A one-man wrecking crew, fists pumping back and forth, arms up and down, elbows all over the place, facial expressions changing at the drop of a dime, Andrae Rice never stopped coaching Thursday afternoon.

He taught defense, and he taught offense. And, as quickly as his actions changed on the field, so did his voice, which could go from a pumped-up echo of encouragement to a stern, get-it-right-the-first-time monotone. But, it's not really like he had a choice, the first-year head coach of the Denmark-Olar Vikings is all by himself.

At Thursday's passing tournament on the campus of Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School, 14 schools, Denmark-Olar, Allendale-Fairfax, Bamberg-Ehrhardt, Keenan, Woodland, Lake Marion, Calhoun County, North Augusta, Fairfield-Central, Hunter-Kinard-Tyler, Bethune-Bowman, Lower-Richland, C.A. Johnson and Orangeburg-Wilkinson all showed up to compete. But, it was Rice's Vikings that stood out from the rest, but not for the reasons you might expect. All the other teams brought offensive and defensive coaches with them. Many had full staffs -- five, six or seven coaches -- who came along to help their teams get better. Rice ... he was his on staff.

Hired just before the end of the last school year, the former offensive coordinator for Orangeburg-Wilkinson still doesn't have an assistant coach. He has some guys in mind, but the school district has yet to hire anyone. And, he's not blaming anyone. The school district -- he said -- is simply going through the proper channels to make hires. And so, there he was Thursday, leading his team up against a powerhouse, Bamberg-Ehrhardt.

It'd been a long road to that point, a road that runs farther than the route down Highway 78 and then down Highway 301, that the Vikings likely took to get there. For Rice, the road starts everyday in Due West at about noon. The coach goes to school there -- Erskine College -- where he's getting certified to teach Driver's Ed. But, he still has a team to coach, and so, when class ends his trip back to Denmark begins.

"We've got practice at 4 p.m., and I try to be the first guy there at 3 p.m.," he said. "I am trying to show them the way it's supposed to be done. I try to let them know somebody cares about them."

And, Thursday, it was pretty obvious that Rice cared. Actually, he looked a little more like a guy who had sunk his heart and soul into a program. Those emotions poured out freely against the Red Raiders.

"Get better!" he yelled as his team took the field. "Let's go! We better get better this game."

The Vikings were out-athleted at several positions by Bamberg-Ehrhardt. The Red Raiders were bigger and faster in some spots and deeper than Denmark-Olar may ever be, but that didn't deter Rice. He kept coaching, and slowly things started to turn in his team's favor. First there was the diving interception by defensive back, Trevor "T-Work" Workman. A play later, wide receiver David McFarland hauled in a touchdown pass. Denmark-Olar came to play, and as the final seconds ticked down in the contest, the Vikings had a chance to win.

The final play, that was the easiest call of the day. Willie Carter is a tall kid -- 6-foot-4-inches in height to be exact -- and he's one of the top returners for the Vikings. So, Denmark-Olar went to Carter who went up and brought the pass down for a score over the covering Red Raider. But, then he did something that didn't sit well with his coach, he smiled wide, wrapped his arm around the Red Raiders' defensive back and stuck the ball in his chest.

Bamberg-Ehrhardt head coach Ron Duncan raced over to stop any retaliation to the show boating, and Carter apologized on his way through the line as the two teams shook hands, but the damage was done. As the Vikings huddled around their coach fresh off the 24-16 win, Rice began to speak.

"When you do something, do it with class," he said. "That's part of the bad reputation that Denmark-Olar has. Act like you've been there before. It's my job to get the best out of you ... to make you better people. Now, if you can't handle that, then maybe you need to find somewhere else to play."

As stern as he was after Carter's celebration, he still had a little smile as he stepped off to the side away from the team. Beating Bamberg-Ehrhardt wasn't that big a deal to the coach. After all, it's just a passing tournament. But, the team with the fewest coaches is also the team that has had the least amount of contact practices. Tuesday, the Vikings got their helmets for the first time. They'd been away, getting conditioned all summer.

"This was our first competition with the helmets ... so yeah, I was worried about that," Rice said. "But, we are doing pretty good. We are still behind, but everything we do is trying to build toward the season and developing this program."

Notes from Thursday's Passing Tournament

n The Champion -- Lower Richland defeated Fairfield-Central, 18-8, in the tourney's championship contest.

n Orangeburg-Wilkinson -- Orangeburg-Wilkinson nearly made the tourney's championship game, losing to Lower Richland in the semifinals. Earlier in the tournament, Bruins' wide receiver Eric Ford made a highlight reel catch in the corner of the end zone against North Augusta. Ford tipped a ball to himself and as he was going down, pulled it in with one hand.

n Woodland -- Woodland freshman quarterback Robert Smith looked impressive at times. Howard has a strong arm, and started the passing tournament against C.A. Johnson by completing his first four passes, one of which was a touchdown.

n Lake Marion -- Gators head coach Corey Wright said during the South Carolina State University passing tournament last weekend that his team would have a balanced attack. That's not because talented quarterback DeAndre Yeaden can't throw the ball. On the contrary, Yeaden may have one of the strongest throwing arms in the T&D Region.

You must be logged in to comment.