By J.D. Elliott
Courtesy The Journal

jdelliott@upstatetoday.com

CENTRAL — Despite playing their last four years together, Daniel High School football stars Cade Stewart and Carter Groomes haven’t always been teammates.

While both signed Wednesday to take their talents down the road to Clemson to make it another four years of being teammates, Groomes made special mention of saying that he played his recreation football as a Central Tiger.

Daniel High School senior Cade Stewart signs last Wednesday to play football at Clemson, where he is expected to grayshirt and join the team next January.

Rex Brown/ Courtesy The Journal

“When I played for Central, it’s always been my dream to run down the real Hill (at Clemson’s Memorial Stadium) because we would always run down the small hill before our games,” Groomes said.

Stewart, on the other hand, does not want to be associated with the other recreation football team in the area.

“I’m a Six Mile Lion,” the offensive lineman joked. “We had 13 guys and went undefeated.”

But despite his different beginnings, Stewart also always dreamed of playing his college ball at Clemson.

“Everybody that I played football against in some part of my life wanted to be a Clemson Tiger,” he said. “I get to carry on something that every other kid wanted to do.”

Stewart and Groomes were two of six student-athletes at Daniel High School who signed national letters of intent to further their athletic careers at the collegiate level on National Signing Day.

For head football coach Randy Robinson, it’s nothing new to see his star players continue their future at Clemson.

“It’s pretty awesome to have 10 on the roster of a national championship team,” Robinson said. “It’s nice to send them down there, and our guys have been producing down there and hopefully they keep coming back.”

Stewart, who has been given a grayshirt offer by the Clemson coaching staff, will likely be added to the roster in January 2017, barring attrition to the Tigers’ roster between now and August. He will become the first Daniel offensive lineman to earn a scholarship during Robinson’s tenure.

“He had the right combination,” Robinson said. “He had all the physical tools in the world and bought in to what (offensive line coach Jamie Wilson) was preaching, and we all pushed him to be his best. He responded, and the result was a D-1 offer.”

If he continues to bring the work ethic he displayed throughout his high school career, the sky’s the limit for Stewart, according to Robinson.

“You give him a year in the weight room, and he can be as good as he wants to be,” Robinson said. “He’s got the feet and the arms of a tackle, and he’s going to play probably at center or guard. Pass-protection-wise, he’s going to be better than what they’ve got down there.”

Groomes was one of the most dynamic receivers in Western 3A during the 2015 season. He led the area in both receiving yards (603) and receiving touchdowns (10) on his way to making the all-region team.

As a preferred walk-on, Groomes will join his older brother Christian — a placekicker who also joined the Tigers as a walk-on — on the roster.

“He will be like a lot of kids that walk on,” Robinson said. “He has to go in and get acclimated to the fact that he’s going to start on scout team and get hit. Once his body gets stronger and learns the system, there’s no reason why he can’t earn a scholarship.”

Even though he won’t step foot on Clemson’s campus until the summer, Groomes is already working on improving strength and speed.

“I’m training four days a week working my butt off running at the track, in the weight room and in the gym,” Groomes said.

Stewart, who switched his commitment from Georgia Southern to Clemson earlier in the week, knows his college decision has larger ramifications than just the spotlight of Signing Day.

“It’s a dream come true, a real blessing,” Stewart said. “It’s not just a four-year deal; it’s a 40-year deal, something I’ll remember the rest of my life. It’s an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.”