From These Roots

The Moonshiners: North Greenville Baptist Academy’s High School Team (1922-1929)

1922 marked the first year North Greenville Baptist Academy fielded a football team. During the first season of “Moonshiners” football, H.C. Hester was the school principal, Tigerville Baptist Church hadn’t been built yet, the campus only had a few buildings, and no one could imagine the school would have college courses just over a decade later. The first football coach was a former Furman player named Jimmie Howard and the school joined the Piedmont Athletic Association. Not much is known about that first season of football, but we do know that the team won their first game of the year against Greer High School by a score of 12-6 on September 29, 1922. The Moonshiners, unfortunately, would fall to Gaffney High School 58-0 on October 13, 1922. The trend of losing to Gaffney at the beginning of each season would haunt North Greenville Baptist Academy football throughout its 6-year run.

The 1923 Moonshiners went 2-4 for the season. They pulled out wins against Cowpens and Parker High that year. The 1924 team, coached by H.D. Bruce, gave the Moonshiners their first winning season with a record of 5-2 by defeating Parker, Cowpens, Central, Belton, and Holly Springs. 1924 would be the first season that block letters would be given to the football players. The 1925 season was split evenly 4-4 with wins against Holly Springs, Westminster, Greer, and Chesnee. The 1926 season saw a new coach, W.D. Mitchell, and only 4 players returning to the Moonshiners, but the team still managed to have a successful run of 5-2 with wins against Chesnee, Edisto, Travelers Rest, Cowpens, and Cedar Springs. Not much is known about the 1927, 1928, or 1929 teams and we do not have a picture of them. The 1927 Moonshiners received losses against Honea Path, Gaffney, and Greenville. If they won any games that season, it wasn’t recorded. The 1928 Moonshiners lost to Gaffney, Fountain Inn, Simpsonville, and Abbeville. The only win recorded was against Fruitland. 1929 was the last year of North Greenville Baptist Academy football. The only record we have of that team is that they lost to Fruitland, but defeated Brevard.

The Black Widows: North Greenville Junior College’s First Football Team (1949-1952)

1949 saw the quiet return of North Greenville Football and the first college team to take the field in the school’s history. The new football team was called “The Black Widows”, they were coached by Charles Bruce, and the only game we have a record of from that first season is a win against Limestone 14-0. It was expected that players who needed more coursework to get into Furman would come to North Greenville first and earn their credits while playing football. In 1950, Walter Pinson, the coach of Greer High School, was hired as NGJC’s new football coach and athletic director. The Black Widows played in the Carolina Junior College Conference this season and we only have a record of two games. NGJC lost to the Presbyterian College Freshman but defeated Brevard Jr. College.

In, 1951, North Greenville joined the newly formed Western Carolinas Junior Athletic Conference, and Charlie Thomas, a former football star at Furman University, became the new coach. Football soared in popularity at North Greenville during this season and the team developed the motto of “Liberty’s in every blow! Let us do or die.” The 1951 Black Widows played a full season of 8 conference games and finished the season 4-4. Outlook was great for the 1952 season with a returning coach and a squad of 30 guys. Unfortunately, the season did not go as hoped. The only win in 1952 was the homecoming game against West Georgia. That was also the only home game played on campus. All previous home games had been played at the Greer High School stadium.

In April 1953, it was announced that the trustees had decided to end the intercollegiate football program at North Greenville due to the costs. It would be another 36 years before North Greenville Junior College once again had a football team.

The Mounties: Football Returns to North Greenville College (1988-2001)

In 1987, it was announced that football would be returning to Tigerville in 1988. The trustees approved the decision and Joe Cooper, VP of Development, stated, “We feel like it (football) would help the school to increase enrollment; it would increase spirit and morale; it would give us visibility in the community, and it would help provide- we feel like- additional publicity.” By this time, the school’s mascot had changed to “The Mounties”. The search began for a new head coach and by June 1987, the team had their first recruit- Corey Ferguson from Blue Ridge High School. In July of 1987, it was announced that Mike Taylor from Lenoir-Rhyne had accepted the position as head coach of the new team. Coach Taylor spent the rest of 1987 and the spring of 1988 as an organizational year with a focus on recruiting and building facilities. By March 1988, Coach Taylor had 66 men on his Mounties team with plans to recruit more before the start of the season. The team became a member of the National Junior College Athletic Association and a schedule of 10 games was set for the fall of 1988.

Saturday, September 10, 1988, The Mounties football team took the field for the first time in Fork Union, Virginia against Fork Union Military Academy at 1:30p.m. Not many people expected much from the inexperienced new team. However, The Mounties pulled off the 20-3 win. Their next test came at their “home’ opener at Greer High School stadium against Marion Military Institute. The Mounties pulled off another victory, defeating Marion 34-7. The 1988 team would go on to win all but one game that first season. Their only loss was against the 7th-ranked Lees-McRae College. Included in this first team was Clayton Holmes, the first North Greenville football player to play in the NFL. The 1989 team finished out the 80s strong for North Greenville. After an upset victory over 9th-ranked Lees-McRae, the team finished out the season undefeated and ranked 10th. Regardless of their ranking and their record, the new team wasn’t taken seriously enough to be included in a bowl game. Coach Taylor told reporters, “It’s political and I’m a football coach, not a politician.”

The 90s brought mixed results for the Mounties football team. The decade started out with the addition of Younts Athletic Center which gave office space to the coaches as well as workout, training, and dressing spaces to the players. The 1990 team had a winning season but had a couple of tough losses. The 1991 Mounties had an undefeated season and finished ranked 6th among Junior Colleges. Unfortunately, respect seemed to be the missing factor again and the Mounties were overlooked for a bowl game once again. Andrew Jordan Jr. from the 1991 team would be the next NG alum to make it to the NFL. In August of 1992, it was announced that Coach Taylor would be leaving NG to take to coaching job at his alma mater, Newberry College. Assistant Coach, Rick Beard, was named as the new head coach of the Mounties. The Mounties finished 5-3 that season and 7-3 in the 1993 season. In 1992, North Greenville became a 4 year college and this brought forth a transition year for the football team in the 1994 season. In preparation for joining the NAIA Division II Mid-South Conference in the 1995 season, the 1994 team played 3 teams who were already in the NAIA Division II. This was the first losing season since the resurrection of football with a 1-7 finish. With a new conference in 1995 also came a new coach. Steve Patton was named head coach of the Mounties and the team finished with a 5-6 record. 1996 ended with a winning record of 7-4 and 3rd place in their conference. In 1997, Scott Parker was named head coach of the Mounties. Like Coach Patton, he stayed with the team for two years finishing 1-9 in 1997 and 7-3 in 1998. The 1998 team also tied for first place in the Mid-South Conference. The 1990s ended strongly with a new coach, Joe Johnson, and the school’s first trip to a bowl game. The 1999 team played in the KWTO Bowl Game and lost to Evangel University by a score of 9-34.

2000 was the last year of The Mounties and, unfortunately, the season ended with a record of 0-10.

The Crusaders: North Greenville University Football (2001-Present)

The first year of Crusader football finished much like the last year of Mounties football with a record of 0-10 for the 2001 season. The Crusaders also entered the NCCAA and the NCAA Div. II as an independent team. 2002 brought a new coach, Brian Smith, to NGC. The 2002 team beat the losing streak and finished the season with a record of 4-6. The 2003 Crusaders finished the season with a winning record of 6-5, but lost to Geneva in the Victory Bowl. In 2004, Coach Mike Taylor returned to North Greenville and The Crusaders finished 2004 with a record of 3-7. 2005 was an exciting year for North Greenville because, for the first time, the football team was able to play a home game on campus in the new Younts Stadium. Previously, home games were played at Greer High School or Eastside High School. The 2005 season ended with a record of 3-8. The Crusaders turned things around for the 2006 season with a winning record of 10-2 in the team’s first year as a university. The Crusaders also hosted Malone at Younts Stadium in the 2006 Victory Bowl and came out the victors with a score of 56-28. The 2007 season ended with a record of 5-6 and 2008 ended with a record of 2-9. In 2009, NGU hired Jamey Chadwell as head coach and his first season ended with a record of 2-8.

Coach Chadwell’s second year at NGU was full of improvement. The 2010 Crusaders finished with a record of 7-3 and, once again, hosted and won the NCCAA Victory Bowl. The 2011 season was one of the greatest in school history. The Crusaders finished the regular season with a record of 9-2 and what many thought was improbable happened- NGU made it into the NCAA Div. II playoffs. The Crusaders made it all the way to the 3rd round of the playoffs before barely losing to Delta State 23-28. Freddie Martino, who went on to play in the NFL, was a member of this team. In 2012, Carroll McCray was hired as the head coach and the record was 5-6. NGU’s current football coach, Jeff Ferington, was hired as head coach in 2013. The 2013 season ended with a record of 5-6. 2014 and 2015 were winning seasons with records of 7-5 and 7-3. 2016 was another strong year for the Crusaders. The team finished the season with a 9-5 record and made it to the 3rd round of the NCAA Div. II playoffs. The record at the end of the 2017 season was 4-6. In 2018, NGU football joined the Gulf South Conference and finished at 4-6 again. The Crusaders finished 3-7 in 2019. NGU did not play in any games in 2020 due to Covid. The record for 2021 was 5-6 and last year the team finished 3-8.

In 2025, North Greenville football will join Conference Carolinas.