Southeast Georgia In The Game High School Sports Magazine

Tre Hamilton Charlton County High School Folkston, Georgia by Rob Asbell photography by Kevin Lemere

Who is the leading scorer in Charlton County High School football history?

Most people familiar with football in the state of Georgia might guess Champ Bailey. The 10-time NFL Pro Bowler and former University of Georgia star is the Indians’ most famous graduate. Even fans who have never visited the Swamp in Folkston are familiar with the Denver Broncos defensive back who played running back and quarterback for Charlton County in the mid 1990s.

Although he still holds many of the school’s records, Bailey cannot claim the career scoring title. That honor belongs to Tre Hamilton.

Chances are that those who knew the answer have seen the speedy running back tear through south Georgia defenses for more than 5,000 yards over the past four years. To put the total into perspective, consider that Hamilton has rushed for nearly three miles in his high school career.

“I don’t think about it,” Hamilton says. “I just put it in my head to do it and to be the best.”

His strategy has worked well, and it has helped him rewrite the school’s record book - no easy task when that record book belongs to the Charlton County Indians, whose players have included two high school All-Americans, 69 All-State players, 92 scholarship recipients and 16 professional football players. The list reads like a Who’s Who of southeast Georgia football. In addition to Champ Bailey, there is also Ronald, Kenny, and Boss Bailey; former Middle Tennessee quarterback Dwight Dasher; Lemuel Walker; Lamar Williams; and Jeremy Privett, all of whom played for coach Rich McWhorter. Now in his 22nd year as head football coach, McWhorter has seen some of the state’s best players come through Folkston. In his opinion, Hamilton was made to be a football player.

“That is the greatest compliment I can give him. He is a football player. No matter what position he plays, he will be the best,” McWhorter says.

That is high praise coming from one of the state’s top coaches, but Hamilton’s on-field accomplishments have been mindblowing. In addition to the Charlton County records for career points and rushing yards, Hamilton also set the marks for rushing touchdowns and the number of games rushing for 100-yards or more.

If his prowess on the football field were not enough, Hamilton has also been the starting point-guard for the Indians basketball team, averaging 13 points per game.

Even in his days playing recreation league football for coach Glenn Hughes, Hamilton was making a name for himself. Word started to spread about the speedy running back with a knack for making big plays and Charlton County fans knew it was just a matter of time before he would be playing on Friday nights at Indian Field.

Hamilton lived up to expectations by making an impact in the first game of his freshman season. Facing archrival Clinch County in the annual “Swamp War” to start the 2008 season, McWhorter put the freshman in the backfield for the Indians. Hamilton stunned the home crowd in Homerville by scoring on runs of 18 and 37 yards to lead Charlton County to a 28-7 victory over the Panthers. Hamilton finished the night with 124 yards on 18 carries. The following week he displayed his skills on defense by registering five tackles to go along with 124 yards rushing and two touchdowns in a win over Jacksonville’s First Coast High School. McWhorter started finding ways to get the ball in Hamilton’s hands - passes, hand-offs and even direct snaps - and by the time he had finished his first year of high school football, Hamilton had rushed for more than 1,000 yards and scored 15 touchdowns. Because of his size, speed and the number 2 jersey he wore, Hamilton earned the nickname “Little Deuce Coupe” from Charlton County athletic director Jesse Crews.

He continued to improve in 2009, rushing for 1,281 yards. He left his first mark on the record book in the third game of his sophomore campaign, running for 311 yards in a two-point win over region foe Pierce County. The single game rushing total was third best in Charlton County history, with only Champ Bailey’s 417- and 317-yard games in 1995 bettering him.

With their names so closely tied in the Charlton County record book, it is understandable to compare Hamilton with Bailey, but McWhorter believes they are two totally different types of athletes, their only similarity being their ability to find the end zone.  McWhorter explained that if a diagram of a football field was drawn on paper and the ball carriers’ paths and the end zone were plotted as lines, Bailey’s route would be a straight line. “Tre’s would go right, then left, then right, and then he’s standing in the end zone with would-be tacklers laying all over the field.”

McWhorter’s description of Hamilton’s running style is accurate judging from an internet video of a run he made this season that Hamilton admitted was the most memorable of his young career.

The video shows Hamilton lined up at quarterback in the shotgun formation. He takes the snap on a designed run, breaks a tackle in the backfield, cuts right and gets five yards when a defender dives low at his legs. Almost effortlessly, Hamilton hurdled him as if he were running in a track meet. He then breaks five more tackles, zigzagging to make defenders miss and crash into one another on his way to a 75-yard touchdown run. Ten days after it was posted on YouTube, the 31-second video had been viewed 500 times.

“You’ve heard of guys you couldn’t catch in a phone booth? He has that kind of speed,” says McWhorter, who referred to Hamilton as “that guy,” saying he could put him at any position in any situation and he would excel. “You can see what he does offensively by looking at his stats but he is also one of our best defensive players, too.”

Playing linebacker and safety, Hamilton recorded 48 tackles, 2.5 sacks, three interceptions - one for a touchdown - and blocked a kick during his first three years. He was named to the All-Region team as a running back each year but was also honored as a defensive back in 2010. Despite the accolades, his junior campaign ended on a sour note when the Indians fell to eventual state runners-up Savannah Christian Prep School. The 37-6 loss to the Red Raiders in the second round of the state playoffs is a painful memory.

“I felt like we were better than what the scoreboard showed that night,” Hamilton says.

Not long after that game, Hamilton started having pain in his shoulder. Doctors discovered he had a torn labrum - cartilage in the shoulder socket - and had been playing with the injury for two years. “He never said a word to anybody,” McWhorter says, recalling that Hamilton never missed a practice or game because of the injury.  It was repaired surgically and Hamilton fully recovered quickly. During the offseason, he returned to the weight room, where he bench presses 300 pounds. With the injury out of the way, Hamilton was better than ever, much to the woe of opposing defenders. He rushed for more than 200 yards in four games this season, including a 247-yard effort against Bacon County.

Living at home with his four brothers and sisters, Hamilton has learned a great deal about responsibility by helping care for his mother, who suffers from diabetes. He works hard to maintain good grades and following graduation next spring, he would like to take his 4.43 speed to the collegiate level, that is if he can convince colleges to give him a chance.

Recruiters took a “wait and see” attitude toward Hamilton, not because of the injury but because of his size. At 5’7” and 150 pounds, he has been cursed with the label of “too small for college football,” a ridiculous notion to McWhorter. “Running back is a position where height doesn’t mean much,” he says, mentioning current NFL players Maurice Jones-Drew (5’7”), Ray Rice (5’8”) and Darren Sproles (5’6”).

Hamilton’s fast, elusive style of running more than makes up for his 150-pound frame, because, as one spectator noted, “You can’t weigh a blur.” Recruiters are familiar with the Charlton County senior and McWhorter says it is just a matter of time before they start knocking on his door. Hamilton isn’t choosy as to where he wants to play just as long as he can contribute. If he isn’t offered a college scholarship, Hamilton has considered joining the Navy after graduation.

As a senior, Hamilton offered sage advice to future Indians players. “First, get the grades, then play hard and play fast.”

And McWhorter’s advice to Hamilton’s future college coach: “Just give him the ball and let him go.” ITG