnson. None of them are starting on the offensive front.
Winburn and sophomore Sullivan Hardy are returning starters at linebacker and will be joined by Berry. The secondary will have Poston, Davis and Miller back as starters. The other DB will be sophomore Sawyer Godbold.
Poston will handle the kicking duties.
