Spartanburg Day Gets First SCISA Varsity Football Win Since 1979 As The Griffins Have Launched A Varsity Football Team This Season. Defeat The Thornwell School 17-14

By Billy G. Baker

Publisher

Spartanburg—For the first time in forty -seven years, the Spartanburg Day Griffins won a varsity football game on August 28, and you could never guess how they scored the 17 points that gave them a three-point win over the Thornwell Charter School at home.

According to Gerald Doolittle, the HSSR historian, who has kept records on high school football in South Carolina since 1965; the last time Spartanburg Day won a varsity football game, prior to August 28, was a 23-0 win over Camden Military on November 9, 1979.  

One can just imagine how this new thrill of victory must have overcome Spartanburg Day players, coaches, and fans when the Griffins won their game 17-14 and they got their 17 points in a lot of different ways.   

“We scored our 17 points on three field goals by Armin Pader, a 72-yard punt return by Charlie Wilson, and we converted a two point play off of a bad snap on a PAT play,” said Spartanburg Day head coach Patrick Moffitt, who was hired two years ago to start a “B” team football program with the goal of working up to a varsity program by August 2026.

 “When the clock hit zero it was so exciting to see our team run over to our student section and celebrate with the students, who were cheering for them throughout the game,” said Coach Moffitt. “The other team dominated time of possession with their running game. We feel fortunate to have won the game.   

“It’s been two years of building the program from “B” team, junior varsity and we now have a varsity football program competing for the first time in over 40 years,” said Coach Moffitt. “We have no senior starters on the team. We start with 8 juniors, 9 sophomores and five freshmen. We may or may not win another game this season, having to play in more experienced teams AA SCISA, but this is one win we will enjoy and cherish for a long time.”

At one time in the game, the Griffins were up 11-0 against Thornwell Charter, on a 72-yard punt return by sophomore Charlier Wilson (5-8,160) and after a bad snap on the extra point snap Pader ran in for two points to make it 8-0 last in the first quarter. Then Pader hit the first of his three field goals in the second period to make it 11-0.

In the third period Pader nailed a 49-yard field goal to put the Griffins up 14-0. Then Thornwell Charter fought back to make it 17-6 entering the final period. Then early in the final period Pader made the score 17-6 on a 40-yard field goal. The Griffins held on for dear life the rest of the way as Thornwell scored again to make it a 17-14 late when the game was finally over.

Pader is a 6-2 junior and he also plays soccer. He might just be a college prospect as a combo kicker. He has punted three times this season for a 38.7-yard average. He will be remembered as “Mr. Clutch” in the big win he delivered against Thornwell Charter.

Spartanburg Day began the season on August 14 with an away game at the Asheville Christian School. They lost that game 39-6 and they had been scheduled to play at Calhoun Academy the next week, but they forfeited the game.

“We had some injuries in our first game, and the weather forecast was calling for thunder and lightning in the area where Calhoun Academy is located,” said Coach Moffitt. “We made a decision, with the input from our school administration, to forfeit our second game and get ready for our first home game against Thornwell Charter.

“We hope to make up the game with Calhoun Academy later in the season if we can both find a common date to play the game,” said Coach Moffitt.



The first touchdown by a Griffin varsity football player, since 1979, was scored by sophomore receiver Charlie Teel against Asheville Christian on a 32-yard touchdown pass thrown by freshman quarterback Charlie Birch (5-10,175) on August 14.

The Griffin’s are now preparing to play at the Northside Christian School in the Lexington area on September 4.

Last week, against Thornwell Charter, the game was delayed until 8:05 due to weather issues. “We had some rain and in effected some tail gating plans for our first home game in quite a while,” said Coach Moffitt. “Our fans didn’t leave. They stayed around despite the weather, and our student section was live and proud of the entire game.

“The last six seconds of the game seemed like an eternity,” said Coach Moffitt. “We had the ball, and it was 4^th down, so I told our quarterback (Birch) to just run around and to throw the ball into the ground near one of our receivers. It felt great to see the clock go 0.00.

“Our players immediately ran to our student section, and they were greeted warmly after the hard-fought win,” said Coach Moffitt. “It was unreal moment to see the fans celebrating and everyone was congratulating each other. Football is certainly a rallying point for the school community. It was a big deal moment in the history of our school I can tell you that.”

The rest of the 2026 schedule will get tougher, and you wonder if the Griffins should have been allowed to start out as a SCISA Class A team, or even an 8-man program for the first two years. However, SCISA teams are placed in classifications based on male enrollment in grades 8 through 11, so the numbers are what they are.

After playing at Northside Christian this week, the Griffins will host the American Leadership Academy on September 11 before they have a region game at Williamsburg Academy in Kingstree on September 18. Then they host Pee Dee Academy on September, 25 to close out the month of September.

On October 2 the Griffins travel across town to play their arch-rival Spartanburg Christian and seven of their 22 players are seniors while the Griffin’s have no senior starters.

Coming into the season, the starters for the Griffins were listed as Birch at QB. Junior Heath Boyd (5-10, 175) is the starting RB. The three starting receivers are Wilson, sophomore Tyler Fernanders (5010, 145) and Teel. The TE is listed as Pader (6-2, 180) with the great kicking leg.  

The OL consists of top sophomore tackle Nic Querin (6-1, 240), along with junior RT Cale Willoughby (6-4, 260), while the RG is sophomore Charlie Martin (5-11, 225). The LG is freshman Sammy Crain (5-9,230) and the center is junior Ben Brown (6-0, 210).

The defensive line is anchored by Querin who flips from offense along with junior Gibbs Montgomery (6-0, 180), junior Adi Enuica (5-9, 200), and freshman Lawson Robinson (6-0,200).   

The three linebackers are Wilson, Boyd, and Birch who all flip from offense. The four deep secondary is comprised of Fernanders and Teel who flipped from the offense along with junior Kaiden Flannery (5-9, 150) and freshman Rutledge Wall (5-8, 145).

Pader is a nest level kicking prospect without a doubt.

Some stats were made available on the team after two games. Birch has completed 19-of-37 passes for 243 yards and one TD. Hall is the back-up and he has completed two passes for 18 yards.

Boyd is the top rusher after two games with 81 net yards on 22 carries. Reserve RB Gabe Montgomery has netted seven yards.

Teel leads the receivers with five catches for 118 yards and one TD. Pader has caught five passes for 53 yards and Wilson has five receptions for 36 yards. Fernanders has three catches for 22 yards.

On defense, the Griffin’s have been led by Birch, Boyd, and Wilson with four tackles each after two games. Fernanders, and DL Colten Lyle have three tackles each. Pader has the team’s only interception thus far.

Other hard-working members of the new varsity team include Sophomore WR Ben Visk, junior WR/DB Connor McGrath, freshman OL/DE Corbin Martin, lone senior Dennia Tesler OL/DT, freshman OL/DE Lawson Robinson and sophomore OL/DT Sagan O’Brien.

Over the summer, Griffin’s added Rick Martin as an assistant coach. The other assistant coaches, who have been on board for a while, include Chris Cormier, Justin Crain, and Andrew Vaught.

 The HSSR congratulates the team on their first SCISA varsity football win since 1979.