Lax keeps football in family

Football is a family affair for Kirk Lax.

He coaches the Charleston Collegiate team and two of his sons play for him, including Anthony, who scored the winning touchdown in last week's 42-35 double overtime victory over W.W. King that lifted the Sundevils to today's SCISA Class A title game against Colleton Prep.

"It's OK for one, but a little difficult for the other," Lax responded when asked what it was like for his sons to have their dad coach the team. "Both have different personalities. But the approach I use when I walk on the field is that I have 20 sons out there."

That family approach has paid big dividends. The Sundevils went 2-9 last year but are 10-3 heading into today's 7:30 p.m. game which will be played at Orangeburg Prep.

The 36-21 victory over the Byrnes School in the first round was the school's first playoff victory, including the days when the school was known as Sea Island Academy.

"I have an assistant coach who was a student when the school opened and he told me we played in a few playoff games, but never won one. To my knowledge, this is the first year we've won a playoff game," he said.

Lax, who was the offensive coordinator last year, said the addition of Eric Pringle, who has 2,456 yards rushing, was a key to the Sundevils' success.

"But the big thing was what we did in the offseason: the weight lifting, spring practice, summer passing camps, things like that," Lax said. "That gave us an early start to the season."

Lax said he's tried to keep the week low-key, but admitted it's been tough.

"The media has come out to do stories," he said. "I tried to keep things normal, but there is lots of excitement," he said. "As coaches, you try to keep on the same schedule so you don't get too hyped too early. You don't know how they will react. Either they will be in awe of the situation or they will grab things by the horns. We've overcame negative situations all year. For a football team, that's a good trait."

Lax is concerned about the Colleton Prep attack, and for good reason. The Warhawks beat Charleston Collegiate 30-12 in the regular season.

"Their running game is excellent," Lax said. "They are slap good at running the football. Their linebackers are the best we've faced all year. And to game plan for their offensive line is hard."

While this is Charleston Collegiate's first appearance in the title game, Colleton Prep has played in five of the last seven title games. The Warhawks, who won state titles in 2002 and '03, are playing in their first Class A title game after dropping down in classification.

Parker Headley leads the running game with 1,474 yards and 17 TDs, while Trey Young has 844 yards and nine scores.

The linebacker that have Lax's attention are Ryan Fisk, Donnie Mesia, Garrett Brinson and Dallas Murray.

In other SCISA state championships tonight, Hammond plays Augusta Christian at Oliver C. Dawson Bulldog Stadium, Hilton Head Prep plays Hilton Head Christian at Hilton Head High School in Class AA and Laurens Academy plays Holly Hill Academy at Sumter.

All games begin at 7:30 p.m.