Calhoun Falls Charter (0-1) at Augusta Christian (1-1) The Flashes were off last week after an opening-week loss to Greenwood Christian. They seem to be in a bit better place than last season when, no kidding, they ended up with about 11 players. Glenn Moon had a rushing TD and nearly 80 yards receiving in the opener, so he’s a guy to look for. Augusta Christian is, um, a Christian school in Augusta. That’s the kind of hard-hitting analysis you won’t get anywhere else! Dixie (1-1) at Carolina Christian (0-2) The Hornets suffered a tough setback last week, falling to what I think is going to be a good AA Landrum team 25-3. That came on the heels of a 19-0 blanking of Christ Church in which Dixie dominated the line of scrimmage and time of possession with their physical, experienced line and power running game. I still think this team is equipped to made a nice run and could easily see them going 7-1 the rest of the way (with a loss to Ninety-Six). Carolina Christian lost Marlboro County last week 36-0, but their MaxPreps page says they defeated “Varsity Opponent” to open the season 38-0. That’s really saying something. They’ve got ol’ LB 1 and Generic Running Back Name. You beat Varsity Opponent down like they did, you’ve done a day’s work, son. McCormick (0-2) at Laney (0-1) My first impulse when looking at McCormick’s first two weeks was to suspect that Mataeo Durant really was their everything last year and they were set to struggle without him. The Chiefs have lost by a combined 86-8 but I think that has as much to do with who they are playing as anything. McCormick is a very small Class A school and they’ve played AAA Crescent and a traditionally strong Lincoln County to open the year. I’ve watched some film…that’s a lie, I watched digital images on my computer. I don’t have a projector and a big white screen like Aunt Pern, but you get my point. McCormick looks to have decent size up front and I really like Silas Cannady. They play him at RB, line him up in the slot and working him at QB some. He’s also a very sure tackler as safety. I think when they get to region play, they’ll be fine. Michael Jordan went to Laney. They are called the Wildcats…how are they not The Jordans, or The Swooshes or The GOATs or The Fightin’ Longleys? Ware Shoals (0-2) at Traveler’s Rest (2-0) The Purple Hornets lost 40-0 to the Greenwood Raptors (or the Dining Room Dinosaurs as I think I called them last week) last week and badly to a non-SCHSL team with a roster of 14 players the week before that. Now they are on the road at a 2-0, AAAA Devildogs team. So, you know, this probably isn’t going to go well for them. Ridge Spring-Monetta (0-2) at Whitmire (1-1) This, to me, is where we really get to see what the Trojans are made of for the first time. They had an old-fashioned, physical, “let’s headbutt one another until someone passes out” 15-8 slobberknocker with Batesburg-Leesville in week one. They got knocked around pretty good last week by Saluda, but that’s 0-2 to a pair of good AA teams. They are experienced and really good up front, which I think will still have them playing football well into November. This week they face their first Class A competition in the Wolverines. Whitmire overcame some early turnovers in a 19-6 win over an improving Great Falls team last week. The Wolverines are scrappy as all get out and play hard from the opening kick to the final horn. They also run a hard-to-defend offense (a kind of modified scrum that incorporates a nice outside game and an occasional, but effective passing threat) so it’s a good test for RS-M against someone of like size. Great Falls (1-1) at Lewisville (0-2) Mighty early for these two rivals to be playing, it feels like. For the first time in basically ever, these two county rivals, separated by only nine or so miles of rural State Highway 99, aren’t in the same region or same classification with Lewisville’s jump up to AA. It’ll still be an intense battle, though without the playoff implications that often come with it. The Red Devils are an improved team. After two straight winless seasons, they opened with an 8-6 win over C.A. Johnson, then lost a close one with Whitmire last week. On defense, they’re solid. They’ve forced six or seven turnovers so far, have a ball-hawking secondary and pretty good size on the front line. Last week, the problem was that the offense didn’t get much going and suffered some turnovers. They are still adapting to a new offense and blocking scheme and are using three QBs. They do have some big-play capability, primarily in the form of throwing the ball somewhere in the zip code of 6-foot-6 Kelton Talford. Lewisville has been riddled with injuries and has used four guys at QB as a result. There is some real talent on the team with guys like Jadon Scott, Ja”shawn Jason et al, but it’s a young group overall and, as mentioned, people are hurt and junk. Turnovers were the big problem last week in a 32-22 loss to C.A. Johnson. They gave it up six times, including twice in the end zone going in, so that obviously made a big difference. This match-up has been non-competitive the past few years, so I’m really glad that it stands to be a good game. It’s too good of a rivalry not to be. I’ll be at this one and you can follow along at @CNR_Sports on Twitter is you so desire. Lamar (2-0) at Darlington (0-2) The Silver Foxes, Class A’s top-ranked team, get an interesting challenge tonight. They damaged the bodies and psychies of Hemingway in week one, then beat Pageland 23-0 last week. My understanding is there was no threat whatsoever of that game not being something to 0. Pageland managed only 99 yards. Lamar’s defense has yet to give up a score this year. Offensively, per my super secret Lamar informant, they didn’t have a great outing last week (one score came on a kick return, I think) but Pageland might have something to do with that. Also, Jacquez Lucas only had 11 carries for some reason. Darlington is not especially good on defense, given that they’ve yielded 96 points in two games. They’ve scored a lot, though, (over 30 a game) and this is a big AAAA school. This might be interesting, or Lamar might lay a savage rootin’ on Darlington like they did last year. Who knows? McBee (0-2) at North Central (1-1) The Panthers have had a rough start, falling to Andrew Jackson 45-3 and Chesterfield 47-6 to open the year. It’s a very young team with a new coach and 180 degree turn in offensive philosophy, going from the wishbone to the spread. I have previously pinpointed that McBee’s problem was that the large, very talented Wright contingent had graduated. Well, I was wrong. Thankfully for the Panthers (from what I’ve read) J the procreation cycle has not yet ended. Jaheim Wright ran for 150 yards last week in the loss. They also have absolute burner Tyrece Wright (who I would have sworn graduated last year), though he’s currently out with an injury. Get those two up and running healthy and you might have something. Might not help this week. North Central lost to a good AAA Camden team to open the season, then laid it to AA Columbia last week. Timmonsville (2-0) at Lee Central (0-2) I’ll admit that I slept on the Whirlwinds early, partly because I didn’t realize that supremely athletic QB/DB Jamaric Morris was going to transfer back after initially transferring to Wilson. He’s a difference-maker, especially with the supporting cast he has around him. For exhibit A, see the pick-six he had last week against AAA Edisto that proved to be a game-winner. Lee Central was a feel-good story last year that won a lot of close games but are off to an 0-2 start, though that’s come against two good teams. Blackville-Hilda (1-1) at Allendale-Fairfax (1-1) It’s the battle for the old oaken hyphen trophy. The Hawks opened with a shutout win over the Mr. T Haircuts, then lost to an outstanding AA Barnwell club last week. No shame in that. I still think they are an improved bunch. Allendale, who would be in Class A if the world made any sense, opened with a win, then lost a fairly lopsided game to a good Wade Hampton team…the one in Hampton that’s good in football, not the other’n. Hard to believe, but the next time B-H takes the field after tonight, it will be in a region game. Denmark-Olar (1-1) at Branchville (1-0) The Vikings notched a hard-fought win over the Mr. T Haircuts last week 24-18. Branchville is ranked this week after a 49-name cranksmacking of North. Now, just beating North doesn’t get you ranked, obviously, but I think the Yellow Jackets are definitely a team to keep an eye on. They started 4-1 last year before limping to an 0-5 finish, but it’s a very senior-laden squad with a doable schedule. They get past tonight, they could be in for a good year. Bethune-Bowman (0-2) at North (0-1) The Mr. T Haircuts have played OK on defense so far, but the adaption to a new I offense and the loss of burly man-beast RB Makiah Simmons has had the offense sputtering a little. They still have a superior talent under center in QB Braxton Wedgeworth II esq., which I think will probably be plenty tonight. Wagener-Salley (1-1) at Eau Claire (2-0) BREAK UP THE DADGUM SHAMROCKS! It’s great to see a team that has been so bad for so long enjoying a little bit of success. It has come to teams with a combined record of 0-4, but that has usually not equated to wins for them in the past. They are keeping it simple on offense for the most part, little read option here and there, but they pound you with a good-sized line and an athletic backfield. The boys from Chiltinville lost 19-12 to Fox Creek last week. This is the kind of game they generally excel in. They run the ball, they stop the run and they generally wear you out up front. I may be wrong but Eau Claire isn’t necessarily the kind of team that gives the Stump Whooped Gladiators trouble. It’s athletic teams that stretch the field a bit more. Baptist Hill (0-2) at Burke (1-1) The fellows from Peter’s Point and Hollywood haven’t been laying down the dazzling offensive numbers of the past two years. Obviously the missing ingredient is quarterback Corey Fields, a dynamic playmaker in every sense. There is still talent on hand, though, including 14 starters. Burke opened with a surprise blanking of Cross, but in retrospect that win has lost some luster. Burke lost 41-0 to First Baptist last week. So if the Bobcats don’t get well on offense this week, it might be a while. St. John’s (1-1) at Garrett Academy Technical Tech for Technology (1-1) The Islanders lost in a shootout to AA Andrew Jackson last week, a squad that might be better than I suspected. They put up big offensive numbers and to me are one of the most dangerous Class A squads in terms of special teams. Got a kick return last week and have a kicker who has legit range to 50 yards. Garrett did hold Baptist Hill in check last week, so this isn’t a gimme, but I like the Islanders. C.E. Murray (2-0) at The OC (1-1) I like the fact that the War Eagles have shown a steady hand and won some close games through the first two weeks of the season. Antonio McNight has stepped right in at quarterback and proved to be a nice dual threat. I don’t know a ton about The OC, other than they, you know, they tend to attract good athletes. Bamberg-Ehrhardt (1-0) at Scott’s Branch (1-1) The Eagles are still finding their way on offense a bit, but there’s nothing wrong with their defense. They returned three picks for scores last week, including two my Amonte Brown. They play a challenging schedule, including tonight against B-E, a perennial power that is off to a 1-0 start after a win over O-W in the opener. When this offense gets things going, there is the size and talent on hand here to make the a player in the lowerstate. Hemingway (0-2) at Johnsonville (1-1) Hemingway’s offense has not scored in two games. I’m chalking that up to 16 starters lost, a new coach and a “LAW MERCY” schedule so far. If they don’t show improvement tonight against the Sausages, a team that lost 43-0 to Lake View last week, then the problems may be a bit deeper. Aynor (1-0) at Green Sea-Floyds (1-1) The Trojans lost last week to a very good AA school in Hannah-Pamplico. I still think with their size up front, their stable of talented backs and their senior-laden roster, they are going to be in the hunt. Aynor has a funny name. The end.
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Landrum- 25
Dixie- 3 Lincoln County- 42 McCormick- 8 Greenwood Raptors- 40 Ware Shoals- Remember how many luftballoons Nena sang about? 99 less than that. Whitmire- 19 Great Falls- 6 Lamar- 23 Pageland- Considerably less than Lamar scored. 23 less, actually. Timmonsville- 14 Edisto- 6 Chesterfield- 47 McBee- 6 Barnwell- 40 Blackville-Hilda- 6 Denmark-Olar- 24 Bethune-Bowman- 18 Eau Claire- 14 Hunter-Kinard-Tyler- (An oldie but goodie) WHITE CANDY BAR!!!! Branchville- 49 North- Something incredibly deep and immensely spiritual Saluda- 55 Ridge Spring-Monetta- 12 Fox Creek- 19 Wagener-Salley- 12 Silver Bluff- 56 Williston-Elko- 10 Garrett Technical School for Applied Learning, Linguistics and Long-haul trucking- 12 Baptist Hill- 6 Academic Magnet- 58 Charleston Charter Academy for the Arts, Aerospace Technology and Emu husbandry- 20 Ridgeland-Hardeeville- 29 Estill- They are stylish and completely wind-resistant North Charleston- 16 Military Magnet- 14 Andrew Jackson- 37 St. John’s- 24 C.E. Murray- 26 Lee Central- 20 Whale Branch- 47 Cross- Move along, people Scott’s Branch- 27 East Clarendon- 13 Mullins- 56 Creek Bridge- Freaky ice cream Hannah-Pamplico- 28 Green Sea-Floyds- 12 Andrews- 22 Hemingway- That pizza looks AMAZING Lake View- 43 The Sausages- All the flavor with none of the carbs! Breakdown- It wasn’t a great week for our Class A brethren taking on the big boys this week, having posted a record of only 5-16 in those contests. Among those five victories was a spectacularly unsurprising 23-0 win for Lamar over Pageland Central. The Eagles managed only 99 yards of offense, they gave up six sacks (which probably means they were sacked on every pass attempt no more than they throw it) and they were 1-for-11 on third down conversions. So, in back-to-back week’s nobody has peed a drop against Lamar’s defense. My super secret imbedded Silver Fox source had told me previously that the team was a little young at LB, but very good up front. The youth on the second line hasn’t been an issue to this point, it doesn’t sound like. They have an interesting challenge this week, going to AAAA Darlington. The Falcons are 0-2 but have scored a ton of points through the first two weeks. They probably still have terrible memories of the horrific railing Lamar gave them last season. Memories and a noticeable limp…Timmonsville improved to 2-0 with a 14-6 victory over Edisto. I don’t know how good the Cougars are, but they are a AAA squad that had worked HKT 39-0 the week before. I’ll admit to having Timmonsville a bit under the radar, actually off any radar including the Doppler 17,000 that weather lady Sprinkles Hailstones uses on the channel 19 news, to start the season. The coaching change didn’t really factor in much, but they graduated one of the best, game-breaking WRs in the state and supremely awesome QB/DB Jamaric Morris transferred to Wilson. Well, he transferred back and doggone if he didn’t make the difference against Edisto with a big pick-six. They have a good shot to go 3-0 this week with a game at Lee Central…Speaking of the ponies, or wild mustangs or whatever they call themselves, they lost to the current number two team in Class A in C.E. Murray 26-20 in overtime. The War Eagles have now won two games by a total of 10 points, having nipped the sausages 16-12 last week. Frankly, I like seeing teams that have been battle-tested a little bit and have shown the ability to win close games. Remember last year when Hemingway was just cranksmacking everybody in the face with a hammer, closest game was a two-touchdown victory over Lake View then got in a tight game (to C.E. Murray BTW) in the playoffs and lost? To me, to have one of the best players to ever suit up in Greeleyville (Darius Rush) graduate and last year’s stat-tastic QB transfer and be 2-0 against a pair of pretty competitive AA teams, I think you take that. They’ll get even stiffer tests the next two weeks playing The OC Semi-pros and Mullins…Scott’s Branch got the first victory of the Brian Smith era with a 27-13 win over East Clarendon. The Eagles haven’t put up giant numbers offensively yet, though I think that is coming, What they did this past week was return THREE picks for touchdowns. So, obviously they are opportunistic on defense, and crazy athletic. Two of those came via Amonte Brown, who Smith thinks has D-1 potential. If the offense comes along, this team has the talent to be a total handful by the time they start playing Class A competition in mid-September…None of the “up” losses really shocked me, though some of the final scores did. I still think Ridge Spring-Monetta will be a contender down the line. They often play a big boy schedule early, get off to a slow start then get rolling by the time region and the playoffs start. No shame in losing to a good Saluda team, but I was surprised it was as lopsided as it was given what I expect of RS-M’s defense and the clock-controlling offense they run. This week against a pesky and tough Whitmire team will tell the story. Same for Williston. They’ve played way up in competition the past two weeks and it hasn’t gone well. Given the big numbers they have and the supreme talent they possess in guys like Keshawn Toney, I was expecting closer games against Barnwell and Silver Bluff. I may have downplayed the big graduation losses a bit too much. Again, we should get a more clear picture of them as they face Allendale-Fairfax next Friday after a week off...Green Sea-Floyds and Dixie both lost tough games after big wins to start the season. I still like the potential of both in the long-term. Hard to knock them too far losing "up" games to what look like really good teams. The Beavis and Butthead conundrum- THEY’RE NEVER GONNA SCORE! Well maybe not never, but a couple of offenses we’ve become accustomed to seeing chew up yards faster than a team of hungry ninny goats have done big, fat nothing this year. Baptist Hill had one of the most prolific offenses we’ve ever seen last year. They still have Marion Brown at the controls, who certainly knows how to call a play that works, they have 14 starters back from last year including three receivers who put up inane, pinball level stats last season. Even with all that, I wondered how losing one of the best QBs I’ve seen in recent memory (Corey Fields) would impact them. So far, they have two touchdowns in two games, including one this past week against Garrett A&M Academy, upon whom they imparted a colossal rogering last season. Then you have HKT, a team that sometimes struggles at stopping people but puts up points on most everybody. Well, thus far, they lost to Edisto 39-0 and Eau Claire 14-0. I’ve seen Eau Claire and while they do have good size up front and some athletes, they’re defense didn’t really look like a impenetrable wall equipped with razor wire and gun turrets. In HKT’s case, it could just be that they have less than 200 kids, they graduated a great QB in Devante Scott and a do-it-all skill guy in Camry James (who was very much like what you’d get if a cheetah and a lightning bolt somehow mated and had children) and it takes a while to develop younger talent, if it’s on hand at all. They do face a Class A opponent this week in the Mr. T Haircuts, which might level the playing field for them a tad. Then we have Hemingway, whose offense has scored NOT NAM points in two games. They lost 16 starters from last year, they have a new coach and their right-out-of-the-box slate of Lamar and Andrews might have been a recipe for DERPDY DOO from the get-go. They have some super, high-level talent with Darius Taylor and Darius Williams and I think they’ll start to find themselves offensively this week when they battle the Sausages. Poll Time I’ll get back to my ridiculous cross-breeding of Class A polls with countdown shows next week. I’ve actually had requests to do a Dellilah After Dark style version, which either means I’m supposed to work in songs for the lovelorn, or have 27 children. A “cryin’, lovin’, laughin’ or leavin’” version is also in the works. This week, though, I’ll just give you my top 10, followed by what the full S.C. Prep Media Top 10 looked like. You’ll notice I moved Lake View up a bit, vaulted Timmonsville into the top 5, dropped teams who had tough losses to good teams (RS-M, Green Sea and Dixie) a few spots and made room for Branchville, who has a senior-laden team I think bears watching. 1. Lamar 2. C.E. Murray 3. Lake View 4. Timmonsville 5. Green Sea-Floyds 6. Dixie 7. Ridge Spring-Monetta 8. Wagener-Salley 9. Branchville 10. Scott’s Branch S.C. Prep Media Poll 1. Lamar (16) 2. C.E. Murray 3. Lake View 4. Wagener-Salley 5. Ridge Spring-Monetta 6. Dixie and Timmonsville (tie) 8. Green Sea-Floyds 9. Branchville 10. Hemingway Suggested Reading I didn’t go to Great Falls v Whitmire, but I made some crap up and printed it in the newspaper anyway. You can read multiple game capsules here and even more here or can be ignorant for the rest of your dang life, Roy. Choice is yours. Amonte Brown is apparently good at football. Mullins walked all over Creek Bridge Friday. See what I did there? Cuz, um, you walk on a bridge? HAHAHAHA!!!!!!! Six starters back + Lamar and Andrews= DERPDY DOO, as we discussed earlier. I don’t know how Andrew Jackson got to St. John’s, but I think it involves abandoning your bus and crossing several streams on a donkey. Landrum (1-0) at Dixie (1-0)
The Hornets authored an enormous upset last week, blanking Christ Church 19-0. With a big, experienced line and most of their backfield returning from last year I figured they were going to be good, but wasn’t sure how good. You look at the past two seasons (when they posted winning records) and Dixie had a grant total of one win over a SCHSL team that finished with a winning record. Beating Ware Shoals and Calhoun Falls Charter and Bob’s Boarding House for People with Tiny Hands and Jimmy Jack’s Living Room Rangers was certainly better than they’d done in a while. I needed to see them win against quality competition and brother, I saw it. To physically beat the Cavaliers up front like they did essentially announced them as a legit contender. I don’t know a ton about Landrum other than they laid a whoopin’ on Blue Ridge last week 42-0. So this could be a good game. Lincoln County (0-1) at McCormick (0-1) The first game of the post-Mataeo Durant era didn’t go really well for the Chiefs as they were blanked by Crescent 44-0. Hard to tell much from a small Class A team playing a AAA squad, though. For most of the last four years, McCormick’s offense was a one-trick pony. Now, it was an amazing trick. The pony rode a unicycle backwards while whistling “America the beautiful” out of its nose and recreating the Sistine Chapel on an Etch-a-sketch. Now, Silas Cannady played really well last year when Durant was dinged up and I think has the skill to make their wishbone offense go, just maybe not when playing up like they did last week. I know that Lincoln County is in Georgia, lost to Harlem badly last week and is probably named after a former president or the logs I played with as a child. Bout all I can offer on them. Greenwood Raptors at Ware Shoals (1-0) Ware Shoals has obviously fallen on very hard times. They were on the business end of a colossal rootin’ last week at the hands of Oakbrook Prep, which dresses 15 kids and had never beaten a public school before. As I understand it, the Purple Hornets don’t have many more players than that, sadly and the program has struggled for several years now. Here’s hoping they still shoot the cannon and sell tasty, tasty BBQ nachos at the concession stand. I previously did not know the Greenwood Raptors were a thing that existed. I’m going to take a stab and say either home-school team or a former crack commando unit sent to prison for a crime they didn’t commit that escaped and now survives as soldiers of fortune. Whitmire (0-1) at Great Falls (1-0) Whitmire lost to Mid-Carolina 33-7 last week. From what I read, though, the game was actually a little close than that sounds like. It was 14-7 midway through the second and Mid-Carolina popped a couple of quick scores, then added one fairly late in the fourth. The boys from behind the wall, next to the public course in the Pearl of the Piedmont also ran the ball really well and consistently. I think Coach Jenkins (no relation) is going to win his share of games this year. Great Falls broke a 24-game losing streak and it was freakin’ glorious to watch. I hate seeing programs struggle the way they have in the recent years. In that 8-6 victory over C.A. Johnson, their defense forced four turnovers, made a pair of goal line stands and made a lot of tackles in the backfield. They played their tails off. The offense is still a work in progress as they adapt to a new philosophy but lobbing it up in the direction of 6-foot-6 receiver Kelton Talford seemed to be a thing that worked and that I would try repeatedly. This has the potential to be an immensely entertaining game, I think. Lamar (1-0) at Pageland Central (0-1) Here’s all you need to know about Lamar…they left Hemingway, perennial contender, possesses at least two D-1 quality studs, Hemingway, and left them bow-legged and drooling in their wake. Pageland lost to Broome 46-14, so, you know, this one may not go well for them. Chesterfield at McBee (0-1) The Panthers are breaking in a new offense, are young, there appears to be a gap in the procreation cycle of the Wright family. They not only lost to Andrew Jackson 45-3, they managed 80-some yards of offense and gave up nearly 500. So, a trip to the powerhouse AA Rams doesn’t seem like a good opportunity to get well. Denmark-Olar at Bethune-Bowman (0-1) The annual battle for the silver hyphen spittoon commences tonight. This is the opener for the Vikings, who have a new head coach in Derrell Pringle, a terrific RB/KR with Dentel Nelson and a decent-sized group of seniors. They also have skeeters there that require FAA clearance to take off, but that’s largely beside the point. The Mr. T Haircuts, despite having the veteran, athletic law firm of Braxton and Wedgeworth under center produced a grand total of NOT NAM in their new Pro-I offense against Blackville-Hilda. HKT (0-1) at Eau Claire (1-0) The Trojans got worn out last week against Edisto, but again, it’s hard to really judge one of the state’s smallest schools when playing against a AAA squad. The Shamrocks on the other end went to Lewisville, gave up a kick-off return on the opening play of the season, but bounced back and won going away 44-18. They ran a punt and fumble back for scores, but they have an athletic backfield and some nice size up front, both of which may present some issues tonight. North at Branchville North has won one game in the past three years. Haven’t been able to find much information on them. North is one of those places that’s not especially close to anywhere, where information travels via carrier pigeon and Fercie May Rae Williams at over at Antioch Baptist Church. She always was bad to gossip. Anyway, they’re playing Branchville, which seemed to kinda, sorta start turn things around a little bit last year. They’ve got 11 seniors, which is a big group for a small Class A team and a three-year starter at QB in Zach Wiles, a junior. They are apparently experimenting with a no-huddle offense that will be more multiple and have a couple of good weapons on offense for Wiles to lean on. They might have a chance to be a bit of surprise this year. Saluda (0-1) at Ridge Spring-Monetta (0-1) Don’t worry for one second about RS-M losing last week by a touchdown in a low-scoring slugfest to a good AA team in Batesburg-Leesvile. Likewise, don’t fret none if they’re 0-2 tonight after playing another strong AA program. They remain a contender either way. Fox Creek at Wagener-Salley (1-0) Chitlin-vania ran the ball and played defense in a 22-0 win over a not-especially-good Pelion team last week. That’s their deal Chitlin gonna chitlin, I guess. Fox Creek…uh, it’s in North Augusta, their mascot shares a name with an Arnold Schwarzenegger film and really, if you’re going to pick one for a mascot, Predators is a good one. Commandos or Terminators would be pretty sweet too, Twins would suffice and the Running Men wouldn’t suck. Kindergarten Cops and Red Sonjas would be straight trash, though. What was I talking about now? Williston-Elko (0-1) at Silver Bluff No clue what happened to W-E last week. Maybe things got away from them and started snowballing a little in their blowout loss to Barnwell. It could just be that the War Horses are real, real dang good. Or maybe W-E isn’t as good as I suspected. Or maybe they are gas station wieners for their pre-game meal and all got sick. Who knows man. Baptist Hill (0-1) at Garrett Applied Technical Institute A&M The Bobcats seem to have the tools to contend in the lowerstate. They have 14 starters back, including Rashad Maxwell, who had a completely fake-sounding 19 touchdown catches last year. They don’t frightening football cyborg Corey Fields at QB, though, and only put eight points up in a loss to The OC’s semi-pro squad. They beat Garrett 48-8 last year, so this might be a better indicator of what we can expect offensively going forward. Ridgeland/Hardeeville at Estill (0-1) The Fightin’s Gators (the “fightin’” is to distinguish from the the wild gators, I reckon) gave Allendale-Fairfax a pretty good game before falling 24-14 on Monday. Ridgeland/Hardeeville I know little about. They’re named like Hardees, which does give me a jumping off point to plead with the restaurant chain to stop playing “let’s see how much crap we can fit between two pieces of bread” and bring back the big cookie. You’ve got the Cajun squirrel, buffalo short rib, jalapeno western explosion chipotle sourdough EXTREME burger, but not a big cookie. Fix that. The Charleston Charter School For Bovine Fertility Studies and Machine Shop at Academic Magnet The Riptide got blown out 56-nam by Porter Gaud last week. Academic Magnet beat an academy I’ve never heard of by a lot. I know very little about what Academic Magnet runs offensive, other than it is probably complex as crap. Military Magnet (0-1) at North Charleston Military Magnet got bombed by Lake Marion last week. First line in and I’m already making military/football cross reference jokes. I apologize. Andrew Jackson (1-0) at St. John’s (1-0) This is an odd match-up…not so much because it’s a Class A team vs. a AA team, but because I don’t think it’s possible to get from Lancaster County to St. John’s high school without parking your bus, boarding a donkey a fording across a creek or something. They may need a Sherpa. What the what man? That’s one of the longest road trips I’ve heard of in a while. It should be a pretty entertaining game. The Vols pretty much did whatever they wanted to in slapping McBee about, going for 320 on the ground and 120 in the air. St. John’s worked Phillip Simmons, scoring on special teams and moving the ball in chunks on the ground. The Islanders are young but they have a combo of size up front and athletes on the back end that make them formidable. This is a good opportunity, in my opinion, for them to get another AA scalp. Lee Central (0-1) at C.E. Murray (1-0) Lee Central lost to Wade Hampton last week 24-7. Can’t judge a team by one game but I smell burning, the kind flashes in the pan often make. C.E. Murray took out Kingstree 16-12, combining big plays in the passing game with a defense that just sort steer horns you in the face until you give in to their unmerciful sense of bovine justice…whatever that means. Scott’s Branch (0-1) at East Clarendon SB had a tough time with Manning last week, but this seems like a nice bounceback opportunity. Cross (0-1) at Whale Branch (1-0) After getting junk punched by Burke last week, this does not seem like a good match-up for a very young Cross team that has only three seniors. Andrews at Hemingway (0-1) The Tigers were on the wrong end of a profound rootin’ last week, 69-7, at the hands of Lamar. Andrews ain’t usually a walk in the park either. They don’t have many soft touches on the schedule at all really, but it’ll interesting to see how they respond to the unpleasant spectacle that unfolded for them last week. Green Sea-Floyds (1-0) at Hannah-Pamplico (1-0) Both teams should be coming in on a high note. GS-F rolled some directionally-named school from NC 49-0 while H-P pulled out a great win over a talented Lake View squad. GS-F is physical as crap and really just want to pound it down your gullet with a stable of talented backs. They’re nasty up front and on defense and are being slept on in a big way. H-P will throw it a little more, but basically they’ll find as many ways to get it to RB Eric Mays as possible. He went for nearly 200 last week. This has game of the week potential. 9. It seems ridiculous now, but once upon a time I was certain my path to untold riches and fame lied in intro-ing Jon Secada records and listening intently on the other end of the Swap-N-Shop line as Pern from Una informed our audience she had a three-legged ninny goat with a nervous bladder available for sale or trade. I was a radio DJ, sports announcer and newscaster for a good while, but one of my first jobs was sitting and pushing buttons during countdown shows. A 10-minute segment would run, then I would play a commercial or a PSA about how you shouldn’t be self-conscious about talking to your doctor when your poo looks weird, then I’d start the next segment. Then Casey would read a request and dedication from a listener and play a song that was totally inappropriate for the occasion. Like, little Larry Fahrquar in Monkey’s Eyebrow, Kentucky (real town, look it up) would want to have a song played in memory of his dearly departed goldfish and Casey would play “Sex and Candy” or something. Then I’d play more commercials and strange PSAs and so on an so forth. Four hours of that would seem to rank somewhere just shy of “staring at your own toes” on the interesting meter, but I’ve always liked music and for me, an odd level of excitement would always build as the shows went along. Sure, Gloria Estefan has had an iron grip on the top spot for the past three weeks, but some really chill guys in bathrobes rapping over an old Spandau Ballet song are coming fast. WATCH YOUR BACK GLORIA! I also ran country countdowns, so maybe Doug Supernaw was trying to end Reba’s horrific reign of terror at number one, and R&B countdowns, in which case Luther Vandross was told “No you’re never gonna get it” by En Vogue regarding the top spot. Alas, computers now play the poo PSAs during countdown shows as humans continue to plot their own unemployment and ultimate demise.
At this point you may be asking what in the actual, whole crap does Jon Secada have to do with Class A football polls. Well, sometimes I get bored with writing stuff like “that QB from Timmonsville can hum it now” so I like cross-pollenate my top 10 Class A poll with my countdown-playing past. I’ll probably go the R&B and country route on future countdowns, er, polls, but for now, CASEY PLAYS THE HITS! 10. Baptist Hill- The Bobcats are down two spots from last week for me after a 17-8 loss to The OC. Losing to what should be a good AA school that can, um, entice student-athletes from outside a traditional attendance area, isn’t that big a deal, really. Defensively Baptist Hill played pretty well, but as I said last week, I’m taking a wait-and-see approach on their offense. They have 14 total starters back including three receivers who I believe all caught 40 or more balls last year. What they don’t have is unstoppable gridiron cyborg Corey Fields at QB. I just want to see them excel offensively without him against quality competition before I move them higher. John Waite and the boys from Bad English just want to see you smile. They crack the top 10 this week on Casey’s Top 40. 9. Blackville-Hilda- I admit early season polls are very reactionary exercises. There isn’t much to go on yet, so everything available gets magnified so maybe I’m overreacting to last week here. When the Hawks had a bit of resurgence a few years ago, they ran a funky single-wing-ish thing on offense that featured an elephant-sized quarterback running sweeps and power behind five linemen and two TEs all roughly the size of my car. If they could physically outmuscle you, they did, grinding you down and using your powdery remains to bake really disgusting victory biscuits. They seem to be back on that track since they ran the ball well and obviously played well on the other side, since they shut out a Mr. T Haircuts team that sports an athletic, senior QB. That’s a defensive Masterpiece. Speaking of which, Atlantic Starr is down two notches this week. 8. Wagener-Salley- The Hand Slung Bandits ran the ball and played good defense in a 22-0 shutout of Pelion on Friday. That is nothing new as the team has done that the past two years. Against many on their schedule, they can engage in an old-timey tater-kicking contest and come out on top most every time. Where they’ve been bit the past few years has been when they’ve run into athletic teams that spread it out and throw the ball. If I see an indication they can do that, this ranking will be much higher. Running the ball and defending the run are great but sometimes they aren’t enough. Sometimes love isn’t enough either according to the lovely Ms. Patty Smyth. 7. Lake View- The Wild Gators are going to be just fine. They have an dual-threat QB in Adarrian Dawkins, 13 starters back from last year and a proven track record of consistent success. They lost close to what is going to be a surprisingly good AA Hannah-Pamplico team. If you’ve paid attention to them you’ll understand that wasn’t an upset and wasn’t strange. Strange is a techno band teaming up with George Jones’ ex-wife to sing a song about ice cream vans in Moo Moo Land, but dang if that didn’t happen too. 6. St. John’s- If I did a top 11, this team would have been ranked last week, but that isn’t how this stuff works, Jimbo. Casey mighta wanted to play whatever song was at number 41, but he didn’t. I don’t know a whole lot about Phillip Simmons other than they are a AA team and St. John’s threw a prodigious stompin’ on them last week. This team is well coached, big up front and athletic on the back end with a good kicking game. They get some more experience under their belts and it could be the whole new world that Peabo and Regina sing about in some Disney movie and at number six on the countdown. 5. Green Sea-Floyds- This team is SO flying under the radar and shouldn’t be. They beat a directionally-named team from North Carolina last week. I don’t know if they are any good or not, but they did what good teams do in that instance, which is to beat the hound out of them. They are experienced, they got their offense going like a turbo vette, they are physical and I think they are primed to kick some butts this year. Some big butts. I cannot lie. You other brothers can’t deny that Sir Mix-A-Lot is up five big notches this week. 4. C.E. Murray- The War Eagles seem to have found a good quarterback in Antonio McKnight and if last week is any indication, the defense didn’t take to sucking in the offseason. They lost some big-time talent from last year but I tend to view this program now as one that has established a tradition that isn’t going away. A wind of change is blowing in Greeleyville…and also in Germany, inspiring Klaus Meine to whistle and mumble a buncha stuff I can’t understand in this smash hit that cracks our top five this week. 3. Dixie- I take the Hornets from unranked clean up to number three because, with only one possible exception, no one in Class A had as impressive a win as they did last week. This is a program that has struggled for years but has slowly built to this moment. To not only beat Christ Church but to shut them out is a program-defining, signature-type win. And they did it by physically whipping the Cavs up front and with a one-two punch at running back of Daveon Donald and Chandler Smalley. It’s an experienced bunch too, which is a plus. Not going to lie, when I saw their score, I said “DAMN.” Sophie B. Hawkins says it too, because she possesses poor moral fiber and demonstrates it at number three. 2. Ridge Spring-Monetta- I’m not going to let a 15-8 loss to a very good AA Batesburg-Leesville team sour me on the Trojans. They have the experience, talent and physical nature to possibly, finally vanquish Williston-Elko in their region and contend in the upperstate. So for the second straight week they will Stay at number two. Shakespears Sister will also Stay near the top with their freaky selves. 1. Lamar- Big fat duh here. They took an admittedly young but supposedly very talented Hemingway team and hung 69 points on them. Offensively, Hemingway was like a frustrated gentleman in a saw palmetto commercial…couldn’t squeeze out a drop. Jacquez Lucas is one of the best players in the state, they are good up front, they continue to manhandle everyone in their path and have now won 36 of their last 37 games. I can’t possibly rank them High Enough...and the same goes for uncle Ted and them Damn Yankees. Until next time, keep your feet in the air and your head on the floor, or something like that. Greenwood Christian- 42 Calhoun Falls Charter- 14 Dixie- 19 Christ Church- TELL ‘EM BOUT IT DWIGHT Crescent- 44 McCormick- TELL ‘EM BOUT IT BOYHOOD CRUSHES OF MINE Oakbrook Prep- 44 Ware Shoals- 8 Mid-Carolina- 33 Whitmire- 7 Great Falls- 8 C.A. Johnson- 6 Lamar- All of the points (69) Hemingway- 7 Andrew Jackson- 45 McBee- 3 Timmonsville- 14 East Clarendon- 12 Blackville-Hilda- 28 Bethune-Bowman- TELL ‘EM BOUT IT MARK Edisto- 39 HKT- TELL ‘EM BOUT IT DAVE Batesburg-Leesville- 15 Ridge Spring-Monetta- 8 Wagener-Salley- 22 Pelion- TELL ‘EM BOUT IT TOM Barnwell- 54 Williston-Elko- 6 The OC- 17 Baptist Hill- 8 Porter-Gaud- 56 That place across from Rodney Scott’s new BBQ restaurant- TELL ‘EM BOUT IT BILLY Allendale-Fairfax v Estill- It come up a bad cloud Military Magnet- 32 Lake Marion- 14 St. John’s- 36 Phillip Simmons- 6 C.E. Murray- 16 Kingstree- 12 Burke- 26 Cross- TELL ‘EM BOUT IT DARIUS Manning- 28 Scott’s Branch- TELL ‘EM BOUT IT KEITH The Sausages- 42 Creek Bridge- I am totally running out of musical ways to convey zero points being scored. Green Sea-Floyds- 49 West Columbus- Seriously. A safety or something, please… Hannah-Pamplico- 28 Lake View- 26 Breakdown- Class A teams went 7-9 against their higher classification counterparts this week. To me, there was not a more significant victory than Dixie’s 19-0 shutout of Christ Church. I’ve talked before about how Dixie has taken some nice steps forward the past two years but did so a against a schedule that included some non-SCHSL private schools and loose bands home schooled kids. They have stepped that up considerably, eschewing Jimmy Jack’s Living Room Rangers for folks like the Cavaliers. I knew they were going to be strong up front and knew they had a stable of good running backs, but I wanted to see how they performed against a beefier schedule before passing judgment on them. I now cast judgment; they are good. I don’t care how many starters Christ Church lost from last year. You’re talking about a school that dominated Class A as recently as three years ago and has remained fairly competitive in the AA ranks. Deiveon Donald had 126 yards on the ground and Chandler Smalley had a good night with a rushing touchdown. That, plus the big fat nothing on the other side of the scoreboard tells me they won the physical battle up front. If they can do that Christ Church, they can do it to a lot of folks. This is a signature win for the program and should serve notice that the Hornets are for real… I went to one of the other Class A “up” wins, that being Great Falls’ victory over C.A. Johnson. The Red Devils have had a very rough go of things recently, having not won a game since 2015. I carry on a lot here about teams being on the receiving end of rootins and crank smacks and whatnot (I’ll do that here shortly) but honestly, I hate seeing any program struggle the way the Red Devils have. On top of this being a fairly storied program, it sucks to see kids and coaches work so hard and get no reward for it in terms of wins. They celebrated like they won state Friday and they should have. I don’t know how good C.A. Johnson is, but they were big as crap up front and had some really good athletes. They also dressed 30-something, whereas Great Falls, with some kids injured, brought 19 to the party. Well, those 19 played their tails off. Kelton Talford at 6’6, with arms the length of pine trees and spring-loaded legs, is close to not being coverable. He scored their lone touchdown and generally jumped over shorter school children to catch lots of fades. Their defense turned the Hornets away at the goal line twice, forced four turnovers and made that lead stand up. I don’t think it’s out of the question to look forward and find more success for Great Falls this year… St. John’s welcomed Phillip Simmons to SCHSL football with a sound kick square to the ouchie place. I took in one of their practices this summer and was impressed with their size up front and overall team speed. They also had a kicker who was banging 45-yarders through the uprights with relative ease. Seriously, teed it up somewhere on Kiawah and snuck it over the crossbar at St. John’s. The only thing they lacked was experience, with a lot of underclassmen being counted on. Well, they’ve obviously picked things up quickly. Several guys had big nights for them, including Tyrus Richardson, who ran a kickoff back for a score, he caught the ball well and had a big night running it. With AJ, Garrett Applied Technical A&M at Charleston and North Charleston coming up, the Islanders have a chance to get a couple of more “up” wins before they get into region play… I felt like going into last week that Lamar was the best Class A team in the state and that they’d handle Hemingway. “Handle” and “vicious toolin’” are two different things, however. I talked to my super secret Lamar informant about this one. He actually thinks Hemingway will end up being OK in the long run. He took into account that they lost a bunch of seniors from last year and have a new coach. He said they looked a little gassed as the contest went on. He said Lamar played well up front and that (shocker) Jacquez Lucas is a scary robot football ninja with chainsaw hands that has mastered the art of time travel. I think he’s one of the best running backs in the state regardless of classification. My informant said the Silver Foxes are a little unproven at linebacker, which, given that they shut out Hemingway (their one score was a fumble return), once they get some experience under their belts, DADGUM. They place Pageland this week while Hemingway’s perilous minefield of a schedule takes them to Andrews, Sausageville, Carver’s Bay, Lakewood and C.E. Murray the next few weeks. Honestly, you come out of that stretch at 2-4, you probably feel pretty good about it… There were only a few Class A “up” losses that surprised me. I think some folks were surprised by Hannah-Pamplico’s narrow win over Lake View. I wasn’t, only because I’ve heard from a lot of folks that the people in H-P think they may have one of the best team’s in recent memory. Eric Mays will probably run for 7 or 8 miles this year behind a good offensive line. They also got points in the kicking game thanks to Cam Profit’s 90-yard kickoff return. Defensively they did about as good a job on Wild Gators QB Adarrian Dawkins as is possible (since he ONLY had three touchdowns). There was also a timeout that was or wasn’t called, then a 15-yard penalty on a coach and a hat flingin’ of some variety that seemed to impact the outcome. Whatever. Lake View is going to be fine in the long run. They have play with the sausages next but have as brutal a stretch imaginable coming up with games against Dillon and Lamar. The other score that surprised me was Burke’s shutout of Cross. Burke has struggled for years in Class A and AA and Cross is generally a lowcountry contender. The thing is, they are a very small school and in those situations talent can ebb and flow a bit. When you’ve got 200-ish kids, you can end up with an imbalance of boys to girls on a pure genetic crapshoot. Having 140 girls and 60 boys is most beneficial in some ways (like, say in finding a prom date) but can create some havoc where football is concerned. Cross lost a top-tier talent from last year in RB/LB Nate Walker who is at Wofford now, where I expect he’ll soon be making a collection of Paladins and Bulldogs question why they chose to participate in competitive athletics. Other talent is gone too and Cross has three seniors on the roster this year. The schedule gives them no breaks either, with Whale Branch, Timberland, Kingstree, Baptist Hill, Lake Marion and C.E. Murray on the horizon. They don’t play a like-sized school until Branchville in early October. Quick hits- I figured Timmonsville High might struggle a bit this year, what with super-athletic quarterback Jamaric Morris having transferred to Wilson. He apparently transferred back, or somehow plays for both or something. But anyway, their fortunes have improved…I don’t know much about West Columbus (other than it probably isn’t near East Columbus) but Green Sea-Floyds left marks on them with a 49-0 flogging. People seem to be sleeping on GS-F and that’s a mistake…Some people might see the 15-8 final score of the Batesburg-Leesville v Ridge Spring-Monetta game and think YAWNY MCYAWNSTEIN. I see it and think of the fight scene from “They Live” (parental guidance for language and violence) Which is to say awesome and crazy and probably not a thing that can actually happen in real life. Seriously, five straight flying knee drops to the groin and you’ve somehow got the energy to execute s leg sweep, grab a board, bust a windshield and laugh about it? Right. They probably stomped the crap out of each other is my point. RS-M is still one of my favorites in Class A this year….Military Magnet totally blitzed Lake Marion. Their defense was strong and their offense was explosive and I’m making football/military cross-reference jokes and should be ashamed of myself. Suggested Reading and watching Great Falls broke a two-plus year losing streak, if anything this hack writes is to be believed. If you don't like words and junk you can see some moving pictures here. I didn’t realize “hat-flinging” was a penalty. I wonder if it was ball cap, or if Daryl King rocks a fedora or beanie on the sidelines? You can read about various lowcountry games right here or can choose not too. I can only lead you to the water, Hoss. The boys from behind the wall, next to the public course ran the ball well but came up short against Mid-Carolina. Ever wonder what's it like to cover prep sports for a living? It involves dump trucks, poop and drunken chain crews according to this story. Calhoun Falls Charter at Greenwood Christian
The Blue Flashes are coming off a difficult season that, if memory serves, saw their roster drop to about 11 kids at one point last year because of injury and attrition. It’s hard to imagine a more trying situation than that. “Coach, my hamstring tightened up again.” “RUB SOME DIRT ON IT JIMMY!” Seriously, kudos to those guys for sticking it out and finishing their season in 2017.From what I’ve read, the number are up somewhat, new coach Chris Watts has brought some new excitement and they appear to have an athletic QB in Avant Haris. Greenwood Christian, uh, is a Christian school in Greenwood and their coach’s name is Jolly Doolittle, which sound like a really happy pirate. Bout all I got for you on this’n Hoss. Dixie at Christ Church The Hornets have taken nice, incremental steps forward in recent years. Part of the way they’ve built confidence and manufactured some momentum is by scheduling down a bit out-of-region. Now with a couple of winning seasons under their belt, they are bidding farewell to loose bands of homeschooled children and stepping things up with a game against the Cavaliers. I haven’t paid as much attention to Christ Church since they moved up to AA, but I’ll take a stab here and guess they’ve somehow replenished the talent they graduated at the skill spots. They have all five guys back up front on offense. Dixie as a veteran backfield with RBs Chandler “Stuart” Smalley, Deiveon Donald and QB Bradley Nickles. Have some returners back up front too. I always applaud teams who are willing to schedule beefy, growed up man schedules. Dixie is doing that in a game that should serve as a good barometer of their progress. McCormick at Crescent For the first time since I started this INCREDIBLY POPULAR football and meat blog, the Chiefs will not have Mataeo Durant lined up in the backfield. I’m not sure how you adequately replace a talent like his without the help of some ethically-sketchy laboratory where they clone people and cross breed derby stallions with missiles. Seriously, not only was he a freakish athlete, he played like his britches were on fire and the opposition had stolen his water buckets. Silas Cannady will try to fills those trigundous shoes and the team has a good FB in Zi Holloway and an athletic QB with Caderrious Parks. They should do fine by the time region play starts. Not sure what to make of Crescent. They are a AAA team but three of their four wins last year came over small Class A programs. Mid-Carolina at Whitmire The Wolverines were a very young bunch last year, yet still won four games and contended for a region crown. Coach Charlie Jenkins gets every ounce of everything he can squeeze out of his teams. They run a double-wing offense, but unlike most squads who go that route, they don’t just bore the crap out of onlookers with 50 runs up the gut a game. They work a nice inside/outside game and do as good a job as anyone in this kind of offense at sucking you in and then crank-smacking you with the deep ball. Their kids also play their tails off. Haven’t seen Mid-Carolina this year, but I did last year in the preseason and thought they looked pretty good…and they proceeded to go 1-9 a year after a winless campaign so holy wow am I a keen judge of talent. C.A. Johnson at Great Falls I’ll be taking this one in tonight. The Red Devils are still really young, but they have some talent. Kaleb Funderburk is a good little QB who understands the offense and makes good decisions with the ball. James Strong runs with nice speed and Kelton Talford might be Class A’s most dynamic WR at 6’6 with spring-loaded legs. The team is scrapping the spread (though they’ll still work in some multiple receiver sets) in favor of a Cowboys-style, inside/outside zone rushing attack. In their jamboree matchup with Lewisville last week, though, what really stood out is how well the defense played. From my understanding, C.A. Johnson, like Great Falls, doesn’t have great numbers, but they have a few good athletes and are running their normal spread offense that will take a lot of deep shots. This is a chance for someone to get off to a good start. C.A. Johnson has two wins in the past two years, while Great Falls has 0. Now that I think about it, Great Falls’ last win was over C.A. Johnson…hmmmm. McBee at Andrew Jackson The Panthers are entering a new era with the retirement of Coach Charlie Poole, the most successful head man in program history. The new coach is Johnny Kline, a VERY young guy getting his first shot at running a program. My understanding is that he is bringing a spread attack with him…which makes my want to gauge my eyes out with my car keys. For as long as I have covered Class A football, the Panthers have run some variation of the bone. When a system is that ingrained, these changes are sometimes difficult and as unappealing to look at as a mayonnaise jar full of turtle poop. The program has also graduated a metric butt ton of talent in the past few years. Oddly, most of the really good players were named Wright. So, their prodigious procreation will need to pick back up. Seriously, they had an incredible run of talent the last few years, so they’ll hopefully have some youngsters step up. A.J. went 3-7 last year. Hemingway at Lamar How about this for a dadgum match-up on August 17th. You have the defending Class A champion Lamar Silver Foxes playing host to perennial contender Hemingway in what should be one of the state’s best match-ups. Lamar lost QB Rashard Coleman, a couple of backfield weapons including Tyrik Herrion and took a hit at LB. What they have is super-stud RB Jacquez Lucas, most of the O line back, several nice defensive pieces and a warehouse full of industrial strength, 55-gallon drums of whoopass. Hemingway was harder hit by graduation (16 starters) and has undergone an offseason coaching change. Darius Taylor, a phenomenal athlete, has been moved to QB and they have a DE Darius Williams who…seriously, skeeters hitting my windshield have a better shot at stopping my car than offensive linemen do blocking that guy. This should be a great one. Bethune-Bowman at Blackville-Hilda These two programs will engage in the battle for the Old Oaken Hyphen Trophy…or they should anyway. Both squads are breaking in new coaches with longtime Bambegr-Ehrhardt DC Corey Crosby taking over the Hawks and Glynn Darby ascending to the throne in the land of Mr. T Haircuts. I don’t know a ton about the Hawks other than in the preseason they’ve primarily been a running team, they’ve moved the ball effectively and Dylan Dickerson has been their leading rusher. I also know that defensively, they have a DL named Bobo, who I plan to glorify to the fullest extent possible because seriously…BOBO! The Mr. T Haircuts lost RB/angry-rocket-fueled-bowling-ball Makiah Simmons at running back from last year, but do return Braxton Wedgeworth III esq. (whose name either sounds like a golf pro at Fuzzwood Golf Estates, or a personal injury lawyer) who has a chance to be one of Class A’s best QBs. He’s an athletic guy who throws the ball well and I’m figuring the new offense (they’ve gone from spread to I) will be centered around his skills. Edisto at Hunter-Kinard-Tyler HKT is coming off a nice season that saw them win a playoff game, but they’ll be breaking in a new quarterback in Daijon Palmer. The good news is he’s playing behind what is supposed to be an improved offensive line and the team does have nine starters back on defense, which is a plus. As an aside, let me log a complaint…Hunter-Kinard-Tyler is not located in Hunter, Kinard or Tyler. It’s in Neeces. Why isn’t the name of the school Hunter-Kinard-Tyler-Neeces? Whither Neeces? No clue on Edisto. Let’s move on… Ridge Spring-Monetta at Batesburg-Leesville This is another huge opening-week matchup. RS-M seems primed for a big season, with most of the talent back from last year’s upperstate runner-up. They are breaking in a new QB with underrated Tyson Bettis having graduated. Their offense is sometimes a little like a person getting stoned…I should rephrase that. I mean like an old school, medieval deal where you tie somebody to a tree and fling rocks at them. It’s methodical, it’s painful, it’s physical and it’s really hard to stop, what with you being tied to a tree and whatnot. They’ll just flog you with a veteran O line and a stable of experienced, productive backs. They’re even better on defense, where they held eight opponents to 8 or fewer points last year and have the bulk of their starters back, including all three starting linebackers. B-L is a top-tier AA program every year. This has the makings of a tremendous game. Wagener-Salley at Pelion The Stump-whooped All-Stars seem to believe they have a shot to make a run this year. I don’t know that we’ll know where they stand on that front after tonight against a Pelion team they beat by three touchdowns last year. They excel if you want to try to stand toe-to-toe and have a tater-kicking contest with them. Where they’ve struggled since their resurgence of the past few years is in playing athletic teams that throw the ball. Might not see if they’ve improved there until they face Williston later in the year. Williston-Elko at Barnwell Bravo to W-E for lining up a rugged out-of-region schedule, including this match-up with a very good Barnwell squad. W-E did lose a lot of starters to graduation, but they’ve got a huge roster for a Class A school and a scary football robot in Keshawn Toney who basically catches every pass in his zip code and pummels the children unfortunate enough to end up in his path. W-E gave Barnwell a heck of a game last year and I expect much the same tonight. Regretably, due to time constraints, the lowerstate is getting super crappy “in other action” treatment today… The OC at Baptist Hill Estill at Allendale-Fairfax Military Magnet at Lake Marion St. John’s at Phillip Simmons Branchville at Colleton Prep Kingstree at C.E. Murray Cross at Burke Manning at Scott’s Branch The Sausages at Creek Bridge West Columbus at Green Sea-Floyds To me, doing pre-season prep football polls is a lot like being a TV weatherman. People assume you know what you’re talking about, you supposedly have a high level of expertise on the subject, so they pay attention to you, but really you’re just making stuff up. Seriously, how many times have you found yourself saying “sunny and 75 my butt Johnny Lightning on Channel 15” a day after he assured you that you’d have perfect picnic weather? You ever notice he never apologizes? Just once I’d like to hear him do so.
“Johnny Lightning (you know that isn't his real name) here in the Channel 15 Doppler 7000 Super Extreme Weather Center. Owe you folks an apology for our forecast yesterday. We said it would be 75 and sunny today and we ended up with three feet of snow. So, you know, if your car is burrowed into a deep, frightening snowdrift on the frozen roadside or you wore flip flops and Jams and will have to have some toes amputated because of frostbite...our bad." On the rare occasion they even mention that their forecast was misguided, they always come up with some kind of excuse. "Well, it's impossible to calculate the effect El Nino has on the pressure system and that arctic front shifted in our direction overnight...and also, um, there's this guy named Melvin who has a magic wand that makes it snow sometimes. I bet ol’ Melvin had something to do with this.” Just ramble on about El Nino and arctic shifts and Melvin being a loose cannon and not only do you never know the difference, you watch him the next day and believe him all over again. And seriously, the Doppler 7000? It's the same as the Doppler 5000 they touted last year, they just toted a can of Krylon up on the tower and painted a new number on there. I say all this to tell you that I’m about to show you my votes for the South Carolina Prep Media 1A Preseason Poll. Now, I’ve read up as much on every team as I can, I’ve talked to coaches, I’ve gone to practices and scrimmages, but seriously, who knows? Until they strap ‘em on and get down to businesses Friday night, I’m just taking guesses…educated guesses, granted, but guesses just the same. At least if they’re wrong, they won’t ruin a family outing and leave you buried in an icy grave. First, my “almosts.” There are three teams I really wanted to get in, really have high hopes for and really think will end up in the top 10 as the season goes along. The first is Dixie. This is a program that has taken nice, incremental steps forward in recent years under Coach Vic Lollis. Part of the success story is that they’ve dialed back the schedule a bit out-of-region. That’s not a slam on them at all, it’s actually really smart. When you’ve struggled decades, you know what scheduling The Rabid Elephants of Undefeated High every year gets you? Draggings. Lots and lots of painfully lopsided tail draggings. So, they lined up some less formidable, non-SCHSL opponents while they built. Now, with some success under their belts and returning talent in RBs Chandler (I’ll be calling him Stuart by year’s end) Smalley, Deiveon Donald and a good core of seniors, they are stepping things up a bit. The out-of-region slate includes Christ Church, Landrum, West Oak and Ninety Six. I just need to see them be competitive in the opening month of the season before I totally buy in. Up next is Whitmire. In addition to having the awesomely-named Charlie Jenkins at coach, the team also returns a lot of players from what was a very young squad last year. They also get some serious tests out of the gate on with Mid-Carolina and Ridge Spring-Monetta on the early docket. I love watching Whitmire’s offense operate. They run a sort of modified double-wing, scrum thingy, but do a great job of balancing the inside and outside run game and deftly sneaking guys out of the backfield into deep passing routes. Their kids also always seem to play hard, which is a good sign. Lastly is St. John’s. I actually had the pleasure of taking in one of their practices while I was on vacation (isn’t that what everyone does on vacation?) The first thing that jumped out at me was how much the players genuinely seem to like playing for Coach Josh Harpe and his staff. That is not a small thing by any means. It’s hard not to want to bust your tail for a coach that quotes Kenny Rogers in practice (I promise I heard this). It was “The Gambler” by the way, not “Ruby don’t take your love to town” which would have been really weird and maybe inappropriate subject matter (Ruby was a skank, if you aren’t familiar with the tune). Anyway, the team has good size up front and some athletes outside that can REALLY go. They also have a unique weapon in Class A football in the form of a sophomore kicker who was comfortably drilling 45-yard field goals in practice. The only reason I have them at what would be number 11 if these polls went to 11, is that Coach Harpe told me he has an extremely young team. Lots of underclassmen are going to be on the field, but if they get through some early tests (Phillip Simmons, Garrett, the OC etc) then look out. Don’t forget, this bunch laid it to AAAAA James Island last year. Now, for my top 10. 10. Hemingway- I’m going to admit right up front that most folks have them much higher than I do, and they might belong there. Here is what I’m taking into account, however…they graduated 16 seniors from last year, which is a giant number for any school, especially one in Class A. They play a beefy, big-boy dadgum schedule. They open at Lamar, then face what is always a tough AA team in Andrews, go to the AA sausage kings (Johnsonville), come home for Carvers Bay, are at AAAA Lakewood, then go to C.E. Murray. You could be a good Class A team and come out of that haunted trail 1-5 or 2-4. They also had a coaching change in the offseason. Now, what they do have is a consistent tradition and transcendent talents in Darius Taylor (who was moved to QB) and frightening human Darius Williams (an East Carolina commit at DE). I’ll say this…if they go into region play with a winning record, watch out. 9. Wagener-Salley- The boys from Chitlinville have improved dramatically in the past two years. Willie Fox brings a no-nonsense, “we’re just gonna stomp on your face” running game to the table and he has a good bit of returning talent, including a three-year starter at quarterback in Mykell Landy. They play keep away on offense and play really nasty defense, and usually win about 28-3, and that’s that. I will say, they’ve run into trouble the last two years when they faced athletic teams that could throw the ball a bit. Their comfort zone is running the ball and stopping the run. They’d just assume not fool about with any silly passing stuff. Maybe this is the year they overcome that. We probably won’t see until they face Williston-Elko in late September. 8. Baptist Hill- Coach Marion Brown has got some serious weapons at his disposal in receivers Rashad Maxwell (who had a Playstation-like 19 touchdown catches last year), Raequan Holmes and Jordan Bailey along with Jayvonta Burnell (who is listed as a RB but is really just a WR that lines up in the backfield). They played improved defense last year too, right up until they faced Lamar for state. They’ve got 14 starters back from last year’s lowerstate champion. So why do I have them at eight? Because QB Corey Fields is gone. I know it seems like Brown can line a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos up under center and score points, but Fields was the single most electric player I saw last year in any classification. He was a special talent and a big part of their magical run. I need to see what they look like without him and we get a good chance right off the bat as they play The OC this week. 7. C.E. Murray- Coach Chad Wilkes pulled off something last year that isn’t easy to do. He came to a team that made its bones offensively with a power running game, switched them to a wide-open spread attack and they didn’t miss a beat. Now, they did graduate super stud do-it-all Darius Rush and QB Elijah Bay transferred to Cane Bay. They did lose in a jamboree to Chesterfield, but they came right back and hung 28 in a half on AAAA Crestwood in a win. New QB Antonio McKnight lit it up with four TD passes and RB Jamall Gibson had a big night. They aren’t going the light-and-easy route out of region (Lee Central, The OC, Mullins, Hemingway, Cross etc.) but this feels like a program now. One year might be a flash in the pan, but three seasons of competing for titles demonstrates real staying power. 6. Green Sea-Floyds- A little higher than most have them rated, but this team hosted a playoff game last year for the first time in years and has 16 starters back from that team. Bout all I got on this’n, Hoss. 5. Scott’s Branch- Again, this is higher than most have them ranked and it’s a projection selection, but follow my logic here. First of all, Coach Brian Smith is at the helm now and he built C.E. Murray from almost literally nothing to a lowerstate champion. Normally I take a wait and see approach with new coaches, but I think he’ll make the transition easy by simplifying things. His offensive playbook is basically “101 creative ways to run it straight up your bucket.” One other indicator I look for is how a team does in track, which is a good indicator of whether or not you have athletes. They won state last year going away and have lots of those guys back and in football uniforms. QB/DB Amonte Brown is one to watch, as is WR/OLB Treyshawn Moore. They’re huge up front, with guys like JeShawn Green (6’1, 315) giving them maybe Class A’s biggest offensive line. This is a team to watch. 4. Lake View- The Wild Gators have 13 starters back from a team that went 9-3 last year, with the only losses being close ones to Latta, Hemingway and Baptist Hill. Really, When you get right down to it, Lake View is never very far out of the state championship conversation and features junior and senior classes that went 23-3 the past two years and won a state title. I should note they play Dillon AND Lamar out of region, which feels like jumping in a cage with two bears naked and covered and honey, but God bless them for scheduling real competition. 3. Williston-Elko- I know they graduated at a lot of talent, but this is a program that just reloads annually and for whom 7-3 in a disappointing regular season. One thing they have on their side is depth, as they have 50 kids out this year, a mammoth number in 1A. Among them is Keshawn Toney, a 6-foot-2, 240 man beast with rocket legs. I’ve watched his highlight film (which you should do too) and it borders on comical to watch other school children try to tackle, block or cover the Gamecocks commit. He’s listed at TE, but he flexes out to receiver a lot and when he’s not running past people and making stupid, one-handed catches, he just sort of tramples them. Barnwell and Allendale-Fairfax are the notable out-of-region opponents before they open Region III play against Ridge Spring-Monetta, which might decide a title and number one playoff seed early. Speaking of… 2. Ridge Spring-Monetta- In two of the last three years, the Trojans have had deep playoffs runs ended by Lamar. It’s also been a minute since they’ve beaten Williston-Elko. They lost a really good quarterback in Tyson Bettis, but aside from that they are stacked with returning talent. That includes RB Collier Sullivan, receivers Johnny Freeman, Jason Robinson and Jerry Tyler, some bigguns up front and LBs Brendan Frazier, Hayden Cherry and Reagan Cherry. Now, I’m paraphrasing here, but Coach Kenny Lipsey said to the Aiken Standard of those three LBs something to the extent of“I bet it ain’t no other team in the state has three LBs back that had 100 tackles each.” That quote is invigorating and makes me happy to be alive. If they are to make a run, this seems like the year. Accept… 1. Lamar- The Silver Foxes are in the way. Last season. Not only did Lamar go 14-0, but only AAAA Crestwood kept the game within three touchdowns. Coach Corey Fountain is 35-1 in his last 36 games, has been to three straight title games and won two of them. They lost Rashard Coleman at quarterback who’d developed into a nice field general type with underrated passing skills and Jeblonski Green, who had a cool name and frequently hurt people. I don’t think it matters, though. They have super stud RB Jacquez Green back and generally always have athletes. They also have an abundance of physically and mentally tough kids that play with a nasty edge that gets in the heads of some opponents before the game even starts. They’re number one until someone proves otherwise. |
TravisI am Travis, the king 0f SC 1A Football Archives
November 2021
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