Ware Shoals (1-0) at Calhoun Falls Charter
The Purple Hornets started the year with a 32-12 win over Oakbrook Prep. I don’t know whether Oakbrook is any good or not, but I know that same Oakbrook team laid a 36-point beatdown on Ware Shoals last year, so it represents some progress, obviously. I’ve mentioned Jermarius Goodman before. He’s listed at 6’1, 195 and is a heck of an athlete. In fact, his highlights from the Oakbrook game make him look like what you’d get if Tecmo Bowl Bo Jackson and a magical flying hammer had a baby. Seriously, go watch that. The camera is kind of far away, but it looks like the Purple Hornets are in a double-tight, wing/bone offense. He mainly plays RB, but lines up under center too. He ran for a couple of scores, caught one and might have made a child from Oakbrook cry with a BLOW UP hit on defense. CF Charter, I think, started its game last week but wasn’t able to finish it because of the weather. I’m thrilled that they continue to be able to field a team, but Goodman alone may be enough for the Hornets to go to 2-0 this week. Great Falls (1-0) at Whitmire (0-1) The Red Devils lost a two-score lead late in the fourth and hung on for a 39-38 triple OT victory over C.A. Johnson. The offense created some big plays and the defense scored twice. I like their skill people A LOT. Kelton Talford is a cell tower with spring-loaded legs, basically. The Winthrop basketball commit goes 6’7, has nice speed and outstanding ball skills. D.J. Adams and Kell Brown are big plays waiting to happen too and they have other weapons. They are also big up front , but the team doesn’t have a ton of depth, with only 20-some on the varsity roster. There were guys who rarely left the field through four quarters of regulation and three OTs last week. Whitmire had a tough go against Mid-Carolina, losing 27-0. They were out-sized big-time and lost the time of possession battle, though they hung in there and fought like they always do. On paper this is a pretty even match-up and should be a good game as the other recent contests between the two have been. I’ll be at this contest and you can follow the action via Twitter @CNR_Sports McCormick (0-1) at Lincoln County (0-1) I don’t know a whole lot about Lincoln County, but that loss on their record should come with a bit of an asterisk. They only trailed four-time defending AA state champs Abbeville 10-7 late in the second when the game was stopped due to lightning. That’s not really a loss and even if it is, consider who they were out there playing. Their games with McCormick have been a little one-sided in their favor in recent years. The Chiefs didn’t account for themselves too badly at all last week, falling to AAA Crescent 21-20. A’Chean Durant, little brother of rocket-powered football robot Mataeo Durant, had a long kick return for a score in that one. Pageland Central (0-1) at Lamar (1-0) The Silver Foxes threw a world class CRANKSMACK on Hemingway last week, beating them 54-0 and holding them to under 50 yards of total offense. Hemingway actually averaged NEGATIVE 1.1 yards-per-carry and two of their nine passes were picked off. At that point, you might as well just take a knee every play like Coach Red Beaulieu had his team do in the second half of the Bourbon Bowl. Honestly, Lamar’s front line is going to do that to a lot of folks. The Silver Foxes aren’t going to throw the ball much, content to let their fleet backs and scary O line maul their way to points and glory. Pageland lost a tough one last week to Broome by a 20-14 count. The Eagles hold one of the most impressive records in our state’s prep football history, that being that they’ve never had a losing record. Ever. With this one, Cheraw coming up in two weeks, then Lee Central, North Central and AJ still on the slate, keeping that going will be impressive. McBee (0-1) at Chesterfield For now, I’m not reading a whole lot into McBee’s 37-0 loss to Andrew Jackson, mainly because I think the Vols will prove to be a really good AA team this year. I saw McBee in the preseason and despite all the hype about them switching to a spread last year, I didn’t actually see them attempt a pass. They were in passing sets (single back, three WRs and TE mostly) but ran exclusively. That may have been because the teams I saw them scrimmaging (Lewisville and Heathwood Hall) are pretty small up front defensively. The thing is, McBee plays such a brutal schedule (Green Sea, Lake View and Blacksburg) we may not be able to see how improved they really are until they hit region play. This is the opener for Chesterfield, which diddled McBee pretty good last year. Timmonsville (0-1) at Edisto (1-0) The Whirlwinds lost to East Clarendon last week 28-6. I haven’t found much information on that game, other than the fact that Timmonsville played better defense than the score would indicate. They gave up one kick return for a score and lost a fumble in the end zone for a score, so the defense really only yielded two scores. The offense didn’t score at all, though. East Clarendon is a AA school and finished last year fairly strong, so that may not stand as a bad loss at all. Edisto won in the debut of coach Preston Deaver. They use a two-QB system. It looks like both threw it and ran it pretty well last week. Jalen Green caught a couple of touchdowns in that one. The Whirlwinds won this matchup last year 14-6. Blackville-Hilda (1-0) at Barnwell (1-0) Blackville-Hilda opened with a nice win over Bethune-Bowman. Adonis Davis led three scoring drives, and a lot of guys logged carries. Z’Ontre Kinard ran a couple of punts back and Kuman Odom generally menaced the Mr. T Haircuts with four sacks. I will note, though, they gave up an awful lot rushing yards. Just being honest here…I don’t know that any of that will matter this week. Barnwell is absolutely loaded for bear and ready to make another deep playoff run in AA. They destroyed Williston-Elko last week and might do the same to everybody they face this year. (NOTE: This game was played on Thursday and results in a savage 62-18 beating by the War Horses). Bethune-Bowman (0-1) at Denmark-Olar The Mr. T Haircuts lost last week to Blackville-Hilda 36-14. That’s about what I expected, with B-B replacing a multi-year starting quarterback and playing a big, physical team like Blackville. However, there was one massive bright spot for the Mr. T Haircuts and that was RB Jesus Benjamin, who went for more than 200 EXPLETIVE ADJECTIVE MODIFIER yards on the ground and scored a TD. Doing that against that defense is a serious day’s work and probably speaks to the line he’s got in front of him too. He’s an old-fashioned plowhorse back who will tote the tater 20-plus times a game. This will be the opener for D-O and new coach Gregory Wright. The Vikings won this matchup in a surprise last year, after which the Mr. T Haircuts went on a nice run and claimed a region crown. Estill (1-0) at Ridgeland/Hardeeville (0-1) In a prep landscape littered with hyphens, I applaud Ridgeland/Hardeeville for the bold usage of a slash. Jaunty and offbeat punctuation says “we’re different” or “the person who named us was drinking” or something like that. Anyway, they lost big last week to Marlboro County, but did make a playoff appearance for the first time in a while last year and feature a left tackle (Jeremiah Orr…or Jeremiah/Orr if I really want to sell the joke) who looks like he should be featured on a can of green beans at 6’5 and near 300 pounds. Estill opened with a nice win over Allendale-Fairfax last week. HKT (0-1) at Eau Claire (0-1) HKT fell its opener to Edisto 40-26, but I’d say keeping it close against an OK AAA team isn’t a bad loss. They should have a good shot to get a “W” tonight. Eau Claire sort of seemed to be taking a bit of a step forward last year, getting to four wins (including 14-0 over HKT). But based on last week’s results, I sort of doubt they are going to be build on that. They lost to Lewisville (who was winless last year) 50-6 and even that curb-stomp score doesn’t convey how lopsided the game was. It was 30-0 after one and 44-0 at the half. The clock ran nonstop (as in, there wasn’t even a break between the third and fourth quarters) the entire second half. Eau Claire got scorched on a couple of early deep balls, struggled to stop the run and turned it over a couple of times. Branchville (1-0) at North North is mired in a pretty miserable stretch. They were winless each of the last two seasons and have one victory in the last four seasons combined. Having covered a couple of teams that went 0-fer, I feel for them. It isn’t that the kids and coaches don’t work hard when losing happens, sometimes it’s just a numbers game or a lack of talent. Here’s hoping they can break the losing streak this season. Branchville had one of its better seasons in recent memory last season with a senior-heavy roster. They beat Colleton Prep 23-7 last week. Ridge Spring-Monetta (0-1) at Saluda (1-0) The Trojans had a few missed opportunities last week, but just couldn’t get much going on offense in general as they were shut out 21-0 against Batesburg-Leesville. It goes without saying they’ll need to score more than zero to win this week (I’ve looked it up…you actually can’t win that way), but they’ll likely need to score A LOT more points. Saluda is fresh off a last-second victory over Strom Thurmond, so they’re obviously a very good team. Noah Bell is the QB and had more than 260 total yards and three touchdowns in that win. RS-M is good up front defensively, but that unit will be challenged and, again, THEY MUST SCORE MORE THAN zero to have a chance. Wagener-Salley (1-0) at Fox Creek The Chitlinville All-Stars thumped Pelion last week 46-2, which wasn’t really a surprise. W-S is a big, physical team that can push around a lot of opponents. If you want to have a tater-kicking contest…a game where you stand nose-to-nose wearing steel-toed boots kicking one another where it hurts until somebody hollers uncle, Wagener will jump right into that briar patch with you and win 19 out of 20 times. Since they’ve taken a big step upward the past 3-4 years, what will sometimes give them a little trouble is an athletic team that opts against the tater-kicking contest and instead spreads it out and throws it some. Fox Creek has traditionally been that kind of team, but from what I’ve read might be able to compete with W-S in the tater-kicking trenches too. This was Wagener’s lone regular-season loss last year. Should be a good game. Silver Bluff at Williston-Elko (0-1) Williston might walk funny and talk an octave higher after the whoopin’ they took from Barnwell last week. I’m going to tell you, though, to ignore that outcome. Barnwell is liable to do that to everybody they play in the regular season and all the way until they meet Abbeville deep in the AA playoffs. A.J. Chandler posted borderline made-up sounding stats with 190 yards receiving in the losing effort. This game wasn’t terribly competitive last year, but with Silver Bluff being young up front and somewhat inexperienced at QB, maybe it will be a bit closer this time around. Bishop England at Baptist Hill (0-1) The Bobcats had a rough go of it in the opener, but as with Williston, I’m going to say we should set that one aside for now. They lost to the OC Semipros 58-12 while allowing a 200-plus yard rusher and 200-plus yard passer. But The OC is gonna hang video game numbers on lots of folks. Hard to know if this is a representative game either, though. The Bishops have put really good teams on the field recently, but only won three games last season. This is very much a wait and see type deal. Charleston Charter School for floatation studies and crabbin’ at Academic Magnet (0-1) Riptide v Raptors is a friggin’ awesome mascot matchup. Academic Magnet lost to Northwood Academy last week 34-0. That is all I have to offer on this game that is relevant or true. North Charleston at Military Magnet Season-opener for both schools. Military Magnet has a new coach for the first time in nearly 20 years in Derrell Pringle. They haven’t been very competitive in recent years (1-10 last year), but I swear, they always have some athletes, seemingly competing for state in track and field every year. North Charleston, I’ve got nothing for ya, Bubba. St. John’s (1-0) at Andrew Jackson (1-0) If nothing else, the Islanders earn some sort of bus endurance award for this. I’m not sure it’s even possible to get from St. John’s to AJ without having to park the bus, walk across a rope bridge and ride a burro through a series of deep ravines. St. John’s gutted out a 14-13 win over an improved Phillip Simmons team last week. The awesomely-named Iron Horses lived in St. John’s territory in that one, especially early, but the that Islanders D turned them back time-and-again and kept it close long enough for the offense to scratch out some points and win it. They had a couple of 100-yard rushers in that one. AJ thumped McBee 37-0. I think the Vols are a sleeper/dark horse candidate in AA. They have a senior QB in Chas DeBruhl and they’ll toss it all over the place. He didn’t have a super accurate outing against McBee (14-of-32) but made those completions count with 205 yards and three scores through the air. They also had some chunk plays on the ground and the defense just left a Panthers team I expect to be pretty good jumping and shaking, unable to squeeze out a drop. This is the longest of long road trips and a good team is waiting on them when they arrive, but if you’re St. John’s you take heart in the fact that defense and a good running game travel. C.E. Murray (1-0) at Lee Central (0-1) If old-timey football appeals to you, if you dream of football in black and white, where players wear leather helmet and run the wedge and coaches in three-piece suits chain-smoke Pall Malls and deride players as soft for coming out of the game with a broken head, this game is probably for you. The first game of Brian Smith’s second go-round at C.E. Murray looked a lot like the first…which is to say they ran the ball, played good defense and won, shutting out Kingstree 29-0. Lee Central lost their opener, but that came to Wade Hampton, who advanced to the AAA lowerstate title game last week. They have a buttload of seniors back from last season. They (like C.E. Murray) also have precious little interest in throwing the football, running out of a Wing-T. This should be a physical war. Cross (1-0) at Whale Branch (1-0) The Trojans notched a hard-fought 16-14 victory over Burke last week. They didn’t generate a whole lot of offense, but the defense played well and the win represented a step forward over last year in every way, since Cross was winless in 2018 and never scored more than 14 points in a contest. That was unusual for a program that is generally good for 6-9 wins a year. If memory serves, they had one or two seniors, which is something that can happen at small Class A programs. You have an unusually small class or an unusual imbalance of girls to boys sometimes. The latter of those problems is great when it comes to getting a date, but maybe not for winning football. This is a pretty heavy lift this week going against a good AA Whale Branch team that will out-size the Trojans up front on both sides of the ball. East Clarendon (1-0) at Scotts Branch (0-1) Scott’s Branch got absolutely mauled last week 62-8, but that came to AAA Manning and special teams miscues made the final score look even worse than it was. Scott’s Branch gave up a punt return for a score and had two punts blocked for TDs. They actually moved the ball pretty well, running for 200 yards. East Clarendon is fresh off a 28-6 win over Timmonsville. The defense didn’t allow a score in that one, but the offense didn’t produce a whole lot of points, with two of their touchdowns being of the non-offensive variety. This should be a pretty competitive game. Hannah-Pamplico (0-1) at Green Sea Floyds (1-0) Here’s a proposition so frightening it should lead to most of 1A wearing a diaper for a while. Green-Sea is the defending state champion. They viciously savaged East Columbus last week 51-9. It was 41-0 AFTER ONE QUARTER. They could have hung a hundo if they’d felt like it, but mercifully called off the hungry, angry dogs and ran the clock. Because of heat and weather, though, they’ve had to do a lot of practicing in the gym. So at this point they are a tad under rehearsed. Imagine when they actually go full throttle. Jaquan Dixon scored on a long TD on the first play of the game and Bubba Elliot (who sounds like he should driving the Levi Garrett Ford at the Nichols dirt track) threw for a score and ran for a couple of others. They will likely repeat those performances many times over this year. H-P is coming off one of the best seasons in recent school history, return a lot of guys up front but still got whacked by a Lake View team breaking in 20 new starters. They had two picks returned for touchdowns which made things look worse. The more worrisome aspect of the game for them was getting gashed on the ground by the Wild Gators. If they can’t stop the run against the Trojans this week, it ain’t gonna be pretty. Hemingway (0-1) at Andrews Give Hemingway credit on the “not scheduling sweet, delicious cupcakes” front early in the season. They played Lamar last week and that didn’t go so well as they ran for negative yardage in a 54-0 drilling. Hard to know much on Andrew yet, what with them not playing in the opening week, but they are traditionally a good AA team and won six games last year before having the misfortune of drawing Barnwell in the first round of the playoffs. That is very much like reading a choose your own adventure book and picking the path that leads to you being eaten by a dragon or something. Lake View (1-0) at Johnsonville The Wild Gators provided one of the big surprises of the opening week, leaving marks on AA Hannah-Pamplico with a 46-6 victory. They didn’t complete a pass, which actually isn’t necessary when you have two guys run for near 140 yards (Adarrian Dawkins and Ja’Correus Ford). The defense actually outscored H-P, taking a couple of turnovers back for scores. It was the kind of result that might announce them as a contender, which is amazing considering how young they are. The Sausage people have not yet played a game. Suggested Reading The Aiken Standard does a great job covering the Class A teams in their area and you can see some preview information right here. When I see the quote “We all stunk…everyone stunk” I feel the need to share it with you…
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-Christ Church- 33
Dixie- 7 Crescent- 21 McCormick-20 Ware Shoals- 32 Oakbrook Prep- 12 Mid-Carolina- 27 Whitmire- What happens, when Gus and Charlie need a new line of work… Great Falls- 39 C.A. Johnson- 38 Lamar- 54 Hemingway- There’ll be panty draws a’flyin’ Andrew Jackson- 37 McBee- LADIES AND GENTLEMEN…WHITNEY HOUSTON!!!! East Clarendon- 28 Timmonsville- 6 Blackville-Hilda- 36 The Mr. T Haircuts- 14 Estill- 16 Allendale-Fairfax- 13 Edisto- 40 HKT- 26 Batesburg-Leesville- 21 Ridge Spring-Monetta- They have more hyphens in their name than they did points. Wagener-Salley- 46 Pelion- 2 Barnwell- 69 Williston-Elko- 14 The OC Semi-Pros- 58 Baptist Hill- 12 St. John’s- 14 Phillip Simmons- 13 Branchville- 23 Colleton Prep- 7 C.E. Murray- 29 Kingstree- Ladies and gentlemen, Imagine Dragons! Cross- 16 Burke- 14 Manning- 62 Scott’s Branch- 8 Green Sea Floyds- 51 West Columbus- 9 Lake View- 46 Hannah-Pamplico- 6 Breakdown- It was a good opening week for Class A, as the classification posted a 7-8 record against larger competition. The only one of those that qualified as a stunner to me was the vigorous rootin’ that Lake View laid to Hannah-Pamplico. I had a feeling the Wild Gators would have the look of a contender at some point this year, but they were breaking in 20 news starters, which usually looks like a giant bag of DERP early in the season. They were also going up against a AA squad that had one of its best seasons in recent memory last year and returned a lot of talent up front, though they did lose a lot of skill talent from last year. None of that mattered as Lake View lined up and ran it straight up H-P’s turkey box or gravy hole (whatever Gruden use to call it). Adarrian Dawkins only attempted two passes, didn’t complete one and it didn’t matter. He ran for 140 yards ON SEVEN BLAME CARRIES and Ja’Correus Ford went 137. Really had to labor for it though…toting it nine hole times. They also crap housed a couple of interceptions. For a team that young to perform that way right out of the box is pretty amazing and might serve notice that they may have some say in the how things go in the lowerstate this year. Particularly if they keep running the ball like they did Friday. They play the Sausage People this week with a good shot at going 2-0… It wasn’t a shocker, but it was good to see Great Falls get the Tom Butler era off to a good start. It took a while (three overtimes) but they hung on for a 39-38 win over C.A. Johnson. The once fearsome Red Devils have fallen on some hard times in recent years. From 2015-2017, the program won a single game and forfeited a couple of contests because of low numbers. That was directly proportional to the school’s enrollment drop. Things started to swing in the other direction last year as the team posted a respectable 4-5 record and did so with only a couple of seniors. This team has legit talent, particularly at the skill positions. Kelton Talford is basically a telephone pole with sticky hands and an impressive 40 time (he’s tall is what I’m trying to say), D.J. Adams is a heck of an athlete, as are Kell Brown and Elijah Simpson. What the team doesn’t have is a lot of depth, with a roster in the low 20s. That illustrates pretty well why I love 1A ball so much. With a roster that small, there are guys who literally never left the field through four quarters of regulation and three overtimes. They were completely gassed but found some way to gut it out and get the W for their new coach, their school and their town. And I’m not just going all black-and-white Andy Griffith episode on you there…talk to those kids. Playing for their school and town means a lot to them. They play at an always-tough Whitmire this week. If they get that one, I’m telling you, watch out. Six or seven wins won’t be out of the question… St. John’s hung on for a nail-biter over Phillip Simmons. Now, I don’t know how good the Iron Horses will be this year (though based solely on nickname I expect them to be like a crazy cross-breeding of Secretariat and Robot Ninja), but I suspect they are going to take a big step forward in their second year. So, I consider this a good win for St. John’s. The Islanders have some very young skill guys on offense (a freshman at quarterback, for example) but they are super salty on defense. Phillip Simmons lived in their territory early, but that defense kept turning them away and kept them in the game. St. John’s showed off a nice one-two punch at running back in Robert Fields (132 yards, 1 TD) and Sean Lowery(108 yards, 1 TD). They gutted one out big time. They get a REALLY tough test this week in Andrew Jackson…I mean, the ride alone is ridiculous. I don’t think you can actually get from St. John’s to rural Lancaster County without exiting the bus and fording across a creek on a donkey or something. They also play the Legion Transfer Portals, North Charleston, The OC Semi-Pros, Waccamaw and a big-time private school in Calvary Day. That is a big-boy schedule. They will be battle-tested in a major way by the time they get to region, but when you can run the ball and play defense you’ve always got a chance… The other “up” wins included the Stump-Whooped All-Stars from Wagener dragging Pelion, but that wasn’t really a surprise. I also wasn’t’ shocked in any way to see Brian Smith (the one that coaches at C.E. Murray, not the one at Ridge Spring-Monetta…I remain convinced they are two different people) get a win in his return to the War Eagles. They did it in really impressive and typical Brian Smith (again, the one at C.E. Murray) style, which is to say they ran the ball and their defense just punched the opposition in the face. They took a 28-0 win over Kingstree and a big-time contributor was Kobe Montgomery, whose defensive stats were of the silly, cartoonish, “holy crap, he did what now?” variety. He had 10 tackles, six tackles for a loss, forced a fumble and had two sacks. They get a stiff test this week in a Lee Central team that returns a lot of talent from last year. If you like old school football, where the forward pass is considered a gimmick and guys named Clem and J.R. smoke Lucky’s in the huddle, eschew pads because they find them girly and punch opponents in the face just because, that will be the game for you…I’d like to welcome Cross back to the land of the winning. After a rough 2018, the proud program got a 16-14 win over Burke. Now, they still struggled for offense and Burke isn’t traditionally very good, but it’s one more win than they had last year and more points than they scored in any game last year. They’ll have a hard time repeating that success the next two weeks against Whale Branch and Timberland, but a win is a win and it’s a step in the right direction…I couldn’t find a thing on Estill’s win over Allendale-Fairfax aside from the final score and that’s the kind of insight and insider knowledge you’ve come to expect from this BLAWG! As for the 1A on 1A matchups, I can’t say I was surprised by how Lamar handled Hemingway. The Tigers have a new coach (their third in three years) and are breaking in a lot of new starters. Plus, it wasn’t Larry’s Living Room Rangers on the opposing sidelines, it was Lamar. It’s gotten a lot of attention that Lamar’s offensive line returns all five starters, but people seem to forget how good they are up front on defense. They held Hemingway to 44 total yards. The offense did it’s thing, with four backs running for over 40 yards, led by Dajour Green, who had 94 and two touchdowns on…wait for it…THREE CARRIES. I’d also like to mention that a lot of people tried to convince me Chad Wilkes was gonna be all spready throwy right off the bat with the Silver Foxes. I get it…Lamar always has slick skill guys, Chad is a spread guy, so that’s what he’ll do and it’ll work. Well, that’s kinda like the time I decided to cook grits in beer. I like grits, I like beer…how could it not work? Well, it tasted like the tears of children and failure. That’s actually a terrible analogy…but I felt like with that O line back and a QB who is athletic and a winner but maybe not a great passer, he’d just hand the ball to fast people, run for big yardage and win. Well, they ran for over 300 yards and attempted three more passes Friday than I did. Expect more of the same. Lamar gets a traditional AA power this week in Pageland, who is coming off a close loss to Broome. Hemingway’s road doesn’t get much easier as they’ll play up against Andrews. Quick hits- Wasn’t at all shocked to see Blackville-Hilda win over the Mr. T Haircuts like they did. They’ve got the primary pieces of last year’s excellent backfield back and a tremendous O line. Plus, The Mr. T Haircuts lost QB/LB/S Braxton Wedgeworth III, esq. to graduation. He’d been under center for basically as long as I’ve done this BLAWG and other talent was lost too, so it felt like they’d end up on the losing end of things. I’ll note, though, that RB Jesus Benjamin was a dadgum horse against Blackville, running for 212 yards. He’s a terrific player, one who deserves a lot of attention, but I was a little surprised to see those kind of numbers by anybody against B-H defense. File under “might be a thing, might just be a first week thing.”…Green Sea Floyds laid a total CRANKSMACK down on East Columbus. It was 41-0 after one, so it’s not a stretch to say they could have hung 100 if they’d really felt like it. Bubba Elliot accounted for a couple of early scores, and Jaquan Dixon did crazy Jaquan Dixon stuff. They made East Columbus feel like the actual Columbus, which is to say an Italian sailor who died from a crippling case of the gout. They get a Hannah-Pamplico team this week that got mauled by Lake View, so Green Sea might be in position to be the merciful “no, no we’re not gonna score 100 even though we could” guys again this week…McCormick might be more ready to contend than I thought. They gave what was a good AAA team last year in Crescent all they wanted in a 21-20 loss. A’Chean Durant had a 90-yard kick return for a touchdown in that one. Defense obviously played well too. Because they play “up” and out-of-state games early we won’t get to see them against a like-sized, known quantity until October. So it may be hard to know exactly what they have until then…Don’t take bad losses by Williston-Elko, McBee, Ridge Spring-Monetta or Baptist Hill as a sign that any of those teams are bad. They were all playing up against REALLY, REALLY good competition. Give it a week or two. If they’re still getting slogged, then it may be time to scream, panic and poor mouth the coach on message boards (that’s what people used to do in that situation, anyway). Poll Time OK, I vote in the S.C. Prep Media Polls. I’ll go on record as saying I think this is a tad early for polls. Some teams haven’t played yet, one game isn’t a good body of work and you largely work off tradition and what teams did last year. Still, folks love ‘em a poll, so here it is. I’ll give you the final prep media poll, then my 1A ballot. As noted, I have a hard time early on. How do you compare a team who beat up on Ms. Mary’s Finishing School to one that lost to a really good AA or AAA team? It’s quite a balancing act, particularly at the bottom of the poll, but here it goes… S.C. Prep Media 1A poll 1. Lamar (6) 2. Green Sea-Floyds (7) 3. Wagener-Salley (1) 4. Lake View 5. Blackville-Hilda 6. C.E. Murray 7. Baptist Hill 8. Ridge Spring-Monetta 9. St. John’s 10. (tie) Hemingway, Dixie Others receiving votes- Great Falls, Williston-Elko, McCormick, McBee, Cross, Ware Shoals For those wondering, Lamar is number one despite having fewer first-place votes than Green Sea-Floyds because we use a points system. I actually tally the 1A poll…basically, a first-place vote is worth 10 points, second place is nine, down to one point for 10th. In the first two polls, Green Sea has had the most number ones, but has come in fourth on one ballot and, I think, sixth on another. Lamar is one or two on every ballot. So they tally more points and get first. Now my poll, which will change drastically when we have more results to go on… 1. Green Sea Floyds 2. Lamar 3. Lake View 4. Wagener-Salley 5. Blackville-Hilda 6. C.E. Murray 7. St. John’s 8. Ridge Spring-Monetta 9. Baptist Hill 10. Great Falls Suggested reading… Quaker grits mixed with Shiner Bock tastes like broken hearts and boogers. CRANKSMACK!!! WILD GATORS ANGRY!!!! You can read capsules of multiple games here and also here. Or you can keep lying to yourself Bob. She’s gone and she’s not coming back. They have a cannon and an analogue clock in Ware Shoals. And also a 1-0 record. So it’s math really. One is 10 and 10 one, which makes complete sense, right? NOTE: Coaches, I scour every source available for info and game stories. Unfortunately, some schools simply don’t get covered much and others have their team’s stories locked behind a pay wall. If you send me stats on your guys or want me to note that a particular O lineman had a good day, shoot me the info. I promise I’ll use what is sent. Email is [email protected] or you can DM on Twitter. I’m @CNR_Sports. Players, if you have a highlights online you’d like me to link to, you can send that my way too. GAME OF THE WEEK
Lamar at Hemingway There’s a lot of interesting angles to this matchup. First off, you have new head coaches at both schools. After leading his alma mater to four straight state title game appearances, Corey Fountain left Lamar to take the job at Clinton. Enter Chad Wilkes, who spent the previous two years at C.E. Murray. Hemingway is on its third coach in three years (odd for a program of this stature) and has a good one in Charlie Richards. Every coach I’ve talked to is positive Wilkes is going to turn Lamar into a slapnuts, fling the tater, wide-open spread offense right off the bat. He went to a C.E. Murray team that had made it to state the year before almost exclusively running the ball between the tackles, turned Darius Rush into a Shrine Bowl wide receiver and did the aforementioned slapnuts, pass-it-a-bunch offense thing en route to the lowerstate finals in his first year. I think this is a little bit different of a situation. He may start to work in some spread concepts and the program may be full-on spread in another year or two, but he inherits a team that returns all five of last year’s very good, bordering on frightening offensive linemen. He also has QB Cam Galloway back from injury. I’ve heard he’s a dynamic runner and a gutty leader, but that throwing the ball is not necessarily his strength. So, you let Galloway run around a little, hand it to a fast person, let that offensive front bury the opposing school’s children and win. They lost big-time running backs Malik Johnson and Jacquez Lucas, but Lamar always stud hoss RB candidates. Hemingway does not have as much talent back. They lost a special playmaker in Darius Taylor and a frightening manbeast in Darius Williams. Facing a stacked Silver Foxes team may not be a recipe for success when you are breaking in a bunch of young starters, but let’s see how the Tigers look out of the gate and how they progress as the season goes on. Lamar laid a grade one rootin’ on Hemingway last year (69-7) which left them walking funny for a few weeks before they finally got on a winning track. Greenwood Christian at Calhoun Falls Charter I want to continue to tip my cap to the Flashes. The school has about 100 kids, the football team roster numbers in the mid-teens, yet they somehow put a team on the field every year. They haven’t won a game since 2016 and they lost to Greenwood Christian 42-14 last year. Here are the relevant and true statements I can make about their opponent this week. 1. They are a Christian school. 2. They are located in Greenwood. 3. Their coach is named Jolly Doolittle, a name that makes him sound like a really happy pirate. Sure, he may loot the booty from your ship and feed you to the sharks, but he does it with a winning smile. Christ Church at Dixie Last year, the Hornets sort of used this game to serve notice they were ready to make a run. They not only beat the once mighty Cavaliers, they shut them out 19-0. They ultimately came up one game short of making it to state, losing a close one to Lamar in the upperstate title game. They had slowly built to that in the few years beforehand, dialing the schedule back a little and letting some young players take their lumps. It worked, but now that process sort of has to start itself over (minus the sweet, delicious cupcake-y schedule) as they lost 18 starters. That included Deiveon Donald, a two-way starter who drove the Hornets offense. When you have a 230-pound guy who runs a sub-4.6 40 playing 1A ball, it sometimes looks like a grown man playing with his kids in the backyard. But, like, a really aggressive grown man who maybe has some anger issues against sickly children who don’t really like playing outside. Anywho, they’ve got a lot of holes to plug and a tough opponent to do it against. McCormick at Crescent The offense of the Chiefs sputtered along last season in the first year after the graduation of do-everything four-year starting mega-stud Mataeo Durant. Well, enter freshman running back A’Chean Durant, Mataeo’s little brother. I’ve heard whispers that he might actually be better than his brother, a thing I’ll have to see to believe. People always say the little brother is better…even if he’s bow-legged and blind in one eye. “Yeah, but he’s tough. He’s a player, now.” The early returns are promising as he had 100-plus yards and two long touchdowns in a recent jamboree. So maybe the offense will be improved. Going against a AAA team coming off a playoff appearance, though, it may be a week or two before that improvement shows itself. Ware Shoals at Oakbrook Prep The Purple Hornets have been struggling for a long time now, odd given the history of the program. They haven’t beaten a team that actually won a game since 2016. The one 2018 victory came against the winless Calhoun Falls Charter Flashes. Of course, in an asinine prep world with pre-set playoff brackets and a classification that was made entirely too small in the last realignment, that was plenty enough to get them in the playoffs. I saw them last year and I’ll note that they played hard, they just didn’t have numbers or a whole lot of athletes. They have a new coach in Chris Johnston and he does have some talent on hand in the form of Jermarius Goodman, who impressed me last season. They lost badly to a not great Oakbrook team last year, but this shouldn’t be an impossible game. Whitmire at Mid-Carolina The Wolverines are coming off a successful year that saw them win a playoff game for the first time in a long time. Coach Charlie Jenkins has done an amazing job, considering the program was in the midst of the state’s longest losing streak when he took over several years back. Every time I see them, their kids play their tails off. They are tough and they run an offense you don’t see a whole lot in the scrum. As a reporter and photographer, let me tell you how bad it sucks trying to take a picture of 11 bodies, tightly packed and surging in one direction. It’s effective, though and they have a lot of guys who will tote the tater. Look for Nate Stanley and Jaquan Tindell-White to get a lot of carries this year. They also have a good knack for drawing your defense in and busting you over the top at the right time. Don’t know a ton about Mid-Carolina. They did beat Whitmire last year, but that stood as their only victory. C.A Johnson at Great Falls This will be a different-looking Red Devils team this year. New coach Tom Butler is bringing a spread offense to town and an aggressive, odd-front defense that will try to put opposing offenses behind the sticks. On that new offense, though, they have got some serious skill talent. Kelton Talford (who just committed to Winthrop for basketball) is one of the biggest mismatches in high school football right now. He goes 6’7 with long arms and can just about jump over the crossbar. Imagine being a 5’9 corner and drawing that assignment. My hammy would get real tight, real fast, I’m thinking. Seriously, it’s like trying to cover a giraffe…a really athletic giraffe with sticky hands. He’s gonna win a lot of jump balls. He’s not all they’ve got, though. D.J. Adams and Kell Brown are big-time athletes too. The defense looked good in the one scrimmage they had. The problem they face is numbers with a roster in the 20s. Help is on the way, though, since I understand they have a group of about 18 eighth graders playing middle school ball right now. I don’t know a ton about C.A. Johnson other than they have a heck of a running back and a name that makes me laugh…because despite all the physical evidence to the contrary, I am 5. Andrew Jackson at McBee It got a lot of attention last season when new Panthers coach Johnny Kline came in and implemented a spread offense. Even in the recent years when they were competing for state titles, the forward pass was still considered a bit of a trick play they weren’t too sure about in McBee. If memory serves, they had a deep playoff run three or four years back that included 12 passes…for the season. I actually caught part of their scrimmage against Lewisville and Heathwood Hall the other week. They were certainly in passing formations, going with three WRs and a TE, but I don’t think I actually saw them attempt a pass. They looked good running it, though, and let’s remember this is a team that struggled badly early on in 2018 against a brutal schedule, but finished strong and won a pair of playoff games. I think they’ll take a step forward this year. However, that brutal schedule remains intact. AJ lost a couple of multi-year skill position players from last year, but they carry a roster of 70 and have 20 seniors, so this will be a heavy lift for the Panthers even if they are as improved as I tend to think they will be. East Clarendon at Timmonsville The Whirlwinds are another team with a new coach. Ron Baker left after one season to take the job at Lake City. So a program that had one coach for basically the entire time I’ve been alive will now be on its third in three years. The new head man is Thomas McFadden, who played under Bill Tate on the 1992 state championship team. It’s an oddity in this state, but if I understand correctly, McFadden doesn’t teach or work for the school district. He’s a sheriff’s deputy, but coached essentially Timmonsville’s entire roster at the middle school level a few years ago. So, there is some built-in familiarity, which is good. The roster is young and lost a couple of major talents off last year’s team in QB Jamaric Morris and RB Fanando Jackson. The two, essentially, were the offense (and both contributed on defense too). The Whirlwinds got off to a great start last year, going 4-1 with the lone loss being a close one to AA Lee Central. Then, the Eaddy kid got hurt, missed the year and they lost four straight. I saw them at the end of last year. The ranks were pretty thin, but they beat Great Falls to make the playoffs then nearly upset Ridge Spring-Monetta in the first round. This should be a winnable game. East Clarendon won two games last year and lost to Timmonsville. Don’t know a ton about them, other than they have a QB named Cub, which is awesome, and a RB in Marques Webb who is supposed to be really good. Blackville-Hilda at Bethune-Bowman The Hawks looked to be reestablishing themselves last year under new coach Corey Crosby. They were super big and extra nasty in the trenches, allowing them to play the style of offense where they put on sturdy boots and kick you in the marbles until you decide you’d like to stop. The awesomely named Adonis Davis also gave them just enough of a deep passing threat to make you think about it and compliment running back Daylun Dickerson. Then they lost early in the playoffs to McBee, Crosby left after one year at the helm and Brandon Isaac was hired, marking, I believe the first time a S.C. Class A high school football program has hired a quality control coach from the Saskatchewan Roughriders as head man. The Mr. T Haircuts actually won a region crown last year, but lost longtime starting QB Braxton Wedgeworth III, esq. along with a slew of other starters They should have legit plow horse back Jesus Benjamin back to power the offense, but it’s hard to know just yet what they can put around him. Allendale-Fairfax at Estill Estill had one win last season and that came against North, who is mired in the state’s longest losing streak. From what I’ve read, A-F has looked better this preseason on both sides of the ball coming off a tough 2018…bout all I got for ya on this’n, Hoss. Edisto v Hunter-Kinard-Tyler HKT has a new head coach this season in Tony Felder, who was previously the coach at Manning. They normally put a fairly competitive team on the field and they did manage three wins last year, doing so with a run-based offense behind a big O-line (an oddity for a team that has lived on the spread for a while) . The problem is they are in what amount to a super-region with heavyweights like Williston, Wagener, Ridge Spring etc. and they are one of the smallest public schools in the state. Does it seem like I’m BS-ing with generalities here? Yeah, it probably does. Batesburg-Leesville at Ridge Spring-Monetta The annual battle for the old oaken hyphen barrel. RS-M had a bit of an underwhelming season in 2018. They weren’t bad by any stretch, going 6-5, but given the talent they had returning, particularly on defense, I expected them to contend for a title a year after making it to the upperstate finals. Instead, they beat one team with a winning record and struggled to consistently put points on the board. I read in the Aiken Standard that two of their LBs “left after their junior year” and the other starter graduated. So, there are holes to plug there. They will also be young in the trenches and have a new head coach in Brian Smith (a different guy than the Brian Smith at C.E. Murray…I’m almost sure the same guy doesn’t coach both teams). They do have RB Collier Sullivan back after he rushed for 1,300-plus yards and 17 touchdowns last year and DE Trey Dean, whose highlight reel looks like Tecmo Bowl Bruce Smith. The thing is, they have a VERY ambitious early schedule with B-L and Saluda right out of the gate. Will be interesting to see how they look against like-sized competition in a few weeks. Pelion at Wagener-Salley The boys from Chitlinville have established themselves as a winning program. They won the region last year and with Blackville, Williston and RS-M front-loaded on their schedule, they had it locked up really early. Beating Williston was about the last regular-season bar they had to clear as that was one accomplishment that had eluded them since they started turning things around. The next step for them is to make a bit deeper of a playoff run. They were 10-2 last year, but met their demise, as many do, against Lamar in the postseason. They aren’t real fancy on offense. They have a massive offensive line (most of which returns from last year) and a bevy of talented backs. They’ll just methodically drain the clock and your will to compete. They’ll score 28-35 points, which is generally more than you’ll have and they’ll go onto the next game. Apparently they may try to throw it a little, tiny bit more this year. They’ve thumped Pelion each of the past few years. Barnwell at Williston-Elko 2018 was an atypically down year for Williston, which has been a force in Class A for years. They will take the field this year without Keshawn Toney, who was like a frightening cross-breeding of a bull and hawk…big and strong, but able to fly and with really sharp talons, tailor-made for snaring passes. Or something like that. He was a D-1 stud that played TE and WR and on defense. Now, from what someone who watched them last year told me, it did look at times like they were maybe trying to force the ball to him a bit. Either way, you aren’t better without a guy like him. Their numbers are good, as usual, and they have a lot of returning talent. It should be a bounce back from last year’s 6-6 mark, but that bounce ain’t likely to happen this week, brother. Not with an absolutely freakin’ stacked War Horses team right out of the gate. I’ll be shocked if Barnwell isn’t playing DEEP into the AA postseason. Baptist Hill at The OC The Bobcats have put one of the most prolific offenses in Class A history on the field in the past two years. They did it two years ago with Corey Fields at QB, but got off to an atypically slow start in 2018. So Marion Brown took stud hoss WR Rashard Maxwell and put him under center. I wondered about the move at the time…figuring that taking a dude with 19 TD catches the year before and having him do something other than catch footballs was risky. Well, here’s a shocker, Marion Brown knows more about football than I do. Maxwell ran it as much as he threw it and they weren’t as vertical in their attack, but the move worked big-time. Now Maxwell is gone. Daryll McKinley is the new starter at QB, and I’m interested to see if he puts up Fields/Maxwell type numbers. They get a tough opener, battling The OC Semi-Pros, a loaded AA team who might be a tad under-rehearsed because of a lack of preseason action, but figures to contend this year. Military Magnet at Lake Marion The Eagles have a new coach this year in Derrell Pringle, who will look to get the program over .500 for the first time in 6 or 7 years. I don’t understand their struggles, really, since I watch them compete for state crowns in track every year. They obviously have athletes. Maybe that will start to translate to more football wins soon, though maybe not this week, opening at an OK AAA team as they are. Phillip Simmons at St. John’s I think the Islanders have a shot to be a dark horse out of the lowerstate this year. They don’t have a ton of seniors, but they’ve got a great group of sophomores and juniors. Coach Josh Harpe is developing a freshman quarterback, so there could be a bit of a learning curve, but they will be super nasty on defense, which should help them as they grow on offense. Don’t forget, this is the team that, late last season, clamped down on a Baptist Hill offense that had averaged almost 70 a game in its previous five. Phillip Simmons should present a better challenge than last year, when they were in their first year of existence. C.E. Murray at Kingstree Brian Smith (not the one that coaches at RS-M, I’m almost sure of it) is back to guide the program he built into a title contender after two years away. When he was taking the team from the absolute bottom to the state title game, he did so with a power running game. You name a means by which a football team can run the ball (bone, I, wing, straight T), they’ll do it. They’ve had a more wide-open spread attack the past two years under former coach Chad Wilkes, so they may throw it a little more than his teams typically do, but I expect Smith will work to establish a good ground game. The one compliment I always hear about Brian Smith coached teams is how well they tackle, a bit of a lost art at times. They play up the first four weeks (against Kingstree, Lee Central, Mullins and Lake Marion) but if they make it through that stretch OK, I can see them finishing very strong and making some noise in the playoffs. Burke at Cross I’m a fan of the Cross program because they are a tiny Class A school that somehow manages to put a good, physical team on the field every year. At least, they did up until last season. They only had a handful of upperclassmen and, I think, two seniors, and it showed as they were overwhelmed week after week in going 0-9. Honestly, they were just outmanned, never scoring more than 14 points in a game. The best thing about young teams is when they aren’t young anymore…which is the case with this year’s Trojans. Hopefully a year of taking their lumps will bear some fruit. Burke is a program that struggles on a yearly basis, but to their credit they did scratch out a 5-5 regular season record and did make the playoffs last year. This could be a good, competitive game. Scott’s Branch at Manning We continue with the trend of head coaching changes. In this instance, Leonard Johnson returns to the Scott’s Branch program he coached to two titles previously. They lost some big-time athletes in Amonte’ Brown and Sean Swaringer and will be going with a fairly simple, power-running attack. They’re also going to be running a 46 defense, so I’m obviously going to have to go to one of their games because holy crap I love a 46. They play a couple of tough ones in the first three weeks (Manning and Bamberg-Ehrhardt with East Clarendon in-between), but things are a bit more manageable after that. Green Sea Floyds at West Columbus For the first time in school history, Green Sea Floyds will take the field as the defending state champion. The season of the Trojans read like a Hollywood script, with a program that had never enjoyed success overcoming massive obstacles (in the form of two hurricanes, the residual flooding of which put some players out of their homes and had them out of school for nearly a month) and knocking off the state’s top program ((Lamar) to win it all. They were a little up-and-down (not surprising given what they had to deal with) early but something happened in late October. They narrowly beat Hemingway, then their offense absolutely exploded. They hung 63 on Creek Bridge (BTW, RIP Creek Bridge), 68 on McBee, 64 on C.E. Murray and better than 40 on Baptist Hill and Hemingway (in a rematch) before holding on for a 26-20 win over Lamar. They did lose a big group of seniors, but they return two big-time talents in QB Bubba Elliot (who is named like he should be driving the Jimmy Jack’s Taxidermy Chevy at a dirt track somewhere) and RB Jaquan Dixon. More than one coach has told me Dixon might be one of the best backs in the state, regardless of classification. I’ve heard nothing but good things about Elliot, a solid runner and passer who is tough and brings some serious winner’s energy to the table. I know very little about West Columbus other than it’s in North Carolina and probably not near East Columbus. Lake View at Hannah-Pamplico The Wild Gators suffered the heaviest graduation losses I’ve ever heard of, with 20 dadgum starters gone from last year, including all 11 on defense. They have exciting quarterback Adarrian Dawkins returning. He throws it pretty well and ran for over 1,000 yards last year, but from what I’ve read may be sharing time under center and moving around a little bit. So, I have no idea what to expect from Lake View. Breaking in that many new guys, I’m guessing there could be some early struggles, particularly this week, against a good, physical H-P team. “So, I guess you guys are from Mullins,” a lady asked my wife and I as we vacationed a few weeks back.
It was a logical assumption to make. After all, I was wearing a Mullins Auctioneers T-shirt. “No ma’am they just have a cool mascot. I’ve been there once and that was to buy this t-shirt,” I replied. In a sea of off-brand jungle and mountain cats (Panthers, Wildcats etc.), dudes who are ready to whip somebody’s butt (Trojans, Vikings, Braves, Warriors et al), dogs, devils of varying hue and things with stingers (Yellow Jackets and Hornets), the image of a fast-talking gentleman who sells merchandise (specifically tobacco in the case of Mullins) stands out. Even if a school has a mascot unto itself in our state (I think Chester is the only SCHSL school using “Cyclones” and Walhalla is the only “Razorbacks” that I know of) it is still usually fairly common nationally. There’s plenty of teams called “Cyclones” and “Razorbacks.” Now, if it was the Chester Deadly Wind Swirls or the Walhalla Fat Hairy Woods Pigs with Tusks, then this column would be about how Chester and Walhalla set the bar for amazing mascot names, but that isn’t the case. Auctioneers is the standard-bearer. I don’t know of any other team that uses that moniker…because you usually want to go with something fearsome and intimidating and a guy at a lectern semi-yodeling “twenty dollar bid, twenty dollar bid, do I have thirty?” doesn’t fit the “ooh I’m scared of that” template. It also comes as close as any mascot can to capturing the history and daily life of a community, given the area’s roots where cropping and selling tobacco is concerned. That would be like the Columbia High Legislators or the Myrtle Beach Ohioans. It’s perfect and it wins…but it isn’t alone. With high school football practice four days away as of this writing, now seems like as good a time as any to compile a big, dumb list. So here it is…the top South Carolina high school mascots. This started out as a top 10 list, but there are 12 that I consider worthy of mention here. The criteria includes originality…um, and stuff I think is awesome, basically. There may be some rockin’ SCISA nicknames for all I know, but I’m not well-versed in those, these are all SCHSL-participating schools. Where appropriate, I’ll also make some suggestions on how an already-good mascot name could be made even better…or how it could be ruined or turned into something only I find funny. Honorable mentions… Timmonsville Whirlwinds- It’s not unusual for teams to utilize a weather phenomenon (see Cyclones and Hurricanes) as a mascot. I like Whirlwinds because it can either be a “dangerous column of air moving around and around in a cyclonic or funnel shape” or “an energetic or tumultuous person.” Either is evocative and suitable for athletics. It’s somewhat uncommon for mascot purposes and it sounds sort of Southern and old-timey, like something my grandma would have said (the same one who would tell me that “the dooflatchy” was broken…which could have been anything from toaster oven to a sparkplug in her Chrysler). It has some Biblical background and Johnny Cash sang about one, so probably you should not quibble with me on this. Suggested upgrade- The “Bad Clouds” would be an epic mascot. It’s super southern, totally original and very scary. Awful idea- I toyed with the notion of someone using “Drought” as a mascot, but what would you have standing on the sidelines? Somebody dressed like a withered corn stalk or a really thirsty squirrel? “Dry ‘em up, dry ‘em up,” and “”1-2-3-4 it ain’t gonna rain no more” wouldn’t be very effective cheerleader chants either. St. James Sharks- This mascot wouldn’t make sense for every school in the state. The Union County Sharks wouldn’t work because their ain’t no great whites swimming in Tinker’s Creek, Hoss. You might find Great White in the tape deck of a rusted-out Malibu in Lukesville, but that’s beside the point. St. James is six or so miles from the Atlantic ocean, which does contain sharks (I have proof), it’s not an oft-used mascot, sharks are frightening sea beasts, they’re sleek, my cousin was supposed to be eaten by one in the worst movie ever made but his grisly death scene was edited out…it’s a perfect fit. Suggested upgrade- Being more specific (the Hammerheads) would be a bit more colorful. Awful Idea- St. James Jaws sounds awesome and is alliterative (meaning it has lots of the J) but is also begging for a copyright infringement lawsuit. Oh well. Eau Claire Shamrocks- I have no idea how Eau Claire became the Shamrocks. I don’t know that many low-growing, three-lobed, clover-like plants grow near the school. Were there a lot of Irish settlers in the area at one point? Can’t help you there, Jabo. I do know that plant-life is way underrepresented where mascots are concerned. That and the scarcity of other teams called “Shamrocks” make it stand out. Suggested upgrade- Kudzu? Shouldn’t someone in our state call themselves the kudzu? Awful idea- I love honeysuckle…we have it in abundance and the aroma of it wafting on the thick, summertime air is one of the best smells I know of…but would you want “suck” right in the middle of your name? 10. Ware Shoals Purple Hornets- I mentioned earlier that winged, stingy things are a bit overplayed and they are, but the descriptor “purple” makes all the difference here. I don’t know of another team going by this name anywhere. There’s a certain wacky factor at play, since I’ve seen and encountered every manner of dirt dobber, bee, wasp and hornet imaginable and have never seen one that was actually purple. In fact, if you Google “purple hornet” you won’t get anything on armed insects…you will in fact get thousands of results dealing with sea coral. Does anyone in Ware Shoals, Tumbling Shoals or Ware Place know their mascot is actually sea coral? I sure didn’t. Is there sea coral in the Saluda River? It doesn’t really matter. Anybody who shoots an actual friggin’ cannon at their football games and serves delicious BBQ nachos in their concession stand is OK in my book. Suggested upgrade- The ‘Skeeters. Someone name your team the ‘Skeeters and I’m a fan for life. (Updated note…Mesquite High in Texas is, in fact, the Skeeters and I’m now a fan for life). Awful idea- Dirt Dobbers or Sea Coral. 9. St. John’s Islanders- Other than the NHL franchise in New York, I don’t know of many teams using this’n. A friend pointed out that they and the Aucs are about the only human mascots in our state that aren’t hostile and ready for battle or plunder, which earns bonus points. Islanders is actually sort of plain and to the point…we live on an island, so we’ll just call ourselves that. I dig it, though. We don’t need fancified sea coral and whatnot, we’ll just be what we are and that’s that Broham. It would be like Landrum dropping “Cardinals” and going with “Hill Folk” or Columbia High becoming “The Sandhillians” which would actually involve creating a new word, now that I think about it. Also, The Islanders was the name of a former WWF tag team, earning additional bonus points. Suggested upgrade- The Angel Oaks would be an amazing name. When you have one of the oldest living things on the planet on your island, that deserves to be emblazoned on a helmet and possibly a water tower, I think. Awful idea- You know, Purple Hornets would actually be more appropriate here than in Ware Shoals since we now know the dirty coral secret… 8. Catawba Ridge Copperheads- One of the primary reasons I’ve reworked this list is because this school just opened and blessed us with slithery, scary goodness in the mascot department. There are obviously much more dangerous, more venomous snakes, but we don’t really have them here. It’s unique, it’s colloquial, it’s fearsome and it gives the band the opportunity to play “Copperhead Road” frequently. If nothing else, when the team converts a big third down, the band could just play that one part. The really loud one that’s like “BUH DUH DUH DUH DUH!!!!” You know that part? Yeah. Suggested upgrade- The Cobra Commanders would be totally sweet but who could see anything in that mask? Awful idea- Nobody wants to touch a toilet snake but that doesn’t mean you should name your team after one. 7. Traveler’s Rest Devil Dogs- If you need me to explain why this is epic and among the best there is, kindly stop reading now. 6. Charleston Charter School for Social Studies and Automotive Repair Riptide- I always forget the school’s actual name (I don’t think “automotive repair” is actually in there), but I never forget the “Riptide” mascot. Is it alluding to the powerful ocean current that can lay waste to swimmers and boats, or the 80s TV detective show starring Joe Penny and Thom Bray? Either way, it’s a dadgum winner, people. Very rare, very colorful, conveys power and there were pretty girls and helicopters in the opening sequence... Suggested upgrade- If we’re going with 80s TV shows, what would be more awesome than the Macgyvers? Nothing. The answer is nothing. Nobody in their right mind would screw with the MacGyvers. Awful idea- The Danny Tanners. 5. Bethune-Bowman Mohawks- There is a Native-American tribe with this name, but I can’t find where they are indigenous to South Carolina. So clearly, this nickname is an homage to Mr. T’s haircut. Regular readers of this BLAWG know I already call Bethune-Bowman “The Mr. T haircuts” and I pretty much dare you to say otherwise to Mr. T’s face. Suggested upgrade- Since we’re already delving into 80s TV and Mr. T, The Hannibals wouldn’t be bad. Awful idea- Hannibals, now that I actually really think about it. 4A. Fox Creek Predators- As long as the name isn’t a reference to that list the state has on that website or to owners of panel vans equipped with sliding boards and Icee machines, this is among the best mascots South Carolina athletics has to offer. As already discussed, most mascot names fall into a couple of generic groups…they are usually some type of animal, or varying types of war-like people. Fox Creek bucked that trend, and the obvious trapping of being lazy and going with the Foxes. Predator can be viewed in one of a few different ways. It’s either a mindset…one of strength that preys on the weak which is flat-out out gold when you are talking about the fields of athletic battle…or it’s one of the most badass movies in the history of ever. I regularly refer to this team as “The AHNOLDS” so you can probably figure out which of the two I think it is. In either case, this mascot veers from the ordinary and breaks the mold. Bravo, Fox Creek. Suggested upgrades- Commando was an awesome AHNOLD movie too, but if you go with “Commandos” are people think your team isn’t wearing underpants? They might. Awful idea- The “Kindergarten Cops” would not frighten opponents and was frankly a craptastic load of a movie. 4B Berkeley Stags- OK, I’m being a complete weenie here and making my top 10 a top 11 but it’s my list and I’m not good at math and that’s how it’s gonna be, Broham. When I originally did this list, I made the grievous error of omitting this outstanding entry and was frankly too lazy to go back and change it. A stag, of course, is a male deer (or, you know, a particular brand of short film). But “stag” makes it sound bigger and more brutish. Deer embody all the traits you’d actually want in a stud athlete…speed, strength, a stoic nature, really small poops (maybe not that one). And let’s be honest, there are few sights in the world scarier than a set of glowing eyes on the side of Highway 9 in the dark. Stags are crazy, fuzzy, torpedoes with antlers. Suggested upgrades- The night prowling Honda wreckers is great, but too long to fit on a jersey. Awful idea- The white tails or Bambis. 3. Lake Wild Gators- I think we can all agree that this fits into the Ware Shoals category where an adjective makes all the difference. Just going with “Gators” would be fairly meh and run-of-the-mill. It’s the inclusion of “Wild” that sets Lake View apart. Wild can mean uninhibited and unpredictable and if you put those attributes in a vicious animal that can swallow people whole, you’ve got some pretty frightening imagery. Wild can also apply to that girl you went to school with…you know the one…started smoking when she was 12…disappeared for a long stretch of that field trip to Washington DC… I don’t think they mean “that” kind of wild in this case. Suggested upgrade- None. Awful idea- Somebody could try to be offbeat and really different and be the Disgruntled Ferrets or the Psychotic Opossums but I don’t think the world is ready for that. 2. Barnwell War Horses- Just going by “The Horses” would a tremendous mascot change-up. It would be a rare name and one that invokes images of both power and grace, beauty and danger. But Barnwell was all like “nah y’all, watch this” then went and upped their game with War Horses. A War Horse, literally, is a horse ridden into battle (back when people rode horses into battle), but it can also mean “a soldier, politician or sports figure who has fought many contests.” So, it’s a grizzled warrior, tough, always up for the fight…and if you live to fight many contests, it’s because you’ve won all your previous ones. You’re a winner. You’re calling yourself a big, brave winner with hooves. Hubris? Maybe. Wonderous in every way? Yep. Suggested upgrade- I guess you could just come right out and call yourself “The Winners.” Awful idea- Show horses wouldn’t pack quite the same gritty punch. 1. Mullins Auctioneers- See above. It was bound to happen sooner or later. As I’ve endeavored to walk my dogs in all 46 South Carolina counties, the experiences have been overwhelmingly positive. We’ve encountered nice people and seen some corners of the Palmetto State that had previously been foreign to us. I’ve known from the get-go, however, that we’d eventually hit turbulence. If you do anything 46 times, you are likely going to have at least a few stinkers in the mix. Stinker is an excellent description of our trip to Georgetown. I didn’t take Tucker and Gracie on one definitive walk. Since we were staying on Pawleys Island for vacation last week, we would obviously be doing lots of walking there. That included throughout the resort we were staying in and on the beach. On one of our first days there, I got up early (Gracie actually woke me up early…EVERY DAY of our vacation) and took the dogs out for a stroll. Given my food intake on vacation, I need some long walks to offset the caloric orgy I engage in, but I also like to try to burn some excess energy out of the pups. The mornings were perfect for dog walking, with temperatures still relatively low and a nice breeze. That, combined with the abundance of shade-covered roads provided by all the trees eliminated the normal summer walking problem of withering heat. We walked past a golf course, soaking in the scenes of the lush, rolling fairways and water hazards. It’s funny, those are nice to look at when you aren’t actually playing golf. When I’m actually swinging a club myself, water basically serves as a swear word-inducing ball magnet. Anyway, we were walking down the winding path towards the front gate and nearing the halfway mark of what would be an hour-long walk before we finally approached another person. He was an older gentleman who I could tell was eying Tucker and Gracie. He was making a beeline toward us, so I was sure he was a dog-lover. Like so many others we’ve met, I was certain he would lavish my dogs with praise, inquire about their breed and tell me how beautiful they were. I was wrong. “You do realize you have to clean up after your dogs here?” he said, nose cocked slightly towards the sky, allowing him to look down on all he beheld. He didn’t say “hello” or “hey buddy” or offer any pleasantry at all. Just immediately jumped into being an unpleasant, abrasive butthead. That’s a really odd thing to toss at somebody you don’t know without some sort of icebreaker or greeting. If he’d actually seen one of my dogs poop in his yard and me just leave it there, I would certainly understand. During one of our walks on this journey, I’ve actually stepped in stuff an irresponsible pet owner left behind. If Tucker dropped one next to this guy’s mailbox and I said “whoa that’s a big’n. Wait until whoever lives here sees that…HIGH FIVE TUCKER” he’d have reason to confront me. That was not the case. I’m guessing the guy was a resident as opposed to a visitor like me and maybe doesn’t like vacationers cycling in-and-out of his neighborhood. That’s something he might should have considered before he moved into a vacation resort near the ocean THAT FEATURES RENTALS. I hate to mention this, but the fact I was a wearing Clemson hat and spoke with a twang probably tipped him off that I didn’t live there. To fit in with the residents you have to say stuff like “yous guys” and wear Buckeyes gear. Maybe I should’ve said “Oh yeah…31-0!. Bite me grampa.” The thing is, I’m a friendly, easygoing person. If you want to be unfriendly and uptight and act like someone elected you Crap Commissioner (Poop Poobah) of Georgetown County, I don’t care that much, really. It’s just a strange kick to get on. “Ah, a guy and his dogs. Time to lay down the poop laws for this out-of-towner.” Still, his brusk query needed a reply. “I always clean up after dogs, no matter where I am,” I said. He turned around and walked off. No “good” or “thanks” or “up yours buddy.” It didn’t ruin the walk, but it made me wonder how somebody who lives in a beautiful, relaxed area near the ocean can be such a grump. A grump who wants to project that grump attitude to strangers walking dogs. That’s a crappy way to go about your day. Things would get even crappier. Walking the dogs on the beach was a weird experience. Tucker loves the beach, loves digging in the sand and loves getting in the water to swim. Previously, Gracie was less of a fan. The first time we took her to the beach, the waves lapping towards her seemed to frighten her a bit. She would scurry away every time water moved in her direction. Last year she seemed to overcome that a bit, reluctantly walking into the surf. The thing is, we’ve had Tucker since he was seven or eight weeks old. We’ve been there for basically all of his life experiences and know what he likes and dislikes and usually why he likes or dislikes certain things. Gracie was almost a year old when we adopted her. When she first came to our house, she didn’t like to be touched, particularly on her head. She’d swing it at you like a weapon if you tried to pet her. if In fact, it took a solid six months for her to really trust us and accept the affection and attention we offered. So, maybe there’s a reason from the first 10 months of her life that water scares her. Maybe, as a gentleman in Clemson suggested a few weeks ago, it goes back to her lack of a tail, which apparently does impede swimming a bit. So when I walked them on the beach last week, I was surprised to see Gracie actively pull towards the ocean constantly as we walked. Tucker was a hair more relaxed, knowing he’d get there eventually. When I let them get in the water, Tucker splashed and frolicked and swam like always. Gracie seemed to like being in the water in general, but every time a wave approached (or the break approached, we weren’t out very far) she would either turn around and let it hit her backside or she’d try to run to shore. The one time I took them deep enough that swimming would be required, she freaked out a little bit. Anytime I took her out of the water, though, as she reacted negatively to waves or depth, she started pulling toward the water again, wanting to get back in. She was also much more agitated and barky than usual. She barked at people, she barked at dogs, she barked at seagulls (and, in fact tried to chase them as they flew by). She also pooped in very inconvenient places. For whatever reason, on the beach, her poop making place of choice was very near the water. As the water lapped up on the beach and began to recede, she’d assume her half-squat and do her business on the wet sand. That’s fine, except the next wave would then lap up on the shore, and scatter her poop in all directions. On the next-to-last day of our trip to the beach, I brought the dogs along. As we sat down, a lady sitting nearby commented on how pretty Tucker and Gracie were. She asked about Gracie’s lack of a tail, how I managed to walk both at the same time and such. She had a dog too, a small, older dog that she told us was blind. Gracie got riled and started barking and jumping in the dog’s direction so I decided it might be best to take them on a walk. Gracie didn’t know she was barking at a sweet, old, blind dog, but she was and I wanted that to cease, so away we went. As had been the case all week, she tried to walk toward the water. I held off on letting them jump in initially, but finally relented. That went fine for a minute, we were near a bunch of kids playing in the water who thought it was funny to see two big dogs splashing around. The level of humor that provided paled in comparison, though, to the laughs provoked by Gracie hunching up and dropping a big steamer. As per usual, it was on wet sand, but the water was approaching. It was almost like I was in a race against the clock trying to defuse a bomb…a big, giant poop bomb that would explode in seconds. I feverishly pulled the roll of bags out of my pocket, tore one off the roll but DADGUM IT it’s hard to open those things. As I got it open and got my hand inside, the water lapped up, hit the poop and started carrying it every direction. Now the kids went from laughing to horrified as I tried to hold onto two leashes with one hand and scoop up floating, moving dog turds with the other. At a certain point I noticed that some folks sitting just up the beach from me (may have been the kids’ parents) had whipped out their cell phones and were videoing my antics. So, if there is a viral YouTube video titled “hapless beachgoer chases doggie logs” or something, that’s probably me. Hopefully it’s only on YouTube and not some site where weirdos look at stinky. I got as much of the leavings up as I could and headed back, but I saw that Ashley and her mom were still talking to that lady and her husband. I was a tad flustered at that point and wanted to go back over and sit down, but didn’t want Gracie menacing that poor little dog. So I stood and waited and waited. When those folks finally left and I was able to get back to my chair I found out why the conversation went on so long. The lady was actually a dog sitter and her husband had been on the 37th floor of one of the World Trade Center buildings on 9-11. Hard to be mad at having to stand around with wet doo doo bags and crazy dogs over that. I only wish I’d been able to talk to the gentleman myself and hear his story. Ashley decided we’d all go out into the water, so Tucker, Gracie and the two of us did so. Gracie again alternately seemed eager and hesitant. After a minute or so, she decided she’d had enough and tried to go to shore. I offered up a “come on Gracie, it’s OK” but that fell on deaf ears. She bucked and tussled and somehow pulled her little peanut head right out of her collar. Now she was running free and crazy on the beach. As I tried to grab her I must’ve let go of Tucker’s leash…so now my two big, crazy dogs were running completely amok…and by “amok” I mean directly toward a family of four sitting right by water on a towel. I almost saw the scene in slow motion…Tucker was chasing Gracie directly towards them. They looked up, saw two animals barreling toward them and all shrieked in horror. Somehow I managed to grab them both just before they pummeled the folks. The family was very nice about it. They didn’t speak much English, but assured us they were fine and no harm done. At that point, I decided we’d had enough beach fun and we left. Those were fairly isolated incidents, though. The bulk of the trip and our walks were great. At the end of one particularly long walk, we were headed back to the condo we were staying in. Tucker decided he didn’t want to go the way I was headed, so he pulled me toward a little side road. I figured he was up for some more adventures, so I followed along, but that wasn’t what he wanted. The path he pulled me down was actually a shortcut to our condo…a shortcut we had not walked or driven in our entire time there. Our vehicle wasn’t visible at the point when he got insistent about going that way. “How in the world did you know we could get back this way?” I marveled. I know everybody thinks their dog is really smart, but mine has navigation skills. Columbus went the wrong way, didn’t end up where he wanted to go or thought he was and he gets his own day. Why shouldn’t Tucker get one? Then, on our last day, as we finished a walk, a fellow with a thick accent approached us and asked if he could pet my dogs. He’d had dogs all his life, he said, back home in Canada. He asked about their swimming skills and I told him Tucker’s were top-notch and Gracie’s were nonexistent. He’d always been a fan of golden retrievers and saw that in Tucker. “They are both great dogs,” he said. “But this one…he has a majestic form. He should be in dog shows,” he said. Majestic form was a totally new one on me. I thanked him and we went on our way. I’ll tell you, those two occurences alone were worth the all the other crap I had to endure. |
TravisI am Travis, the king 0f SC 1A Football Archives
November 2021
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