Thursday, Oct. 29, 2009

Friends, lovers face off Saturday at Death Valley

CCU's Fraser likely to 'hear it' from fiancee, a cheerleader at Clemson

CONWAY -- Coastal Carolina H-back Tommy Fraser has been engaged for less than a week and already he's at odds with his fiancee, Caroline Wells.

Fraser popped the question early Monday morning, ending a courtship that began when the couple met at the beach in the summer of 2008. It remains to be seen if their engagement will survive the first weekend.

Wells, a Clemson cheerleader, and Fraser will have distinctly different rooting interests Saturday, when the Chanticleers make their first trip into Clemson's Memorial Stadium. The Tigers, a 40-point favorite according to this week's Sagarin Ratings, are expected to roll over Fraser and the Chants.

"We actually didn't know we were going to play each other when we started dating," said Fraser, a Carolina Forest native. "When we found out, it was a big deal. She started talking about how bad they were going to beat us and how she was going to get to dance to 'Tiger Rag' over and over, because they were going to score so many touchdowns."

Though Fraser and Wells will be on the field at the same time, there will be other battles among friends and acquaintances between the lines that will play a much larger role in whether the Tigers are able to win with the ease that's expected:

Coastal quarterback Jamie Childers, who will likely start in place of the injured Zach MacDowall, will face a Clemson defense that has forced 17 turnovers this season. Strong safety DeAndre McDaniel is Clemson's ball hawk, accounting for seven interceptions in seven games, including two last week against Miami.

It won't be the first time that Childers and McDaniel will be on the field together. They spent the fall of 2006 trying to outwit each other in practice as teammates at Hargrave Military Academy (Va.).

"He's the kind of guy that gets everybody hyped up," Childers said. "It affected our whole team.

"He's just got natural ability you can't teach. It's exciting [playing against him]. I've had this game circled for a long time like everybody else on this team."

Coastal corner Josh Norman is hoping that he finds himself across the line of scrimmage from Clemson receiver Xavier Dye at some point Saturday. They have a history together as teammates at Greenwood, but that was before Dye bailed on the Eagles in 2006 by transferring to Byrnes for his senior season.

"When he left, nobody heard anything from him," Norman said. "He just took his stuff and left. We thought he was just playing, but he was serious. It just motivated guys to step up in his place."

Dye missed most of his senior season because of an investigation into his transfer, but Norman and Co. didn't end up needing him, besting Conway in the Class AAAA, Division II state championship game. Byrnes did not win the state championship, the school's only misstep in its seven-year reign over South Carolina.

Norman and Dye have talked since 2006, but they're not exactly best friends either.

"We've put some of the differences aside," Norman said. "We're moving on.

"Face to face. One another against each other for the first time in three years. I'd like to see where we both stack up against each other."

Saturday's game will feature three of the most notable athletes to come through Bamberg-Ehrhardt in recent memory. Former Raiders quarterback Chris Presley, now a receiver at Coastal, and defensive ends Da'Quan Bowers and Ricky Sapp, who both start for Clemson, will likely find themselves on the field together at some point.

There will be good friends on both sidelines - Coastal's Corey Hawkins and Clemson's Marquan Jones helped Clemson assistant Jeff Scott lead Blythewood to the 2006 Class AAA state championship - but none of them are as close as the Bamberg trio. Presley and Sapp are cousins. Bowers is best friends with both of them.

"I talk to them every day," said Presley, a reserve for the Chants.

Presley said he passed along some tips to Coastal's offensive linemen on how to slow down Sapp and Bowers - if that's possible. Few teams have successfully done that since the trio became close in elementary school.

"We've been tight since first grade," Bowers said. "I talk to him every week. I've talked to him a couple times this week. He's excited to play in Death Valley for the first time, and I'm excited to play against him for the first time ever.

"It's going to be strange playing against him for the first time after playing with him for so long. But hey, we're looking forward to it."