Airport vs. Brookland-Cayce: Rivals, QBs and sons of head coaches

Playing quarterback isn’t the only thing Airport High’s Brett Burnett and Brookland-Cayce’s Reed Charpia have in common.

The signal-callers both are the sons of head coaches. Brett’s father, Kirk, is the head coach at Airport, while Reed’s dad, Rusty, is the head man at Brookland-Cayce.

The two teams meet Friday night at Airport in a rivalry game for both teams.

“Me and Kirk both played against each other in high school when I was at Midland Valley and he at Airport, and then at college in football and baseball when I was at Clemson and he was at Furman,” Rusty Charpia said. “It is somewhat fun that our sons are playing against each other now. It makes for an interesting game.”

The elder Charpia knows what it’s like to play football under the microscope of his father. Rusty played for his father Reed, who was a longtime head coach in South Carolina and now helps out on the B-C staff.

But the pressure is added now because Rusty’s son plays quarterback.

“If you are the coach’s son, people are going to second guess you a bit. When it comes to attendance and practice, eyes are on him. If he gets away with something, everyone notices it,” Charpia said.

Rusty said his family is a “bunch of football and baseball junkies” and that Reed grew up with a baseball or football in his hands at an early age. Reed was on the sideline with him on Friday nights, and he has a picture of Reed following a win against Summerville with Roddy White, the former Atlanta Falcons All-Pro receiver who played at James Island while he was an assistant there.

Now, Reed enters his second season as B-C’s quarterback and first as full-time starter after splitting time at the position last year.

“I was always around him, even on Saturdays, going up to the school and watching film with him,” Reed said. “Me and Brett have grown up loving football and being around it. It gives us a little advantage because we know what goes into the game plan.”

Brett Burnett grew up much like Reed. His father remembers Brett putting plays on wristbands much like they do in high school when he was playing backyard football at the age of 9.

“They would run the plays and formations we ran,” coach Kirk Burnett said. “It was fun to see. The biggest thing is you get to spend time with your son at work and outside the house. When he goes off to college next year, I know I got to spend a lot of quality time with him.”

Brett said spending time with his dad is a plus, but there are some negatives to being a quarterback and playing for your dad.

“You get yelled at every play, but when you win, you get to have a few more laughs on the way home from away games,” Burnett said.

Kirk said he knows to give his son space after games when Brett gets home before he does. Usually, his daughter acts as a “buffer” between Kirk and Brett.

“He has his body guards,” Kirk said with a laugh.

Brett started at quarterback as a sophomore but missed most of last season after tearing his ACL in September. The Eagles went through a rash of ACL injuries last year but Kirk said it was especially hard seeing his son out of action. Each week when Kirk laid out the jerseys in each player’s locker before each game, it was tough knowing his son wouldn’t play.

Brett said it was hard not being with his teammates and share in their success this past season. Airport went 10-2 and advanced to the second round of the playoffs. But he’s even better now than he was last year before the injury.

“I’m a lot more flexible, my speed is increased and I have power behind my leg,” Brett said. “I feel great. I think I’m going to make more plays with my feet, where I couldn’t last year. So I feel pretty confident about the season.”

This story was originally published August 25, 2016 at 7:01 PM with the headline "Airport vs. Brookland-Cayce: Rivals, QBs and sons of head coaches."