When Barrett Davis constructed the 2023 schedule for his Evans football team, he knew he was setting up his bunch for a non-region gauntlet-style slate.
The Knights opened at North Augusta and at Greenbrier, before hosting Burke County Friday night in the school’s home opener. Evans dropped a 29-14 decision to the now undefeated Bears from Waynesboro, causing the Knights to fall to 1-2. But Davis said he’s looking for more than wins in losses during the non-region.
“We made the schedule last year the way it was because we knew our region was going to be a lot tougher this year,” Davis said. “We looked at our region and looked at the talent of some of our top local schools and we realized our non-region schedule was not easy compared to what a lot of folks are scheduling. But we don’t care about wins and losses right now. We care about getting better.”
Evans opened the season with a 14-7 loss at North Augusta — a game Davis believes was a very winnable game.
“We feel if we played that game at The Castle, we win that game by two touchdowns,” Davis said.
Evans bounced back with 22-21 win at Greenbrier before coming home to welcome Burke County. And at first, it looked like the Knights were putting themselves in prime position to hand Burke County its first loss of the year.
Evans’ defense got the Knights on the board first when Rayshaun King jumped a Burke County receivers rout, picked off the pass and returned it 25 yards for a touchdown to give Evans a 7-0 win with five minutes left in the opening quarter.
Burke County quickly flexed its muscles in the ground game, though, when Jeremy Richardson scampered for a 63-yard touchdown run on the Bears’ ensuing drive to tie the score.
The Knights picked off Burke County’s quarterback for a second time midway through the second quarter to stop a Bears scoring threat, but couldn’t capitalize on the drive. The score stayed knotted at 7-7 at halftime.
Defensively, things fell a part a bit for Evans in the third quarter. A 27-yard scamper by A’merre Williams and a 65-yard scoring strike and subsequent two-point conversion gave Burke County a 22-7 lead. But the defend found redemption with Jeremy Howard’s 50-yard scoop-and-score on a fumble return for a touchdown cut Burke County’s lead to 22-13.
Burke sealed the deal on a 34-yard connection for a touchdown to provide the final score at the six minute mark of the fourth quarter.
It’s the kind of pattern that seemed to begin for the Knights last season — close losses against quality competition. And though it wasn’t a win, it was progress from last year when the Bears drug Evans 50-14.
The improvement seen this season, even in close losses as Evans breaks in a fairly new cast of impact players, doesn’t cause Davis to push any panic buttons. Instead, he sees evidence that his program is getting on the right track.
“They’ve taken our coaching, our butt chewing, and our team has become a lot closer this year,” Davis said. “Our guys are taking to a process. They’re coming out at the same time, wearing the same things, lifting a certain way. We’re doing grade checks every two weeks, we’re holding kids accountable.”
Davis said they’ve even implemented consequences for players who use excessive profanity. And it’s those things, plus the effort he sees on the field beyond the early-season wins and losses — that he uses as a barometer to measure progress.
Evans will line up against Thurmond (SC) next Friday for its last non-region test before traveling to play Grovetown to kick off Region 2-AAAAAA play. That’s when Davis says the season really begins.
“All of it, even the schedule, has made our team tougher,” he said. “We’ve got guys with a lot of heart who play hard and are showing a lot of improvement. That’s what you want to see during this part of the season.”
Burke County’s hot start
Meanwhile, the Bears have gotten off to their third straight 3-0 start with the win. And that’s significance because of the fact that Burke County is breaking in a new coach for the first time since 2007.
The Bears could very well be 5-0 when it opens Region 3-AAAA play at home against Wayne County on Sept. 29. The next two games at Oconee County (1-3) and against Statesboro (1-2) seem more than winnable. Circle the Oct. 6 home game against Benedictine (4-0) to get a real feel for how much of a Class AAAA contender Burke County is.
