All about unity

Greenwood, Conway say it’s chemistry
that has helped teams get to title game

November 28, 2006

By RON COX
Index-Journal sports editor

Greenwood High School football coach Shell Dula, third from left, reacts to a comment made by Conway coach Chuck Jordan, second from right, during Monday’s Weekend of Champions press conference. Seated with Dula, from left, are: Senior fullback Zach Norman and senior linebacker Mackenzie Tharpe. Greenwood will face Conway in the Class AAAA, Division II state finals at 8 Friday night in Columbia.

COLUMBIA — Shell Dula and Chuck Jordan sat side-by-side and both high school football coaches credited team chemistry as the reason for their being at the head table.
Three days from now, Dula’s Greenwood Eagles and Jordan’s Conway Tigers will square off to determine the state’s Class AAAA, Division II championship at 8 p.m. at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia.
But Monday’s jaunt to the capital city was for Dula, Jordan and the rest of the coaches whose teams will participate in the Weekend of Champions to meet with the state’s media.
“As far as Greenwood’s concerned, it’s the togetherness of our football team,” Dula said. “This is a group of young men who generally like each other. They just don’t want the season to end. They enjoy being around each other. I think when you get that type of unity then that becomes a very positive force in whatever you’re trying to do.”
Senior fullback Zach Norman confirmed his coach’s take on the 2006 Eagles squad.
“We call it ‘Team Unity,’ ” said Norman, who, along with fellow senior Mackenzie Tharpe, joined Dula for the media day event. “We’re not individuals. We do everything as a team. We lift each other up.
“People have stepped up and done a great job. We’re going to need the same in the championship game.”
Jordan countered with a differing, if not humorous, view at first before getting more to the point.“I think at Conway it’s just good coaching,” Jordan said, jokingly, which brought laughs from all across the room. “No. I’m kidding. I feel like we have great kids. And as any coach will tell you when it’s said and done, it boils down to chemistry and how much they care about each other and how much they’re willing to go through the wall for one another.”
But Jordan was quick to point out that his Tigers haven’t played like that cohesive unit all season.
Six weeks into the season a then-undefeated Conway team suffered a tremendous setback against West Ashley. A 12-7 loss made the Tigers one of only two wins the West Ashley Wildcats would enjoy on the 2006 season.
“We’ve had some times where we weren’t playing good team ball and we weren’t playing together,” Jordan said. “It is difficult to do through the entire course of the season, but we have begun to do that at the right point in time. About game nine or 10 we really began to gel and began to play as a unit.”
The Tigers have seven straight games since the lone loss to West Ashley, outscoring the opposition 248-113.
Like Jordan, Dula displayed his more jocular side during the press conference when a question was raised about watching the opposition’s game film.
“Somebody at church asked me, ‘How did you sleep after after looking at Conway on film Saturday?’ and I told him I slept just like a baby,” Dula said. “I woke up every two hours crying.”

Greenwood linebacker Mackenzie Tharpe, left, is interviewed

during Monday’s media day for the Weekend of Champions.

(Picture courtesy of Shawn Lewis , Managing Editor of the Index Journal.)

Media day was was an eye-opening event for Tharpe.
“It’s sunk in a little, but I don’t think all the way. I was thinking about it on the way up here that I remember going to see other people play (in the state finals) when I was little, but now I’m going to be doing that,” the senior All-Lakelands linebacker said. “I didn’t really know what I was coming here for. But it’s been a good experience so far.”
Tharpe and the rest of the Eagles’ senior class were sixth-graders the last time Greenwood reached the state finals, as the 2000 team completed back-to-back AAAA, Division II titles.
“This was our goal that we set in January. The goal we worked toward in the weight room and on the practice field. It’s all what we worked for,” Tharpe said. “Some of the coaches have said to play for everybody who’s worn the G on their helmets that haven’t been here, and play for the guys beside you.
“We also want to play for coach. We want to give him another ring.”
While many in the program will be striving to be apart of their first championship team, including all the players and many of the coaching staff, Dula will be shooting for his sixth state title.
But despite winning one at Ninety Six and two apiece at Union and Greenwood, championships never get old.
“I don’t think it ever gets old,” Dula said. “It’s always exciting to be a part of a special group and I really do think we have a really special group at Greenwood, a special group of coaches and a very special group of players.”
Conway has reached the state title game three times in Jordan’s tenure — 2001, ’02 and ’03 — falling to Byrnes in the last two years. The Tigers, who defeated Greenwood in 2002 to reach the state finals, have yet to claim a football title, as the school also finished runner-ups to Rock Hill for the Class AA title in 1952.
“It’s always a privilege to be back. Once you’ve tasted it, you kind of want to keep taking a bite,” Jordan said. “Of course, we’ve been gone for two years and we’re just tickled to be back. It’s really a new experience for all of them.”

Ron Cox is the sports editor for The Index-Journal. He can be reached at: rcox@indexjournal.com.