Serving Barnwell County and it's neighbors since 1852
Oh what a difference a year makes. At this time last year, Williston-Elko was sitting at 0-3 and no wins in sight. Now the Williston-Elko Blue Devils are smiling a bit more, posting a 2-1 record to start the 2024 season. Friday, September 6, the Blue Devils demolished the Blue Flashes from Calhoun Falls Charter School 38-0.
Williston-Elko’s latest win was definitely a team win, with several Blue Devils contributing to the scoring frenzy and many more Blue Devils collecting tallies for the defensive stats sheet. Special teams also got to have a little fun covering kicks, returning and blocking punts and the like.
Williston-Elko head coach Kenny Lipsey was pleased with the overall game but still wants to see his Devils play a little cleaner game with fewer mistakes and fewer penalties. Coach Lipsey knows that he and the Blue Devils will have some stronger competition down the road as the season progresses.
The next challenge for the Williston-Elko Blue Devils comes this Thursday night when the Devils hit the road and travel to Columbia to face the Eau Claire Shamrocks. Eau Claire is a AA school with a 1-2 record to start the season. The Shamrocks have several very good athletes, but have not played very consistently through the first three games. Williston-Elko will need to stay focused and not allow the Shamrocks to make big plays.
Coach Kenny Lipsey was asked about the Devils’ big win and the upcoming game and he said, “I thought we played lights out on defense. We had two safeties as well as a blocked punt for a touchdown. Rasan Houston had one of the safeties on a sack of the quarterback in the end zone. The other was a bad snap on a punt. Justice Israel had the blocked punt and recovered the ball in the end zone for a touchdown. Several other Blue Devils had tackles for loss or sacks.”
Coach Lipsey went on to say “Tony Dunbar threw a touchdown pass to Quaide Overton. Corey Newman, Markel Brown, and Joc’Quise Washington all had big nights rushing the football. Both Corey and Markel scored touchdowns for us.”
The only negatives were “we had way too many foolish penalties that slowed us down on offense. We will need to clean those up before heading to Columbia Thursday night when we face Eau Claire,” he said.
The Eau Claire game will be a challenge for the Devils, but it is a very winnable game. Make that trip to Columbia this Thursday night and support your Blue Devils as they look to go to 3-1 on the season. Your support and presence in the stands, cheering for the devils can make a big difference. Load up the cars and head to Columbia. Grab something to eat in the city and head to W.J. Keenan Stadium for another big game for the Blue Devils. (Note: Eau Claire does NOT play at Eau Claire High School, but they play home games at W.J. Keenan Stadium. The address is 361 Pisgah Church Rd., Columbia. It is not near Eau Claire High School, so check that address above before you go.) Go Blue Devils!
