Wedding & Event Venue Near Barnwell, SC

ORANGEBURG, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - Everywhere you look, the football season is winding down.

In Orangeburg, Thursday was the most important game of the season for the Barnwell Warhorses — the 2A state championship game.

Barnwell football finishes as runner-up for the third time in the last six years.

Aquinas quarterback, South Aiken running back sign letters of intent

While the early signing period for Division I football has come to an end, there was still ink left in the pen to sign in front of family and friends.

They fall to Clinton 35-6 in the 2A state championship.

The Warhorses generated just 155 yards of total offense.

Their only score came off a 90-yard kickoff return by JaQuan Peeples in the first 10 seconds of play.

After that, the Red Devils silenced the Warhorses.

Through four quarters of play, bringing an end to Barnwell’s first 13-win season since 2018.

Wolfpack baseball sends five off to play at the next level

The five helped lead the Wolfpack to the GHSA Class AAAAA quarterfinals last season.

“We just couldn’t stop their run game, and they played well. Didn’t have any penalties all night and we made a few mistakes today. But again, it was a great year for these kids. Proud of these kids. Proud of this community. Glad to be here,” said Barnwell Head Coach Brian Smith.

Cam Austin, who’s been the Warhorse signal caller for the last three years, finished his final game under Smith throwing 15 of 35 for 120 yards and one interception.

On the ground, he ran for 50 yards on 13 carries, closing the book on his football career.

“It meant so much. I mean I grew up in this school, I grew up in this town. It means a lot, I’m emotional. They do what we do. We can’t show negative emotion. I mean they follow in our footsteps, and I just want that to be the next step for Barnwell,” said Austin.

Austin shifting his focus to baseball season. He was formally committed to South Carolina.

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ORANGEBURG, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - The Clinton Red Devils beat Barnwell 35-6 to win the Class AA South Carolina High School Football State Championship Thursday afternoon at South Carolina State University in Orangeburg.

Clinton earned its first football state title in 15 years and ninth in school history.

Clinton started the scoring on the second play of the game when senior quarterback Tushawan Richardson ran for a 77-yard touchdown.

But Barnwell batted back as Jaquan Peeples gave the people what they came to see by returning the next kickoff 87 yards for a score to put Barnwell on the board.

From there, Clinton took control by scoring four unanswered touchdowns. They scored two rushing touchdowns in the first half then opened up the third quarter with a beautiful bomb from Richardson to the fingertips of Devin Swindler who stole the ball out of the air for the 29-yard score.

In the fourth quarter, Rhett Gilliam ran in his second touchdown of the game and the Red Devils ran away with it.

Clinton beat Barnwell 35-6 to win its first football state title since 2009 in front of what felt like the entire town, which shut down to support its squad.

“It feels amazing,” Richardson said. “When you have a great community behind you and they stick with you through thick and thin, the playoff losses, the wins. It feels amazing to finally bring one home for them.”

Clinton Head Coach Corey Fountain said his team’s resilience mirrors the town’s.

“It’s been hard, the hurricane, it was brutal. It was almost like starting the season over. We had a big fire in town that burnt some of our best restaurants. It’s been hard on our community,” Fountain said. “They rally around football, they rally around our players and you see our fans tonight. They filled the stadium up and that’s what it’s all about. It’s for them, it’s for the players. We got to write that last page and that last chapter for those seniors and it was an awesome one.”

Clinton’s been close and has won two region titles the past the seasons in Class AAA.

Now in their first year in Class AA, Clinton is back on top.

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The road to the Class AA state championship began long before spring practice started for the football teams from Barnwell and Clinton.

In fact, the journey to Thursday's title tilt started at the same time for both of them - mid-November of last year, hours after a loss in the third round of the playoffs. For Barnwell, it was to Oceanside Collegiate Academy in the Class AA Lower State semifinals. For Clinton, it was a heartbreaker to Belton-Honea Path in the Class AAA Upper State semis - the Red Devils have since moved down a classification due to South Carolina High School League realignment.

In both cases, the departing seniors said their goodbyes and the returning players went right back to work. Those countless hours in the weight room, in the film room and on the practice field have all led to this - 48 minutes at South Carolina State's Oliver C. Dawson Stadium, winner adds to its program's rich history.

"I think they've confirmed the fact that the hard work that they put in during the offseason is worth it," said Barnwell head coach Brian Smith. "We lost to Oceanside, and our kids started working from last year. These guys worked way before I got here. It's not something I had to install. It's something I inherited (from previous head coach and current assistant Dwayne Garrick). But these guys have worked. They don't miss days in the weight room. They don't miss workouts. They do everything the right way. "

All of that hard work has created better, faster, stronger, more focused Warhorses, and that's something Smith is counting on to keep his players from getting caught up in the enormity of all that comes with a state championship game. He's coached teams in the past that maybe got caught looking up at the bright lights on the biggest stages, but he credits his senior-laden roster for handling it well up to this point.

For both teams, it will be the first game played away from home in more than a month after both earned No. 1 seeds on their respective sides of the playoff bracket. Clinton's (11-2) last road game was Nov. 8 in the regular-season finale against Liberty, while Barnwell's (13-1) was Oct. 18 at Hampton County.

This won't be a true road game for either, though Barnwell has a much shorter commute to Orangeburg for Thursday's 2 p.m. kickoff, the first of six state championship games on the schedule for this weekend.

Both teams have similar strengths. Both pride themselves on their physicality on the offensive and defensive lines, both have a bevy of threats at the skill positions, and both have made big plays on special teams to help reach the title game.

"It takes every part of the ball game," Smith said. "Nobody is going to give you this one, and nobody is going to play bad and win this week."

Quarterback Cameron Austin is the headliner for the Barnwell offense. He's completed 65% of his passes this season for 2,058 yards and 19 touchdowns against six interceptions, and he's also rushed for 755 yards and 16 touchdowns on 152 carries. Running back Nehemiah Brown has rushed for 1,083 yards and 11 scores on 223 carries, and in last week's Lower State title game win over Manning he had one of his best games of the season with 172 yards and a touchdown.

He did most of his damage in the second half, which is something the Warhorses have made a habit of during this postseason run. Jordan Peeples had big second-half gains against Manning and in the third-round win over Cheraw, and Austin is always a threat whenever he has the ball in his hands.

"We're blessed with some good backs, and that makes you a lot better coach," Smith said. "We feel like we've got a very good offensive line. That's one of the things we try to tell those guys - run where you're coached to run. The hole may not be there, but trust it. It might not be there right now, but sooner or later we're going to wear them down and the hole's going to open up. That's what our backs are taught to do. When they do that, we have success. I think our O-line is going to have a big challenge because their D-line is really good and they're going to send a lot of pressure. But, at the same time, I feel like we can block them."

Austin also has plenty of options in the passing game. Jaquan Peeples has caught 45 passes for 693 yards and three touchdowns, William Robinson has 37 catches for 541 yards and seven touchdowns, and Logan Sturkie has 26 catches for 415 yards and six scores. They're also among the team's defensive leaders, as are Damahjai Devoe (70 tackles, four interceptions) and Jordan Peeples (64 tackles, two sacks).

Javen Cook leads a powerful Clinton run game with 1,639 yards and 21 touchdowns on only 185 carries. Quarterback Tushawan Richardson doesn't throw it a ton, averaging seven attempts per game, but he's completing more than 50% of his attempts with an average of 18.5 yards per completion and 10 touchdowns. Brett Young leads the defense with 82 total tackles.

The wild card may be special teams, where both teams have excelled. Clinton returned a fumbled kickoff return for a touchdown in last week's 32-21 win over Fairfield Central, and Jaquan Peeples returned a punt for a touchdown in Barnwell's 37-14 win over Manning - it was a short return, because Manning was kicking out of its own end zone after Lane Evans angled his kickoff toward the sideline and the Monarchs let it bounce inside their own 10-yard line.

Clinton's Lukas Kuykendall has only had to punt it 10 times this season at an average of 32.9 yards pet attempt. Evans hasn't had to punt it much more, with a 36.3-yard average on 15 attempts. He's also made five field goals this year, with a long of 45 yards.

"It's one of those deals where you've got to come out and play every phase," Smith said. "You can't decide you're not going to - there's no reason to take a play off this week. There's nothing else to do."

GOLF recently released its latest ranking of the Top 100 Courses in the U.S. (2024-25), a list that includes 11 newcomers. Some of them you might know. Others you might not. Here, in our newcomer spotlights, we’ll introduce you to these rookie Top 100 gems.

Location: Aiken, S.C. Type: Private Year opened: 2023 Architect: Brian Schneider, Blake Conant

Architects Brian Schneider and Blake Conant borrowed classic design principles and applied them in a fresh way on a sandy parcel of rolling land outside of Aiken. The firmness of the turf that superintendent Davis Verner routinely achieves (thanks, in part, to an absence of overseeding) allows the nuances of this design to sparkle. Half-par holes abound. Can you reach the open but long green at the par-5 opener? Should you try to drive the 2nd or 14th greens? (If you try and fail, the hunter quickly becomes the hunted, as deep bunkers guard these two short 4s.) Can you use the mounds at the par-4 8th to kick an approach close on the inverted L-shaped green? Or how about trying to bounce one onto the rolling green at the 235-yard 11th? Meanwhile, the rust color of the centipede rough lends this open course a heathland-like feel. Completing the ideal is the club’s ethos of giving back to the game and the community, as established by Old Barnwell founder Nick Schreiber.

“A visually and strategically compelling course. It invites you to guess with regard to targeted lines of play, rewarding you with success or the immediate desire to try it again with another lap. The architectural creativity draws the player into the course. Some areas struck me as whimsical and others enjoyably strategic, giving players a sense of North Berwick. Well done with an outstanding golf culture that embeds an appreciation for both the architecture and play.”

“Outside of The Lido, Old Barnwell is the most strategic new design of the past 30 years. It requires thoughtful play throughout and is the kind of course where the direct line to the hole is usually not the correct one. The ground is a key element and there are many holes where the line off the tee changes dramatically every day based on where the hole is cut. The greens are bold without being too severe. This is the kind of course you could play every day without getting bored, and it is not so difficult that it can’t be enjoyed by all levels of players.”