FORT MILL, S.C. — Zac Lendyak wanted more of a football career.

His body wasn't cooperating.

The 1999 Karns City graduate started at cornerback his senior year for the Gremlins. He also played for KC coach Lon Hazlet in the Down Under Bowl in Australia before moving on to Clarion University.

“I ran track at Clarion, but didn't play football,” Lendyak recalled. “I was 6-foot-2 and weighed maybe 150 pounds. It's tough to play college football at that size.

“I had to find another way to stay around the game.”

That way turned out to be coaching.

Searching for a teaching job after college, Lendyak headed to the Charlotte area to visit a friend and look for work. He landed a teaching job at Nation Ford High School in Fort Mill, S.C., 12 miles south of Charlotte.

With the desire to become a football coach, he took on the head track and field and girls volleyball coaching positions “to get my foot in the door.

“I didn't know a thing about girls volleyball,” he admitted. “But the job was open and I was gonna do what I had to do.”

He landed a spot on football coach Rusty Jester's staff the following fall and coached with him for three years. After Jester was let go, Lendyak was an assistant under Michael Allen for eight more years at Nation Ford. He moved up to offensive coordinator during that stint.

Then came the break he was looking for.

A new high school — Catawba Ridge — was being built in Fort Mill. It was a Class 4A school — South Carolina's highest classification is 5A — and Lendyak was hired as the school's first head football coach in 2019.

In only his second year at the helm last fall, Lendyak guided Catawba Ridge to a 7-2 record and a berth in the Class 4A state semifinals. He was named South Carolina 4A Football Coach of the Year for his efforts.

“I'm thrilled for him,” Hazlet said. “There's a guy who went after what he wanted. It's always cool when a player you coached becomes one of your colleagues.

“Zac has asked me for advice about fund-raisers. He's done a lift-a-thon and recently had a youth camp that attracted more than 200 kids.”

Catawba Ridge, known as the Copperheads, was 2-8 in its debut season. The team had no seniors.

“It was challenging. I set up a hard schedule, playing some of the best teams in the state, figuring we'd take our lumps and we did,” Lendyak said. “We got our brains beat in, but I also knew we were the only team around that was going to bring back all 22 starters.

“We missed some games (in 2020) because of COVID, but we were able to turn things around.”

Despite living down south for years now, Lendyak still came across a familiar face.

“I was standing on the sidelines during a JV game on a Thursday night and one of the officials kept looking over at me,” Lendyak said. “Finally, he asked me if I went to Karns City.”

That official was Patrick Moore, an A-C Valley graduate who played against Lendyak in high school. He also played for Hazlet in the Down Under Bowl.

Moore and Lendyak live in the same neighborhood.

“Zac is one of the most well-respected coaches around here,” Moore said. “He's put together an incredible team in a very short time.”

Lendyak said that when he first traveled to the Charlotte area, he didn't figure to be gone long.

“Work down there for a couple of years, establish myself and come back home,” he said. “That was the plan.

“But I guess life has a way of putting you where you're supposed to be.”

He described Catawba Ridge as “a $100 million school with facilities that are top notch.”

Hazlet agreed.

“Their weight room, locker rooms, everything ... unbelievable,” Hazlet said.

The stadium is known as “The Pit” and “would make some Division III (college) schools jealous,” Moore said.

Lendyak still has eight starters returning on both sides of the ball this fall, including sophomore quarterback Jadyn Davis, who is already a national Division I recruit. Davis has received offers from Alabama, Oregon, Clemson, Georgia and Ohio State, among others. He stands 6-2, 185 pounds.

“We have other guys who have accepted Division I offers,” Lendyak said. “I've got one defensive back signing with Marshall, another with Wake Forest.

“Jadyn has incredible arm strength and his body is gonna fill out. He can make throws now that most seniors can't. And he's a 4.0 student, a very humble kid who answeers 'yes sir, no sir,' ... the kid is a dream.”

Lendyak met his wife of 11 years, Lindsay, down south. The couple has three children and they've fostered five others.

“My life has just come together here,” said Lendyak, who is also a fulltime teacher at Catawba Ridge. “We've got a shot at a state title and I've got the best quarterback around for the next three years.”

Lendyak even speaks with a Southern accent.

“I'm the only one in my family who has moved south,” Lendyak said. “The rest are back home. They make fun of my voice whenever we visit.

“I'll take it ... sometimes it's hard for me to believe the position I'm in.”