Greer head coach Will Young has a saying.
“I’m an older guy,” said Young. “So some of my players, when they aren’t playing tough enough, I’ll tell them they wouldn’t have survived high school football back in the '90s.”
There are at least two players that Young knows would’ve thrived back then, however. Young calls them both “old school” ball players.
And when studying their lineage, it’s easy to understand why.
Meet Sammy White. Meet Aiden Jones.
White is a senior linebacker for the Jackets. He’s a high-motor, hard-hitting talker on the field. He’s a mouthpiece for the Greer defense.
Jones is a senior defensive lineman for Greer. He’s a little quieter than White, but when you check who puts up the strongest numbers in the Greer weight room, Jones is at the top of nearly every list.
White and Jones are prime examples that the apples don’t always fall too far from the tree.
“Fast, violent, high-speed, talkative,” said White. “That’s what I’ve heard about my dad. I feel like I show that in the way I play, too.”
“My dad sometimes will show me his old film,” said Jones. “When I look at it now, I look back at mine, and it matches. Everyone who comes to our games always says we play just alike.”
Meet Knox White. Meet Marko Jones.
Knox — Sammy’s father — was a defensive end and a linebacker on Greer’s 1994 state championship team. Marko — Aiden’s father — was a big and strong defensive lineman on that same 1994 Jackets squad.
On Friday nights, it’s like a time machine for Knox and Marko.
“I see myself in [Aiden]. I think he plays with the same determination and drive that I did,” said Marko. “The one different thing is our strength. Don’t get me wrong, I was one of the strongest guys on that [1994] team. But Aiden? He’s the strongest kid on the roster. He’s got me beat. It is unbelievable.”
“Sammy’s got my same competitiveness,” said Knox. “I hated losing. If someone was lined up in front of me, I wanted to take it to them. I wanted to show them how we Greer people do it. That’s exactly how Sammy is.”
Thirty-one years after Greer’s fateful 1994 state championship, Knox now runs his own business in Greer. He’s a family man, and he never misses a Friday night at Dooley. Marko gets a bit closer view of the Jackets these days, serving as Greer’s defensive line coach.
Both Knox and Marko are members of the Greer High School Athletic Hall of Fame. If there’s one thing they remember about Greer football back when they played — and specifically that glorious 1994 season — it was the camaraderie on their side of the ball.
That throwback Jacket defense was a cohesive unit. So cohesive, in fact, that in that 1994 state championship season, Greer allowed just 53 points all year long.
“The thing about us, man, we worked so hard,” said Marko. “We outworked every single team we played. We were so close as a team. Nobody cared who got the stats, nobody cared who got the tackles. We just focused on our job as individuals, and everything fell into place.”
“Everybody knew exactly what their job was,” said Knox. “Everyone knew what they were supposed to do. There was no confusion. I knew what I was supposed to do, Marko knew what he was supposed to do. So we just went out there and got it done.”
At the homes of both Knox and Marko, some old VHS tapes of highlights remain. A few photos and newspaper clippings either sit in the attic or hang on the walls.
They’ve both relived the memories with their sons a time or two.
“There are a bunch of framed pictures hanging up of my dad when he played,” said Sammy. “It’s pretty cool.”
“A ton of film,” Aiden said, laughing. “So much old film.”
Though Greer’s last state championship win came in 2003, both Sammy and Aiden are determined to help bring the Jackets back to glory. They’ve got one more shot to do it.
Their fathers’ success only brings added motivation.
“I just want to be most like him when I play,” said Aiden. “I want to be able to reach what he was able to do.”
“Before I even got into high school, what my dad was able to do here motivated me,” said Sammy. “I’ve heard so many stories. The legacy he and that team left, that’s something I’ve wanted to accomplish.
“That’s something people will remember forever.”
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