Tomorrow night, under the lights at Under Armour Stadium in Baltimore, No. 1 St. Frances Academy will play for a national championship on ESPN2.
On the home sideline, quarterbacks coach Tavares Garland will have his eyes on coverages and protections — and his heart in two places: with his senior son, Ken’yae, rushing off the edge, and with the small Clarendon County town where it all started.
FROM WALKER-GAMBLE TO A NATIONAL STAGE
Garland was born in Clarendon County and grew up in Turbeville. He went to Walker-Gamble Elementary, played at East Clarendon High School and graduated in 2002 before heading to Allen University.
Along the way, he said, local coaches did more than draw up plays; they helped raise him.
“Dwayne Howell, Ed Brogden, Laverne Rose, Norman McElveen — those guys raised me,” Garland said. “I started off as a water boy in sixth grade. I’ve always wanted to be a coach. I’ve always been around it. It’s in my bloodline.”
His playing career almost ended early. As a junior at East Clarendon, Garland broke his leg.
“I was told I would never play football again,” he said. “I looked that doctor in the face and said, ‘I won’t give up. One day I’m going to win a state championship.’”
He made it back for his senior season, but the title never came. That unfinished business is part of what makes this week feel so big.
“I never reached that state championship as a player,” he said. “So for me, this is a big deal now — actually having an opportunity to coach on a national level in the first ever high school national championship.”
A NEW KIND OF HOME
After college, Garland returned to Clarendon County, coaching at East Clarendon and Lee Central and staying rooted in local football culture. He even helped organize a semi-pro team made up of former college standouts who just wanted to play again in Turbeville. But about a decade ago, life began pulling him toward Maryland, where he worked in the fitness industry, managing gyms and training athletes while trying to stay connected to the game.
In 2018, as he was looking for a way back into high school coaching in South Carolina, his family’s life changed overnight. On his wife’s birthday, shortly after the birth of one of their children, she suffered a medical crisis.
“I was told my wife wasn’t going to make it,” he said. “Needless to say, she’s unable to walk, but she’s here.”
As they adjusted to a new normal, his son, Ken’yae, was preparing to enter high school. An unexpected opportunity appeared at St. Frances Academy, the Baltimore powerhouse known for its national schedule, NFL-caliber alumni and relentless culture.
“I couldn’t pass up that opportunity for him,” Garland said.
The St. Frances staff soon learned Garland had a coaching background and offered him a job. Over the last four years, he has coached quarterbacks for what Overtime calls a “D1 factory,” working daily with some of the top talent in the country.
His role, however, extends beyond football. The Panthers operate with limited facilities, and housing their far-flung roster is a challenge. Garland and his wife now live in two connected Baltimore row homes that also serve as a dorm.
“We actually have 20 kids that stay with me and my wife and family,” he said. “It’s big enough for my family, and then dorm rooms for the other kids.”
On the field, Garland runs the offense while Ken’yae plays on the opposite side as an edge rusher. For years, the younger Garland developed behind some of the country’s best defensive linemen; now he’s 6-foot-3, 230 pounds, playing on the No. 1 defense in America.
“I never really get a chance to see him on the field,” Garland said. “Maybe a high-five in between plays, but that’s it. It’s hard, because there are things you want to tell him, but you have to let the other coaches coach him. On the field, I’m a coach. Off the field, I’m Dad.”
A SHOT AT HISTORY
St. Frances’ season was built around what was supposed to be a titanic showdown with IMG Academy, the Florida juggernaut the Panthers beat last season. The Nov. 7 meeting was scrapped days before kickoff, rescheduled for Dec. 10 as a nationally televised title game, then canceled again when IMG withdrew, citing concerns about the timing and its graduating seniors.
“You prepare all year for a certain game, from summertime all the way up, and all of a sudden it’s taken away,” Garland said. “Those kids were hurt. It felt like something left their soul.”
Instead, St. Frances will host Corner Canyon, a Utah program fresh off its third straight Class 6A state championship. The game — the Overtime Nationals High School Football Championship — will kick off at 7 p.m. ET Wednesday at Under Armour Stadium in Baltimore and air on ESPN2. The winner will also receive a $250,000 donation to enhance its athletic program.
Talent-wise, Garland said, the Panthers will not be intimidated. But what he cares most about is what the moment means for his son.
“I hope he learns how to fight through adversity at all times,” Garland said. “This is something he can always say — that he played in a national championship game. And I’m not going to say if we win; when we win, he can say, ‘I’m a national champion.’”
CARRYING TURBEVILLE WITH THEM
Though he lives and works in Baltimore, Garland said his roots are never far away.
“Every chance I get, I’m representing Turbeville and Clarendon County,” he said. “Most of my support comes from back home. They share, they comment, they support my son. If I ever forget, he’ll remind you he’s a country boy — he’s from Turbeville.”
He has a message for the next wave of athletes growing up under the Friday night lights of Clarendon County.
“If you want to play at the college level, you’ve got to train like a professional athlete now,” he said. “On and off the field, in the classroom. Without the grades, you can’t have football, and you have to take care of your body. You have to prepare yourself like a college athlete now.”
After Wednesday, his focus will turn to helping Ken’yae pick a college — Allen University has already offered — and helping St. Frances reload for another run. But he insists his story won’t end in Baltimore.
“Eventually I do want to come back home and become a head coach somewhere,” Garland said. “I want to bring what I’ve learned — recruiting, opportunities, media — back home. I feel like we don’t have that back home, and there are a lot of athletes in Clarendon County who get overlooked.”
Until then, he’s content to make his hometown proud from a national stage — one snap, and one son, at a time.
