Byrnes running back coach Tony Ashmore didn’t mean for the nickname to stick. It just came out of his mouth during one practice.
“One day at practice a while back, one of my guys scored a touchdown, and I just yelled out ‘touch paint!’ From that point, it just kind of clicked,” said Ashmore. “Now everyone’s saying it.”
The Rebels’ collective group of skill players — led by running back Tre’ Segarra, running back Jacobi Fuller, and wide receiver Chanin “Choo” Harris — have made that name stick.
They’re the "Touch Paint Boys." The idea? This fall, they plan to be touching a lot of paint in the end zone.
“We want to score this year and score a lot,” said Fuller. “We’re not wanting to rely on the defense as much this year like last season.”
“Our HPO [High-Powered Offense] is multi-dimensional,” said Segarra. “We can run the ball, throw the ball, basically do whatever we want to do, when we want to.”
It’s not often that a high-school backfield has multiple running backs with Division I offers. That’s exactly the case for Byrnes, however.
Segarra has been the talk of the state since his freshman year, racking up offers from 15+ of the biggest Power Five schools in the nation.
Before this summer, Fuller had been a bit more under the radar. Not anymore. Offers from Coastal Carolina and Liberty over the past two months have changed that. Now, the Rebels have a dynamic duo of Division 1 running backs.
Both Segarra and Fuller love the way they complement one another.
“I won’t lie, [Jacobi’s] a little bit faster than me,” said Segarra, laughing. “But I feel like where he has a bit more speed, I think I’ve got great strength and vision. When we both go on the field, you never know what you’re going to get out of which running back. We help keep each other fresh.”
“I call them our own modern-day thunder and lightning,” said Ashmore. “You’ve got a guy who’s going to run hard every single play like thunder, and then you’ve got a guy like Jacobi who’s going to wow you and beat you with speed like lightning.”
The Byrnes wide receiver room is deep, also. Leading the pack is junior wideout Chanin “Choo” Harris, a speedy route-running technician with several Division 1 offers to his name.
Harris is coming off a season-ending injury in 2024 that caused him to miss the home stretch of Byrnes’ campaign.
He’s looking to prove himself this year.
“I want to show people I’m the best wide receiver in the state,” said Harris. “Most people don’t think that. They see me as a guy who’s just fast. I’m a lot more than that.”
“[Chanin] still feels like he’s undervalued, despite having all those offers and being ranked one of the top wideouts in the state,” said Byrnes wide receiver coach Jamauri Davis. “His mission is to go out there in his junior year and really prove that.”
The trio of “Touch Paint Boys”, along with the loads of other talent the Rebels have at the skill positions, all have something else to prove, too.
They want to show that Byrnes still belongs in the upper echelon of high school football programs in the state.
“All of these guys felt like they were disrespected a little bit last year because we didn’t have the type of season Byrnes is known for,” said Davis. “That’s going to fuel them this year. They and the whole team are going to recreate the narrative.
“That’s part of the reason we like ‘Touch Paint.’ It gives them their own identity, something to take pride in… they’re going to go out and earn their respect.”
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