Former Wolverine Football Standouts Join Forces to Create Woodruff’s First Travel Football Teams
By: Garrett Mitchell, Staff Writer
Woodruff is a football town.
On Friday nights in the fall, you can find the masses under the lights at Varner Stadium. Now, a group of former Wolverine gridiron stars is pioneering a new travel football team for Woodruff youth in hopes of keeping the Wolverines’ pipeline of talent flowing for many years to come.
Dominique Woodruff, Amos Moates, Jonathan Finley, and DeKari Davidson wanted to do something that would help prepare Woodruff’s future football players for the rigors of the high school game and beyond. The result of those efforts is a new, multi-tiered travel football team called the Wolfpack.
For Dominique, it is his desire for Woodruff football to reclaim its place as champions that inspired him to create this opportunity.
“We started the team in Fall of 2021,” said Woodruff. “We had been talking about it for a few years but DeKari came right in and got straight to the point with me and Amos because he heard of our success with the youth around here. The whole reason is to mold and guide these young boys and girls to become better men and women in this town and society. We believe in tradition but we also believe that tradition should be changed especially here in woodruff. We haven’t won a championship since 1984 and we believe that this change in youth sports will help bring championships back to woodruff because we believe in and trust the process.”
Moates, who graduated from Woodruff in 2010, was a wide receiver on some of the most electric and talented Wolverine squads in recent memory for former head coach Brian Lane. He echoes Woodruff’s sentiments and added that Woodruff Wolverine football benefits the community, and he wanted to be a part of helping restore a championship level of football to his alma mater.
“My initial reaction to the idea of starting the Wolfpack was great excitement,” he said. “Because I know how this program will benefit the children in our community. As a coach, establishing this team has been different because it is something new to our city. Of course, our numbers are low starting out, but it’s also fun seeing all of the potential and progression from the kids we do have coming out. As the time goes by it keeps getting better for us.”
Moates added, “I’m so fortunate to have played when I played, and play with who I played with. Not to mention the great coaching I had in Freddie Brown and Brian Lane. But it’s so important to me to bring that winning culture back to the city, and not only that, we have to bring some championships back as well. We owe it to the fans. I take pride in developing our youth to become smart, elite athletes while they are young so as they get older, they have the skill set to play all sports at a high level.”
DeKari Davidson, who moved to Woodruff with his family several years ago from North Carolina, picked up on the culture of Woodruff football immediately. With experience coaching travel football in North Carolina, he has been the logistical spearhead of getting the Wolfpack program off the ground. As a coach and founder of the Wolfpack’s three teams, Davidson has been in charge of reaching out to prospective players and their families while communicating with the parent league and scheduling opponents.
“In terms of schedule and competition, we have joined the South Carolina Youth Football Association (SCYFA),” Davidson said. “I sat down with the president and some of the directors and they accepted us in.
We play teams that cover the entire state of South Carolina, top to bottom. We will be playing the Spartanburg Gators, Greenville Titans, teams from Columbia, Charleston, and even a team from Clinton. The season runs from August and ends on October 22 with our last regular-season game. We are guaranteed a 10-game schedule including a jamboree. If we win, we have a playoff tournament in single-elimination format and if we make it through that we have a championship Super Bowl type of game.”
Davidson added that the Wolfpack offers opportunities to a wide age range of players, starting with 6U and going all the way to 12U. That covers three teams under the Wolfpack name. Davidson also stated that there are parameters in place to ensure player safety when it comes to the level of competition.
“On the initial roster, we are not capping the number of players. Nobody will be turned away. We will have kids ages 5 to 12. Right now, we have three teams which are 8U, 10U, and 12U. Older kids cannot play down an age level, and that is for the safety of our younger players. The league we are joining, they have an identification system to make sure that is adhered to.”
Whenever starting something new, there are always initial challenges, and Moates says that in its early stages, he and the rest of the Wolfpack coaches are working to gain the trust and confidence of Woodruff’s parents and show that they can help prepare Woodruff’s future Wolverines for their future athletic opportunities.
“I feel like our biggest challenge right now is getting the city to believe in what we are trying to do,” Moates said. “It’s going to take the entire city to come together and make change for our youth. The football team is just a start. We will eventually have tee-ball, basketball, softball, kickball, etc. just to keep the kids active and get good coaching at an elite level right here at home. I know a lot of people are hesitant about trying something new, but all we ask is that we come together and give it a try. Teaming up with this program will be something they will not regret.”
Jonathan Finley, another former multi-sport standout at Woodruff, signed on as one of the Wolfpack coaches and said the players who have committed to the program are already working hard to turn the team into an instant success. The priority of the coaches, he says, is to instill discipline and knowledge of the game.
“Our top priority is for these kids to have fun and learn the game of football from elite players that played within the woodruff football system,” he said. “The aspect of travel ball is a different view for a lot of these kids who are used to suiting up and playing rec ball against their buddies they go to school with. We will take these teams all over the state to compete against some of the elite talents that South Carolina has to offer. As coaches, we are working hard on playbooks, schemes, and fundraising to get our program off to a great first year.”
Added Finley, “Being a member of the Wolfpack is simple. Just come out work hard and have a mindset to get better. Of course, this is a travel football program. Our goal is to win games and bring back Trophies to the city. We will set our rosters accordingly, but anyone can have a shot at playing for the team. If parents are interested in signing their kid up for The Wolfpack, they can contact me, Dominique, Amos, or DeKari.”
Davidson noted that there are multiple ways to contact himself and Wolfpack coaches, including a Facebook page in which parents and the community can find information on the team, how to sign up, and what steps they need to take for their child to be a part of the program. Davidson said he always has information ready to hand out to anyone in the community and for those interested not to hesitate to reach out.
“Parents can reach me, Dominique, Amos, or Jonathan, and our number is on the Wolfpack website and we have our Facebook group. We also post on our personal pages. If you see any of us out in town with our Wolfpack shirts on, just come up and ask us about the team. We will get you all of the information you need. I love Woodruff, we fell in love with the town and people and we are doing this for them.”
Woodruff played on some of Woodruff’s best teams of the past 20 years, and the ultimate goal, he says, is to give players an opportunity to strive for goals and accomplishments even greater than what he and his former teammates achieved.
“We’re trying to put players in the NFL and bring back championships (to Woodruff),” says Woodruff.
“These young men will get exposure early just by playing outside of Woodruff. That’s why we are choosing to travel. The impact will be championships, putting players in good colleges, and pros, and becoming great citizens in this society. We love Woodruff and we’re all we got. We still bleed maroon and gold and we are Wolverines.”
Author: Tracy Sanders
