Patriots aiming for championship

Wardlaw coach Chalmers Carr will look to lead his team past Patrick Henry tonight. Staff photo by Noah Feit.

Following Wardlaw Academy's 56-6 victory over Patrick Henry Academy on Sept. 9, one set of Patriots was flying high at 4-0 while the other was 2-2 and facing some tough questions. Wardlaw is still undefeated, and Patrick Henry found the right answers, setting up a rematch Friday night for the SCISA 8-man football state championship at Calhoun Academy in St. Matthews.

Both teams are undefeated since the early season meeting, and neither has faced much opposition while earning the top two seeds in the playoffs. Patrick Henry (11-2) has won nine straight games by an average of just over 35 points per game, while eight consecutive victories by Wardlaw (12-0) over that span came by more than 42 points per game.

The theme of the playoffs so far for Patrick Henry has been redemption. The Patriots' 20-14 semifinal victory over King Academy served as payback not only for an Aug. 26 road loss but also for a semifinal loss a year ago. Coach Mike McCoy's bunch, a vastly different team since early September, will now look to avenge the loss to Wardlaw, the only other blemish on its record.

Wardlaw's 52-18 semifinal victory over Clarendon Hall gave the Patriots wins over the other seven playoff teams. Their only win by less than 24 points came in the season opener, a 44-36 triumph over King Academy.

If Patrick Henry's business in the postseason is exacting revenge, Wardlaw's has been preventing it; the Patriots' opening round 55-0 victory over James Island Christian was a rematch of an 84-26 regular season beating.

It's not difficult to see that Wardlaw's strength is its offense. The Patriots are averaging 55.08 points per game this season, thanks in large part to a large, punishing offensive line that gives Wardlaw a huge advantage every time it takes the field.

"That experience and that size and quickness should outweigh most things," Wardlaw coach Chalmers Carr said, "but you never know until you start bumping heads on Friday night."

While the offense continues to fire on all cylinders, Wardlaw's defense is also clicking at just the right time.

"The offense has been there, but what you've seen in the last probably four games, in particular, has been the defense," said Carr, mentioning that it was just a matter of putting the right eight players in the right positions. "From that point on, the defense has continued to just dominate."

One major concern for Carr, though, is how his senior-laden team will react if thrown a curveball Friday night.

"They're very well-prepared for what we know to prepare for," said Carr, "but it would be interesting to see how well they respond if they see something they haven't seen before."

Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.