The Final Firsts

Sense of Urgency Fuels Successful Start for Nearly Two Dozen Woodruff Football Seniors

By: Garrett Mitchell, Staff Writer

For 23 Wolverine Football seniors, the opening kickoff against Chapman on Aug. 19 was the start of the last first game of their careers. As the Panthers’ last-ditch pass sailed wide and out of bounds in overtime, it became their final first victory celebration as well.

At some point, on a cool Friday night yet to be determined, the last second of their last final game will bleed from the clock, and it will all be over in a flash.

For most of the 23 seniors, it will also be the last time they ever play the game that they have poured into for over half their lives. None among them yet understands the full finality of that moment which is someday to come but are absolutely cognizant that it will arrive.

The 2022 Woodruff Wolverines have started the season in a manner that aims to stave off that inevitable conclusion for as long as possible.

“It felt great to finally beat Chapman,” said senior quarterback Carson Tucker. “Especially for us seniors.”
The opening night win against the Panthers, 13-7 in a game that could not be decided in regulation, was, in fact, the first time any current member of the Woodruff program had tasted victory over a Chapman program that has won two 3A state championships in the past six seasons.

It was the defense that set the tone that night, and it has been that side of the ball that has propelled the Wolverines in each of their first three games, two of them resulting in victories.

A unit that has been much-maligned for years decided that for the first time, they would not be relegated to a mere afterthought. Defense, as the old football adage postulates, wins championships.

“Me and my guys (on defense) knew we were going to have to step up and be big this year,” said standout defensive end Ty Ellis. “Throughout the summer, we felt like we had gained a chip on our shoulders. We all have fun dominating opposing offensive lines, but we also know the job is not done yet.”

Luke Runyans, the Wolverines’ other senior defensive end, echoed Ellis’ sentiments and added that the opening win over Chapman and the dominating effort of the defense that night showed the capabilities this Woodruff team has.

“It was a very big win for us as a team,” he said. “It really proved how much potential this team really has. It proved we are capable of doing anything when we want to as long as we put in the work.”

The Wolverines followed up their victory over the Panthers with a 31-0 thrashing of the fledgling Fountain Inn Fury, a program playing its inaugural varsity season. The Woodruff seniors then played their final first home game on Sept. 2 against a powerful 5A J.L. Mann team which also entered that contest 2-0.
For Woodruff, it would become their first reality check of the season.

The Patriots copied the Wolverines’ modus operandi from the first two games and used a smothering defense to lock down Tucker and Woodruff’s bevy of talented receivers en route to a 21-3 victory in front of a pack Varner Stadium crowd.

The game sent a message to the players loud and clear that there is still work to be done; there is still time and opportunity remaining for improvement.

“The Mann game was tough, and it brought out some weaknesses on the team that we really didn’t know we had,” added Runyans. “That game is helping us fix the weaknesses on the team, so we don’t make the same mistakes again and give ourselves a chance to win the rest of our games.”

Anthony Graybill is a two-way senior starter for Woodruff at wide receiver and defensive back, and the Wolverines’ Swiss Army Knife wants to make sure he and his teammates are never caught looking behind or ahead, but only at the moment in front of them.

“We still are not near our full potential,” Graybill stated. “We still need to come closer together as a unit. Winning our first two games was great in the moment, but those games no longer matter to us. Who we play each Friday is the only thing that matters.”

Following the loss to J.L. Mann, the schedule still affords the Wolverines little time to rest. Powerful Belton-Honea Path follows the Patriots into Varner Stadium with rivalry games against Chesnee and Broome looming after that.

Region competition and a push to the postseason begins with a trip to Chester on Sept. 30.

Ellis and Graybill say that as long as Woodruff’s best defense in almost two decades continues to hold up its end, the Wolverines will be right there with a say at the end.

“We will be there no doubt if everyone does their jobs,” said Ellis. “We have some dudes on defense.”
Graybill added, “Defense wins games. If we perform at a high level on defense, it allows our offense to score and keep us in the game.”

Tucker knows that the offense has to pick up the pace as well, but the veteran signal-caller, in his third season at the helm, is not worried. He knows what his side of the ball has to do and which way to steer his team.

“We just need to get better,” he said. “In the box, we need to step up a lot. But our defense has played lights out every week, so it definitely takes a lot of pressure off of the offense when your defense can make stops.”

There is much football left to be played for the Wolverines, and with hard work and perhaps a bit of luck as well, a final season of firsts will culminate in Woodruff’s first state championship in 38 years.