Trojans, Knights take part in State Title pre-game press conference

For the fifth time in six years, the Northwestern Trojans were part of the annual state championship press conference in Columbia.

Coach Kyle Richardson made the trip for the 2nd straight year as head coach with Shrine Bowl quarterback Mason Rudolph in tow. This year, Richardson also brought along Shrine Bowl safety Corey Seargent and junior wide receiver Dupree Hart, who just passed NFL All-Pro AJ Green for career catches in the state of South Carolina.

The press conference started out with Richardson making a joke about his facial hair after being mistaking called Kyle Robinson. Richardson thanked the speaker for introducing him by his correct “family name” due to his current likeness to the Robinson family of “Duck Dynasty” fame.

Stratford Coach Ray Stackley seemed very impressed with what the Trojans offense had accomplished while Richardson was equally fascinated with what Stratford’s defense had done by only allowing 11 points per game.

The contest will feature the consensus top two quarterbacks in the state, Northwestern’s Mason Rudolph and Stratford’s Jacob Park. Both will enroll in college next month with Park headed to the University of Georgia, while Rudolph is going to Oklahoma State.

This game marks the first time since 1997 that two Shrine Bowl quarterbacks will face off in a state title game. Northwestern’s Derek Ross and Gaffney’s Kentrell Jones battled out at Williams-Brice Stadium that year, in what many called one of the best back and forth offensive games between two players.

Pregame coverage of Saturday’s game starts at 9:30 a.m. on WRHM-FM 107.1 and WVSZ-FM 107.3 and at WRHI.com. Listeners in-stadium can tune to the OTS Media broadcast at the local frequency of 92.7 FM.

Click below to hear the entire press conference:

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