State championship turns in Christ Church's favor after QB tells coach, 'Let me sling it'
COLUMBIA — When Christ Church coach Quin Hatfield took over the football program in 2020, he had a list of goals he want to accomplish in his tenure, and over his three seasons in charge of Cavaliers football he's been able to cross all the goals off the list except one ‒ bring back state championship football.
After a scoreless first quarter and falling behind 7-0 to Johnsonville in the beginning of the second, Christ Church and Hatfield's hopes of bringing that trophy back to Greenville were starting to wane.
That's when senior quarterback Woods Windham went to Hatfield.
"(Windham) came to the sideline and said, 'Coach, we have to throw the ball.' And I told him to be patient, but he persisted, 'let me sling it," Hatfield said. "When your quarterback comes to the sidelines after the year he's had and told us what he was seeing ... you put the ball in the playmakers hands, right?"
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And what exactly was Windham seeing?
"I saw they were loading the box and going cover zero, with no safeties, and I knew we had the mismatch at receiver. So, after a couple of drives, I told coach, we have to go to our mismatches on the outside," Windham said.
Hatfield trusted his senior leader.
On his second pass of the second quarter Windham connected with receiver Jackson Repp for a 72-yard touchdown to tie the game. On Christ Church's next possession, Windham hit Luke Baumhofer on his first throw for a 26-yard gain that set up a 8-yard touchdown run by junior running back Dashun Reeder to give the Cavs the lead. On Christ Church's next possession Windham hits Repp again, this time for a 32-yard gain, then two plays later his Baumhofer again, this time for 41-yard touchdown.
On back-to-back-to-back possessions to start the second quarter for the Cavaliers offense, Windham threw four completions for 171 yards and two touchdowns.
From that point on, Christ Church was in control, and the Johnsonville was on the ropes — enter the Christ Church defense with the knockout punch, as Cooper Hronchek ended a promising Johnsonville drive with an interception to end the first half.
Early in the second half, Jake Good and Colin Williams combined to take down Johnsonville running back Daquan Burroughs at the goal line to force a turnover on downs.
Following the goal-line stand, Reeder put the nail in the coffin when he took a handoff and went 62 yards to the house to make it 29-7.
Hatfield decided to put the ball in his playmaker's hand, and he delivered. Christ Church beat Johnsonville (13-1) 43-20 and three years after he took the job, the last item on Hatfield's list can be checked off; championship football is back at Christ Church (14-1) — the sixth title in school history, the fifth in the last 12 years.
"It feels great. This has been what we wanted to do: Get the program turned back in the right direction. We have a great tradition at Christ Church, and to hang that 2022 state championship and region championship banner along with the other ones is really special," Hatfield said. "This is a special group and this season is marks their legacy for this program and we'll continue to build on it."
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Christ Church football wins title after QB says, 'Let me sling it'
