Strom Thurmond assistant coach Hillary 'blessed' to be back at state championship game with Rebels

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Dec. 6—JOHNSTON — It's been a really emotional week for Strom Thurmond assistant football coach Tony Hillary.

Emotional because he's helping his Rebel players prepare for Saturday's Class AA state championship game, because it's a group he's watched set a goal and then reach it, because players he's mentored for years have come together to take Strom Thurmond's football program somewhere it hasn't been in 20 years.

Hillary was there then, too, as a young assistant under head coach Lee Sawyer as the Rebels beat Clinton in the Class AAA title game — 10 years after Hillary played for the Rebels in the state championship against Daniel.

It's understandably difficult to put into words what this week, what this opportunity, means to Hillary, but the one he came up with pretty well covers it.

Blessed.

"It's the same message that I gave to the boys during my devotional when I gave my devotional way back at the first game of the season," Hillary said. "I'm blessed to be a part of this place, because not everywhere you could be where football means something, and it means something here. It means something to the community. It was such a joy to see the turnout last Friday night. The kids, they deserve that. I'm just happy to be a part of it."

This is new ground for this group of Rebels (12-2), who have grown up hearing about the high standards in the peach fields, what it means to play Strom Thurmond football, and that the expectations are to play for championships.

They've won region championships in three of head coach Andrew Webb's four seasons at the helm, but this group is the first to make it past the third round of the playoffs since 2012. Playing football still comes down to blocking and tackling, but there's obviously a lot more involved in a state championship game than just what happens between the lines.

That's where Hillary can lend invaluable and unique advice, having both coached and played for a state championship for this program in the past.

"Don't take it for granted. You want to enjoy it and go out there and leave it all on the field," he said. "Don't have no doubts. Don't have no regrets. But don't take it for granted, especially the young guys. You never know when you'll get back here. I was fortunate enough to play in one and then we coached in one 20 years ago. We've been close, but still didn't quite get there. So now to finally get the opportunity to have another chance at a state championship is special."

The 2005 team was the last from Strom Thurmond to play in — and win — a state championship — and, while some aspects of the game itself have changed, Hillary sees similar intangibles in the 2025 Rebels that have helped them overcome obstacles and win big game after big game to reach this point.

"I see some. Probably the best thing that I see that's similar is the group of guys like each other," he said. "They love each other, and they play for each other. I think that's special. You've got to have that camaraderie and that team-building aspect of it in order to get over some of the humps that we've gotten over. That's what I see that's similar, just the brotherhood that we have."

He's worked alongside coaches with plenty of championship experience, which is something that's come in handy as he's helped his players prepare for this game just like they would any other.

He played for the 1995 title under Brian Smith, who was in his first year at Strom Thurmond but the year before had been an assistant for Greer's championship team — and has since led Ridge Spring-Monetta (2019) and Barnwell (2024) to state title appearances. And he coached under Sawyer, who was an assistant for three championship teams at Swansea and Greenwood and was also on Keith McAlister's staff when the Rebels were runners-up in 1986.

Add in Webb's experience as an assistant coaching state champions at Clinton and Saluda, and Hillary has plenty to draw from as he helps get the Rebels ready for the biggest game of their lives.

"Just their energy. I owe my coaching career to Coach Smith. He's the one that got me into coaching,: Hillary said. "And then Coach Sawyer bringing me in when he came in in 2004. Just the energy that they bring, and just watching them and how they prepare. I just kind of followed suit, and they taught me how I should prepare. Don't be too high. Don't be too low. Never taking these moments for granted, because they don't come every year. When they do come around, be ready for the moment."

Something had to change this year for the Rebels, who had a bad habit of making untimely mistakes last year that led to four losses and a first-round playoff loss. They spent their long offseason focused on the little things to make sure that wouldn't happen again, and Hillary noticed that they kept their heads down and have continued to grind, leaving last year behind and putting in the work to earn a shot at achieving their ultimate goal.

"To me, it shows how much they've grown, how much they've changed and how much they've bought in to our standard and to what Coach Webb preaches to them every day, to what we as individual coaches preach to our position groups," he said. "They've bought into it, and they've really taken the small things and made the small things the big things, and not letting those small things come back to bite us in the end."

Of course, there's also the part that both goes without saying and also must be mentioned. Few surnames in South Carolina are as closely and deeply tied to a high school football program as the Hillarys at Strom Thurmond. It's a name that's been attached to a state championship, a name that has gone on to major college football success, a name that has made it to the NFL.

On Saturday, for the first time in two decades, a Hillary has another shot at a title.

"It's a little sense of pride, some joy and gratitude," he said. "I'm very thankful to still be here. I couldn't have imagined when I started my coaching career that I would be home for this long. This is year 22 for me, and I'm still ticking, still going strong. I love it. I wouldn't change anything that has happened, and I'm just thankful and blessed to be in this situation. I'm kind of speechless."

Today's Game

WHO: Strom Thurmond (12-2) vs. Hampton County (11-3)

WHAT: Class AA state championship game

WHERE: Oliver C. Dawson Stadium at South Carolina State University, Orangeburg

WHEN: 4 p.m.

TICKETS: $20, available online at https://tinyurl.com/yf3v8ju5

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