It was a somber week at Chapin High School, with the passing of senior Tre Ruff on Tuesday, Aug. 22. 

On Thursday, Aug. 24, the school held a memorial service at Cecil Woolbright Stadium to remember Ruff, with a packed stadium of people who came to pay respects and share their stories of the senior nose tackle. Teammates described him as funny, caring, loving, joyful, compassionate, happy, impactful, amazing, charismatic, joyful, enjoyable and grateful, among other glowing adjectives.

“Tre was an unbelievable young man,” Chapin head coach Justin Gentry said after the memorial service. “You heard tonight, nothing but a smile on his face. It didn’t matter if a coach is getting on him, it didn’t matter if he done great, he had the same demeanor. In terms of a student athlete, he was a competitor and a great teammate. As you can tell, all the boys loved him and they responded to him. He’s been in our program for six years and he just made an impact from day one.”

 Friday night, they played for Ruff, who was made an honorary captain for the contest, and dismantled Mid-Carolina 63-0 in a game that was never close.

The Eagles received the ball to start the game, and on the first play, they lined up with only 10 players and received a delay of game penalty that Mid-Carolina declined in solidarity with Chapin to honor Ruff.

On the first snap of the game, just moments later, Chapin quarterback fired a pass down the field to a wide open Jacob Nerone who waltzed into the end zone and gave the Eagles an immediate 7-0 lead. They poured it on from there.

“That was divine intervention right there,” Gentry said. He added that he initially didn’t expect the play to blow open quite like it did but when he saw how Mid-Carolina lined up defensively, he had a feeling they could beat them over the top if Albro got enough time.

Albro went on to throw five touchdown passes in the first half, and by the time the teams went to the locker room for the halftime break, Chapin was up 42-0. Albro’s first half touchdown tosses were to Nerone, Khalen Bostick, Jonathan Sheppard, Maddox Floyd and Brice Jolley.

“He didn’t play his best game last week. He didn’t have much time last week so I’m not gonna put that on him,” Gentry said. “He had a chance to come out and redeem himself. He’s a steady Eddie. He’s very cool, calm and collected back there, very patient and that’s what he showed tonight.”

The second half was a dazzling defensive display as Griffin Burns and Harrison Sonnefeld scored touchdowns on fumble recoveries, one forced by Tanner Short, to push the lead to 56-0 early in the second half.

Chapin scored once more to close out the game when backup quarterback Brock Smith scored on a rushing touchdown. 

The blowout win caps off a bittersweet victory for the Eagles. For Gentry, the win shows how his team honored Ruff’s memory and rallied around each other.

“Just fighting through adversity and honoring Tre with the way we play,” Gentry said. “You saw a clean game out there, our guys got after it and I told them there’s no greater honor than to go out there and lay it on the line for 48 minutes.”

The week of practices leading up to the game gave Gentry a cause for concern that their focus, understandably, would be shaken but was proud of how his team locked in.

“It’s been a lull all week, practices have been very monotone all week and I was a little worried about our psyche,” he said. “After last night, a very emotional night, I had a good long talk with them after the service and I felt a little better after it. Very emotional, but it seemed like the guys were starting to dial in a little bit.”

The tragedy has brought the team closer over the last few days according to Gentry. 

“They’ve spent a lot of time with each other this week,” Gentry added. “I’m not going to say that generally that would happen, but second of week of school, you have friends all around and they got very tight this week. I think that the unfortunate accident with Tre forced our guys to get closer as a team this week.” - EC

Brookland-Cayce blows out Airport

The rivalry between the Brookland-Cayce Bearcats and Airport Eagles is one of the oldest in the county and Friday night's week 1 matchup marked the 82nd time they faced off against each other. 

Both teams came in with 1-0 records and big wins in the previous week, but it was the Bearcats who took that momentum and ran with it, literally. 

Between running back De’Shaun Washington and Brookland-Cayce quarterback Will Young, the Bearcats were able to move the ball and run the clock all game.

Young started the scoring with a first quarter touchdown set up by a Washington run, and added another on a ten yard run after the Bearcat defense forced a fumble that set them up with a drive that started at the Eagles 23. 

Airport had flashes of offense in the first half, with Amari Lewis as a bright spot in the running back position making some long plays. Turnovers killed three different drives, however, and after another turnover, a score from Tyrone Jackson of Brookland-Cayce made the halftime score 21-0. 

The second half unfolded much like the first as the Eagles started on offense but turned it over on downs at their own 29 yard line. The Bearcats took advantage of the field position and Washington punched it in again from the 4 yard line just a few plays later to make it 28-0. 

The biggest play of the game came with just over four and a half minutes left in the third, as Young broke open on a 63 yard touchdown run to increase the Bearcats lead to 35-0. 

B-C added another touchdown in the fourth with a pass play from Young to Brogan Sox to make it 42-0.

Eagles quarterback Jesse Ray Hoover was still battling late into the fourth quarter, taking it down the field himself on a couple of first down runs, but it wasn’t enough to generate any sustained drives for Airport.

When the Eagles fumbled the ball again with 7:15 remaining in the game, the Bearcats offense only took a single play to score again as Young tossed a touchdown pass to My’Son Jones, making the game’s final score 49-0. - KO

Other scores from Lexington County

Gray Collegiate 62, Crestwood 60

Northside Christian 18, Greenwood Christian 17 (OT)

Spartanburg 17, Dutch Fork 6

Lexington 59, South Aiken 27

Irmo 56, Lancaster 18

Gilbert 35, Batesburg-Leesville 7

Columbia 48, Pelion 28

River Bluff 56, Swansea 7