Midland Valley's Waters signs to kick at Newberry College

“It just felt amazing to have that reassurance that I could play at the next level and actually be successful,” he said.”We always talk about leaving your legacy. He definitely left his legacy,” Dorn said. “It was awesome, obviously, him beating out his dad for the record. That’s a lot of points he left behind for us, and obviously getting that record, so he definitely left his legacy on this program. He’s going to be remembered for a while.”One area Dorn didn’t have to worry about was the kicking game. That’s because he had the dependable, record-setting right leg of Peyton Waters on his sideline, giving the Mustangs a luxury that so many high school programs desire.

“It feels great. Knowing that I am now in the record books and it’s part of the history of this school now, it’s great,” he said. “I didn’t even know what the record was until I tied it last year. I didn’t know what it was, and then my dad was like, ‘Oh, you’re about to tie the record.’ And I was, like, ‘Oh, that’s cool.’ It’s just great to know that. I just hope if someone passes it, they understand how important that record was to me.”

He leaves Midland Valley with his name in the record book for the 13 points – two field goals, seven extra points – he scored Oct. 18 against Aiken High to break the program record of 11 set by his father, Josh, a mark he had tied the year before by making 11 extra points in a 77-0 win over Swansea.”To have somebody to take that side away from my mind, and knowing it’s going to be where it’s supposed to be and it’s going to be consistent, that’s truly been a blessing for us that I didn’t really have to worry about that phase of the game,” Dorn said. “It’s going to be a big shoe to fill, but it’s been a blessing. Watching him from a rising freshman to where he is now, just to see the growth he’s made and the progress, it’s just been awesome.””Oh man, this journey’s been great,” he said. “From all the highs and lows that we’ve had, beating North Augusta last year for the first time since my dad played. That was great. Beating his record was amazing. But just really coming together as a family and getting to actually know each other and have that bond with each other has been great.”

Newberry’s location, campus and football facilities all appealed to Waters, who said the school – and city – felt like home. For his studies, he’s considering focusing on the business sphere or maybe sports management. He had plenty of success at the high school level, scoring 184 total points for the Mustangs while making 90% of his extra point attempts and 83% of his field goal tries. He also got onto the turnover portion of the stat sheet, recovering four onside kicks. 

Waters was an integral piece of the Mustangs’ program turnaround that included a Region 4-AAAA title in 2023 and the end of lengthy losing streaks to area rivals like Strom Thurmond and North Augusta.

The ins and outs of running a high school football program are more than enough to require every bit of a coach’s attention to detail, especially at one of the area’s larger programs in one of the state’s most challenging regions. And that’s not even considering the scheduling chaos created by Hurricane Helene.

GRANITEVILLE — There was a lot on Brent Dorn’s mind this past season as he began his head coaching career at Midland Valley.

The points on the scoreboard speak for themselves, but the peace of mind Waters gave the Mustangs’ coaching staff was invaluable.While his next step will be at Newberry, the next step made by anyone who kicks at Midland Valley will be chasing the marks Waters set.Newberry’s invitation to come up for a visit quickly turned into “We’d love to have you on the team.” That’s all Waters needed to hear.

College programs want that, too, and in Waters’ case that college is Newberry. Waters was honored Wednesday for signing to kick for the Wolves.

“It feels great. I’d been working on this for the past year, year and a half now, trying to get recruited,” he said.