WILLISTON, S.C.  - Dwayne Garrick attended Presbyterian College, worked under coaching legend Willie Jeffries and spent the past five years coaching at Class 4-A Upper State schools Hillcrest and Dorman.

Yet for the Andrew Jackson Academy graduate and former South Carolina State assistant, nothing compares with coaching in Barnwell County. It’s where Garrick first served as an assistant coach at Blackville-Hilda under David Berry and later succeeded Mac Wier at Barnwell after two seasons as a defensive coordinator and posted a 34-14 record in four seasons.

At 7:30 p.m. tonight, Garrick returns to Barnwell County’s hotbed of high school football "triangle" when he debuts as Williston-Elko’s new head football coach against his former Warhorses.

"I love it," he said. "I love the area and I’m sure that tomorrow night I’ll get that old feeling like I use to have playing in this area on Friday nights even though it’s a Thursday night game. I’m really looking forward to it. I’m excited about coaching. I’m excited about coaching back in this area."

Garrick’s fondness for the area is matched by the desire of Blue Devils’ fans to see their program return to the Class A elite. Since last winning a region title in 2000, W-E has managed just two winning seasons and just completed its third consecutive 3-8 campaign under Paris Mason.

Enter new W-E principal Skip Lax, who worked under Garrick as an assistant coach at Barnwell. The familiarity with Lax, the challenge of reviving a proud program and the desire to return to his coaching roots made for a good fit in Garrick’s mind.

"I think the people in this area miss the winning tradition without a doubt because they’re so close to Barnwell and Blackville and surrounded by some schools in Aiken that have had success," Garrick said. "They want something to be proud of, a team they can get behind and certainly back and support and hopefully, that will happen to us."

Through W-E’s history, success against Barnwell has been hard to attain. The Warhorses own a 26-3 edge in the series, with four of the victories belonging to Garrick, and have won the last three meetings by an average of 19 points.

Through practices under sweltering temperatures in which players have taken as many as eight water breaks a day, Garrick is encouraged by the team’s overall balance and leadership provided by seniors inside linebacker/offensive guard Dalton Wilson (6-1, 200), wideout/free safety Jesse Reed and lineman Nicholas Dicks and quarterback Chris Johnson.

"We’re not great anywhere, but I don’t think that we’re bad anywhere," Garrick said. "I think we’re a pretty decent football team all around."

Conversely, Joey Still’s Barnwell team returns a young squad after going 6-5 a season ago. With exception to senior running back Ronnie Cave and senior center Britt Davis and junior defensive lineman Xavier Carter, the Warhorses are a sophomore-laden squad at most of their skill positions.

Despite Barnwell’s youth, Garrick is approaching tonight’s game with caution given the history.

"There’s three schools in this area that are very big on football - Blackville-Hilda, rival Barnwell and Williston-Elko," Garrick said. "So it’s big for the kids’ sake, it’s big for the people in the community. But at the same time, I have to look at it from a coach’s standpoint as another football game and trying to get our kids ready to play the first game. Barnwell is a lot bigger than we are as far as student population ... so that puts us behind the eight-ball right off the bat. But I expect our kids to play very well (tonight) and I expect it to be a very good ballgame."

WDOG (93.5 FM) will carry tonight’s game both on the airwaves and on the internet (www.bigdogradio.com) starting at 7:15 p.m.

T&D Senior Sports Writer Thomas Grant Jr. can be reached by e-mail at tgrant@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5547. Discuss this and other stories on-line at TheTandD.com.

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