Tre Aiken is a 6-foot-4, 305-pound offensive lineman of Clinton High School in Clinton, SC. The physical, elusive blocker played a major role in helping his team to a AA (2A) Palmetto State title in 2024, paving paths for the running backs, setting a perimeter for the quarterback and opening holes while running down the field, showing off his underrated yet potentially elite qualities from the small, rural public school in the Upstate.

Aiken who has offers from several major Power Four programs, trimmed down his list of top schools in Feb, and Florida, Georgia Tech, North Carolina State, South Carolina, and Virginia Tech were among those who made the cut.

Aiken talked about last year’s glory and this year’s grind in a wide-ranging exclusive with Palmetto Preps co-owner Lee Wardlaw. Here is everything he had to say. “It was amazing to win a championship because we've always been working on,” he said.

My teammates and I grew up (seeking this opportunity). In middle school you know, we would leave class and go to the weight room. Just lifting weights, practicing and training during the off-season,” he continued.

That’s what made a winter afternoon at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium in Orangeburg, a mecca of sorts for high school football coaches and fans, so special to soak in for Aiken. It was a culmination of not only a game, but nearly half of a lifetime for the 17-year-old rising senior. This time, a weight lifted off his shoulders not only for himself, teammates, and coaches, but the Clinton community as a whole. “It was a special moment for me because we’ve been working on it for so long. I feel like the (championship) was kind of due,” he said.

Playing under head coach Corey Fountain for the tough, hard-nosed Red Devils who truly embody the winning program culture of a small-town South Carolina high school program. “It’s amazing to be a Red Devil. We’re just going to get after it, every day. Every time you set foot in the weight room of throw on those shoulder pads just know that you are going to get to work,” he said.

The Red Devils play an old-school brand of football that still works in the new world of the sport. Just ground and pound. “We’re going to run the ball. Everything starts up front. Pounding the defensive line and the defense, just grinding them down,” he said.

But winning one championship now isn’t enough. Not even for Aiken who will have to mull through a long list of big-name Power Four finalists Florida, Georgia Tech, N.C. State, South Carolina, and Virginia Tech all while working for his second ring. “Winning the state championship didn’t do anything except make us want to go and get another one. It’s just motivation. It adds fuel to that fire," he said.

And Aiken and his Red Devils teammates who worked through an entire phase of their lives to go out and earn a state championship for their community have been working like they lost the state championship. Hell, they’re working like they didn’t even make the South Carolina High School Leauge's 32-team playoff bracket at all.

“We’re working like we lost the state championship. We’re working like we didn’t even make the playoffs. And that’s the best thing about this team. We always find a new way to be motivated. And we’re never satisfied,” he said.