Collin Drafts
Upon arriving on the Charleston Southern campus in 2002, Head Coach Jay Mills was intent on finding one player upon whom he could build a winning foundation at a school that had never had a season over .500.
Four years later, it is safe to say he has found his man in quarterback Collin Drafts. The senior signal caller was the first player Mills recruited, and Drafts has proven to be the perfect field general for Mills’ wide-open passing attack. Drafts entered his senior season as his both his school and his conference’s most productive quarterback, and so
The defending Big South offensive player of the year has been an instrumental component of the Buccaneer’s current 12-game winning streak. Not only has the 6-foot-3 Drafts thrown for 1,680 yards and 16 touchdowns on the year, he is also his team’s leading rusher. Drafts’ 4.1 yard-per-carry average and his six touchdowns on the ground illustrate show that he is more than just a golden-armed pocket passer. Mills is more impressed with Drafts’ attitude than his quarterback’s gaudy stats.
“Ever since day one, Collin has only cared about winning,” Mills said. “He came from a high school program that didn’t win a lot, and he told me when I first recruited him, `I want to build something here.'”
With an arm of steel to go with Mills’ offensive blueprints, look for lucky No. 7 to try and break down the Hoyas’ defense on Saturday.
Jada Ross
Charleston Southern junior linebacker Jada Ross has been winning so long he might have forgotten what losing feels like. Before becoming an integral part of a Buccaneer squad that has not lost in over a year, Ross helped Summerville (S.C.) High Head Coach John cKissick become the first headman at any level of competitive football to surpass 500 wins.
Ross brought his winning ways to Charleston in 2004 and quickly began to terrorize Big South offenses, forcing a fumble in his first start against Jacksonville. Ross ascended to new heights in 2005, leading the league in tackles with 128 and being named the conference’s defensive player of the year.
Ross added an exclamation point to the Buccaneers’ first-ever conference championship season, tallying 17 tackles in the 2005 season finale against Coastal Carolina. The former all-State high school wrestler is also the Charleston Southern leader in career tackles and has totaled two 20-tackle games already this season. The 5-foot-11, 220 pound Ross was recently recognized as one of Division I-AA’s weekly all-stars after registering six tackles and a sack on the final drive of last week’s 27-22 win against VMI.
When Ross’ time is Charleston is done, he will be able to say that he helped finish one of the most successful runs in schoolboy football and began another on the college level.
