St. Thomas Aquinas High School Football

Posted on Tuesday September 29, 2009 in the Spartanburg (S.C.) Herald-Journal

St. Thomas "best team Byrnes has faced from Florida"

Brynes is 4-0 in defeating Florida teams

Game against St. Thomas Friday will be more like an "exam" than a test

By Kevin Melton

The usual suspects always come to mind when discussing prep football on a national scale.

California, Florida and Texas schools have traditionally been known as measuring sticks for all other teams across the country.

However, Byrnes has been slowly helping South Carolina become more of a topic of conversation.

The Rebels are 9-1 against out-of-state competition, including 4-0 against Florida schools, with their only loss coming in a 21-10 decision at Evangel Christian Academy in Shreveport, La., in 2002.

Byrnes' success hasn't been going unnoticed.

"If Byrnes is the representative for teams in South Carolina, they are representing as well as any other school in any state," MaxPreps.com senior writer and columnist Mitch Stephens said. "They have done it for a decade now."

The Rebels have become a mainstay in the USA Today poll in recent history finishing No. 7 in 2005, No. 13 in 2007 and No. 9 last year. Gaffney and Rock Hill are the only other in-state schools to grace the top 25 during that span.

The Indians finished No. 11 in 2006, while the Bearcats are currently No. 24.

In comparison, 10 schools from California, Florida and Texas combined were ranked in the final poll last year.

St. Thomas Aquinas, Byrnes opponent 8 p.m. Friday in Fort Lauderdale finished as the nation's top team last season.

The Raiders are once again perched atop the poll going into their battle with the No. 2 Rebels.

This will be the fourth time the two top teams in the USA Today Poll have played in a regular-season game.

Former Byrnes standout and current Clemson student-coach Stanley Hunter knows what it's like to play against a top Florida program.

Hunter recorded 16 tackles, including three tackles for loss, in the Rebels' 27-15 victory against No. 5 Glades Central in 2006.

The Rebels have since beaten Dr. Phillips (18-14) in 2007 and both Lincoln (38-0) and Pahokee (38-12) last year.

He says despite Byrnes' success, prep football in South Carolina has more to prove before it becomes an elite state.

"We have this conversation everyday in the locker room at Clemson," Hunter said, who had to take a medical hardship this season due to an increase in seizures connected with epilepsy. "We're not known for great players and talent. We don't get respect from Florida and Texas players because we don't get the same type of exposure. There are not more than three or four in-state schools that play well year after year."

ESPN recruiting analyst J.C. Shurburtt says Byrnes has made the state closer than most would think.

"The state of South Carolina has always had really good high school football," he said. "There really hadn't been the quote-unquote national program until the emergence of Byrnes. I think the state is on par with any other in the south."

Stephens, who has covered the three previous No. 1 against No. 2 matchups, says the Rebels will help their state's case with a win against St. Thomas Aquinas.

"This will be a tremendous game," he said. "Byrnes is representing South Carolina and will put the state even more on the map with a win." Hunter feels the same.

"This will be the best team Byrnes has faced from Florida," he said. "This isn't a test, it's an exam."