Division I
Southside Christian-56 McBee-26 Allendale-Fairfax-28 Latta-0 Division II Lamar-40 Ridge Spring-Monetta-14 C.E. Murray-16 Lake View-14 Breakdown- You've no doubt heard allusions over the years to the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Dr. Jekyll was an upstanding member of society, but his alter-ego Mr Hyde was a deranged phsychopath that would get all kill-y and junk...well when it comes to football pickin', I too have two distinct personalities. On one hand I am Sir Einstein of Smartville, going 16-0 on picking the first round of the Class A playoffs. At times, though, I morph into Bubba McDumbass, who goes BIG FAT O-FER on Division I semi-finals games. I have to say, I absolutely did not see Southside Christian's beatdown of McBee coming. After the Panthers knocked Christ Church out of the playoffs last week, I thought they'd punched their ticket to a state title. While they didn't exhibit anywhere near the offensive balance of The Sabres, I figured they had more dynamic play-makers on offense and had a defense that would overwhelm Southside Christian at the line of scrimmage. At a bare minimum, I figured they'd blow up a lot of what the Sabres wanted to do before it even got started with sacks, tackles-for-loss and pressures. Wait, did I think that or was it Bubba McDumbass? Yeah, none of that happened. McBee took an 18-14 lead in the second quarter, but then Southside Christian did what they've done to everyone lately, which is dominate the second half. They were up 56-18 before the Panthers got one last junk score late in the proceedings. Part of the problem is that I haven't seen Southside Christian in person this year. With a 2,000-yard passer and a 1,500-plus yard rusher, I certainly knew they had talent and could put points on the board. What I didn't know is that their offensive line would be able to not only hold up against McBee's withering blitz, but they'd be able to essentially do whatever they wanted against them. It also wouldn't have occurred to me that after getting gashed by Jordan Fair, Dashonnell Wright and the rest of McBee's offensive studs early on, that Southside Christian would make some adjustments and shut them down. Like I said when Lamar beat McBee, it's a day's work to limit the Panthers' explosive, 50-plus yard plays, much less keep their Wishbone offense from consistently grinding out clusters of five and six-yard gains. If I'm being honest and really looking at the numbers, McBee did not finish the year strong. After running out to 8-0, averaging over 60 points a game and inspiring my ridiculous power-drill massacre meme, they lost 21-13 to Lamar, routed a totally overmatched C.A. Johnson team, beat St. Joe's 21-0, got a 31-21 victory over Christ Church then got smacked Friday. Maybe being so totally one-dimensional on offense finally started to bite them. Against the lesser teams on their schedule, they probably walked on the field up 35-0 based on superior athleticism alone. Against better teams, ones who can not only cook up a scheme to stop just a running game but have the athletes to do so, maybe they needed to vary things a little more. I'm not around the Panthers everyday, it's entirely possible they had guys hurt. At Class A schools, one injury can often mean you've actually lost two starters, since most guys go both ways. Maybe by game 13, guys who've had to start both ways are worn down. I hate to bring this up, since I have so very many times before, but you also have to accept that private schools have A LOT of built-in advantages over their public counterparts. I was also told by my McBee guy that the officiating seemed one-sided. I will tell you that the only time I have ever, in covering prep sports, felt like officials had decided before the game who was going to win and then facilitated that, it was a basketball game at a Greenville private school. Now, with so lopsided a score, my McBee expert conceeded that refs were not the responsible for the outcome. He said McBee's defense got picked apart...the offense moved the ball, he said, until they got a couple of scores down and had to get out of their comfort zone. Certainly, Southside Christian is a very good team and deserves the upperstate crown they just won, especially when you consider the 10-year-old program had never won a playoff game until this season. They'll be in AA next year, along with the other upstate powerhouse private schools. I hope the window hasn't closed for McBee, who deserves success after winning one playoff game in their long history before last season. They lose an awful lot of starters, including Fair. Whatever next year holds, the last two seasons have been special, they just didn't end the way I thought they would. I can't tell you much of anything about Allendale-Fairfax's 28-0 blanking of Latta. If you've seen a written account of the game, please let me know in the comment section where to find it. I took a bit of a reach and picked Latta, based on the fact that they had beaten Bamberg-Ehrhardt the week before, which is very similar in talent and style to A-F. Perhaps, like B-E, they would not have seen a passing offense as effective as Latta's, I thought. They'd also needed three special teams scores the previous week to beat Calhoun County. I figured A-F might have been the better team, but hey, I write a goofy Class A blog, so why not go out on a limb...maybe because the limb breaks and you fall on a nice old lady and her puppy dog and squish them and look like a terrible person in the process. Well, I didn't do that, but I TOTALLY missed the narrative on this one and was full-on Bubba McDumbass in my pick of Latta. A-F, obviously, is equipped to handle any offense they see. Offensively they don't wow you, but they eat clock and squeeze enough points out of their power running game to go 12-1 and win the lowerstate crown. OK, Sir Einstein of Smartville made an appearance for the Division II games, both of which went exactly as I figured they would. As you know, I now have a confidential Lamar informant. His summary of the game was "Lamar's offensive and defensive lines won this game. Absolutely whipped them up front for most of the night. They stopped us on downs on our first drive, but after that we went 14-0 quick on a 75-yard TD run by Tre Ceasar and then an interception returned for a TD. They drove back down then field on a really nice drive to make it 14-6. Then they went for an onside kick, but we recovered and had a very short field. Durant took it up the middle a couple plays later for around 45 yards to go up 21-6. After getting the ball back we then went up 27-6. Our next possession we threw an interception around our on 40. They scored a few plays later and the score was 27-14 going into half. They actually had some momentum at that point and based on how they came back on us last year…I was officially worried. After halftime they got the ball first, but did nothing with it. Nor did they do anything else really for the rest of the half. Our defense played great in the second and the offense grinded. Not huge plays, just chunks to keep the chains and the clock moving." RSM had a good year. I saw them early on and was impressed with their size. Very tough team, extremely physical. But, Lamar proved against McBee that they can stop somewhat one-dimensional offenses, they have at least comparable size and more dynamic playmakers on offense. They also have depth since all-world super stud RB Tre Ceasar suffered a hamstring injury and was limited to just four carries...of course one was a 75-yard score, but Durant, Barr, etc. filled the gap ably. Hopefully they'll have him back at full strength Saturday, because they'll need him. I also figured C.E. Murray-Lake View would be the closest game of Friday night and it certainly was. The War Eagles kicked a last-second field goal to secure the 16-14 win. I'm sure a lot of people didn't buy into C.E. Murray for a while. They are tucked down in Williamsburg kind of by themselves, don't get a lot of media coverage and don't have a history of success. I've seen them with my own eyes, though, and can tell you they are very good on the offensive line. Isiah Odom is big thumper at RB that steps on other high school children's faces and hurts their feelings if they try to tackle him, they have an athletic quarterback, speed on the back end of the defense and penetrators up front on that side. Nothing fancy, a stack I offense that bludgeouns you, but they are disciplined, don't turn it over and don't incur many penalties. They've also shown real determination and drive by enduring terrible flooding that left many players homeless for a time. Having now beaten a superb Lake View team, nobody can doubt them anymore. They'll play Lamar for state and it will be a classic. Suggested Reading Southside Christian whooped McBee, which Bubba totally did not see coming. C.E. Murray kept it's dream season alive with a last-second win over Lake View. Lamar gave RSM a proper seeing to despite a tough early injury. Also, I did attend the Class A state championship press conferences and will bring you some stories from that event throughout the week.
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Division I Upperstate
McBee (11-1) at Southside Christian (11-1) By virtue of Christ Church's 31-21 loss to McBee last week, we are guaranteed of having a new Division I state champion. We will also have a first-time representative from the upperstate, since neither of these two teams has ever played for state. In fact, coming into this year, McBee had three playoff wins in its long history and Southside Christian had NOT NAM in its considerably shorter history. The Panthers have not really put up the gaudy, ridiculous, "holy crap, they scored how many?" offensive numbers they did during the regular season, but they also haven't had to. Their defense, which often goes unnoticed in the shadows because of the attention-getting offensive stats, has paved the way in the post-season. St. Joe's was like a nervous guy at a public restroom trough against them...unable to squeeze a drop. Christ Church really had one sustained drive and it was kept alive by a big play on a blown coverage. They hit two long touchdown passes to 6-foot-5, North-South All-Star receiver Braxton Westfield early against McBee's man coverage. After that, the Panthers made an adjustment, gave some help to his side and he didn't impact the game any further. Christ Church could not run on McBee. Southside Christian, on the other hand, has been doling out some grade one rootins in the past few weeks, hanging 63 on Wagener-Salley and 56 on Williston-Elko. If you've really paid attention to the Sabres athletics program, the run they are now on isn't a surprise. They have become a force in baseball and basketball in the past few years, so it stood to reason that football improvement was coming too. In terms of offensive balance in this match-up, Southside Christian wins in a runaway. They have a 2,000-plus-yard passer in Clayton Coulter and a 1,500-plus-yard rusher in Quintyn Reeder. Last week, Coulter had four scoring tosses and Reeder ran for 202 yards and two touchdowns. McBee runs the ball in spite of down and distance. I will note that they threw two passes last week, one on first down (which felt like a wacky, trick play). One went for a long touchdown, the other went for a long gain. Pulling a few more of those out of the hat would give the Sabres something else to worry about, but the offense will be a steady diet of Jordan Fair and Dashonnell Wright, two of the state's best backs. I would say the kicking game edge goes to Southside Christian, but McBee surprisingly won that battle last week, drilling an important field goal, blocking a Christ Church field goal and winning the field position battle. Defensively, as noted, McBee gets the nod. The Sabres do a lot of things well and are generally good on defense, but a dynamic back in Shakur Chisolm ran for 287 and four touchdowns on them last week. McBee's playoff road has been an upstate private school all-star regatta so far. They sent St. Joe's packing for AA, then did the same to Christ Church. In a close one, I say they make it three-for-three. The Pick-McBee Lowerstate Latta (9-3) at Allendale-Fairfax (11-1) Not to toot my own horn...OK, to toot it like Dizzy Gillespie, I am 21-3 picking Class A playoff games this year. Granted, the entire first round was filled with gimmes and I'm counting one team that forfeited as a win, so, maybe I ought to quit a'tootin'. Anyway, two of my misses last week were these two teams. Latta sprung the biggest upset of the Class A playoffs last week knocking off previously unbeaten, top-seeded Bamberg-Ehrhardt 35-28. They forced four turnovers and I'm wondering if B-E had seen a passing attack like Latta's this year. Colby Lee threw five touchdown passes in that one. The thing is, Latta has very quietly put together an impressive resume this year. You go back and look at their schedule and really examine their three losses. They fell to unbeaten AA power Dillon (hell, who doesn't lose to Dillon?), lost to McBee and dropped a hard-fought 54-41 decision to Lake View, who is still alive in the Division II bracket. Allendale-Fairfax's only loss in the regular season was to B-E, but they let a big lead slip away in the second half of that one. Last week, even though the Tigers play good defense, I figured they wouldn't be able to keep up with Calhoun County offensively. They weren't, but you can totally get away with that when your special teams score two touchdowns and set up another easy one. A-F managed to answer two Calhoun County touchdowns with kick-off return touchdowns, then they recovered an errant punt snap at the Saints 10 to get another one. None of that is luck, as some might think. You are good on special teams because you take them seriously and really focus on them. Latta can score in bunches, but Allendale-Fairfax has a very good defense. Latta doesn't, so much, especially against better teams. On paper, everything about this says Allendale-Fairfax will win the lowerstate championship. Of course, this blog isn't on paper. Call me crazy, but A-F feels like a virtual carbon copy of B-E...solid run game, good defense, but Latta blew that formula up last week and even good special teams units don't hand their team 21 points EVERY week. Has Allendale-Fairfax seen a pass-happpy spread offense this year? What fun is a wacky football blog if you never go out on a limb and always take the higher seed? The Upset Pick-Latta Division II Upperstate Ridge Spring-Monetta (8-4) at Lamar (9-3) I am not surprised in the least that RSM has made it this far. I saw them in an early scrimmage this year and was very impressed with their size and physical play. They usually run out of a tight wishbone. Two tight ends, full-house backfield and no receivers. Now, they throw it juuuuussst well enough that you have to respect that aspect of their game. They spread it a little, but seemed to throw it better (and protect better) out of that wishbone, actually. Defensively they are big up front. Not super quick there, but strong and very effective. Good athletes on the back end. They have also had a knack for getting on a roll come playoff time for the past few years. They barely got by McCormick by a 28-24 score last week, but a win is a win this time of year. And a penny saved is a penny earned. And a stitch in time saves nine...since I've turned into a friggin' cliché machine. Anyway, Corey Hopkins had 121 yards and Johnathan Gibson 94 on the ground in that one. Per my embedded Lamar informant, the Silver Foxes had a tougher time with two-time defending champion Hunter-Kinard-Tyler than the 34-6 final indicates. It was 14-6 late in the third, but Lamar stepped on their faces in the fourth, which is what good teams do. Trey Ceasar worked hard for it, but ran for over 200 yards. If RSM can control the clock and shorten the game, they have a puncher's chance here. Lamar isn't as big as they are up front, but they are comparable and have more dynamic playmakers with Ceasar, Durant, Barr etc. This'll be a good one, but I say the Silver Foxes are playing in Columbia next week... The Pick-Lamar Lowerstate Lake View (10-2) at C.E. Murray (11-1) I haven't seen Lake View this year, but as luck would have it my Lamar informant has. His description of them is "Lake View is good. Good size, speed in the backfield and LB, and tough. They have a hammer at RB who has speed and their QB is really big and athletic. We had him sacked several times for loss and he just kind of threw us off. They aren't really a threat to pass, but the line plays tough and they get their yards. They have no quit in them." What's funny is, aside from the big quarterback part, I could write those same sentences and be talking about C.E. Murray. They are almost mirror-images of one another. I have seen C.E. Murray and what I saw that night was a big, physical front line, a big thumper in the backfield (Isiah Odom, who has eight dadgum touchdowns in the past two games) an athletic quarterback and discipline all-around. I think they had two penalties and no turnovers the night I watched them play. Both teams are excellent defensively and just stomp your hopes and dreams and giblets with road-grader running attacks. So they have similar styles and similar resumes if you go week-by-week through their schedules. I'm seriusly torn on this one. I'll admit a bias, since I've actually seen the War Eagles in person and was impressed with the way they've handled terrible adversity in the form of devestating floods, but that group has a special vibe. One of the coaches I cover regularly often tells me "confidence is a bear." Once a group believes, the level of play goes up a notch. That describes this group. I may be wrong, but by the slimmest of margins... The Pick-C.E. Murray Sometimes I struggle to come up with topics for the goofy column I write every week as part of my newspaper job...and sometimes I get press releases about underpants that smell like meat and the column pretty much writes itself.
I receive a few hundred emails a day, most of which are of the "I'm running for office, please give me money," "these pills will turn you into a wild animal," "the government doesn't want you to know about this video" or "your dream vacation to Nebraska is just a click away" junk variety. Sometimes, though, the intraweb Gods will deliver a special gift to me, like tighty whities that smell like pork. No, really! I got an email this morning with the simple subject line "Bacon-scented underwear." Obviously, this required further investigation. "J&D’s Foods, makers of Bacon Salt®, is pleased to announce the launch of Bacon Scented Underwear™, the world’s first underwear that looks and smells like bacon," the press release says. This can't be real, I thought. "Yes, this is real," the release said. Wow...it's like the bacon draws people can read my mind! They must've known I'd be skeptical. I should've known this was a real thing, though, because Bacon Salt is a real product. Since bacon-scented candles, some ghastly bacon/mayonnaise cross-breeding, bacon-scented toilet paper, bacon-scented shoes, bacon bandages, bacon dental floss, bacon soap and bacon-flavored soft drinks are all things that actually exist on this planet, why should I have doubted bacon underwear? For crying out loud, there's even a board game called "Mr. Bacon's Big Adventure." I wonder if that's like Pee Week's Big Adventure? Lost bike? Basement in The Alamo? Who know? Anyway, there shouldn't really be a shock value to porcine-smelling skivvies, but there is the question of how you market such a thing. I mean, I love almost everything about bacon, from its smoky flavor to the way one bite can contain the crunch of crisped meat and the next the unctuous chew of not-totally-rendered-out fat. I also like underpants, I guess, since I do wear them every day. Those two things seem like an odd marriage to me since I can't eat underwear and I don't want to, oh how to phrase this delicately, have portions of my lower body smelling like the Waffle House. I mean, I like Snicker bars and I like hot dogs, but mashing the two together would look like, oh how to phrase this delicately, something I don't want to eat. Nuts and nougat and burned weenies together don’t sound very appetizing. So what say you, purveyors of bacon jockeys? What is your pitch? "Marrying the ultimate in comfort and cured meat, J&D's Bacon Scented Underwear represents the gold standard of meat-scented luxury undergarments. Each pair is hand crafted in the USA to offer the support of briefs, the freedom of boxers and the smell of breakfast cooking in your pants. You really can have it all," the release says. OK...humor is a pretty effective means of moving product. Points for that. Really, though, let's examine those last three sentences. They claim to be the gold standard of meat-scented luxury undergarments. Are there any other companies out there making meat pants? They say they are the gold standard, so does that mean there are substandard manufacturers of the same product. If so, I imagine the company would be named something like "Jim Bob's stanky cube steak panties" or "Willie Ralph's stand-up weenie boxers." "Have you ever wanted to capture the smell of those salty little cans of weiners...IN YOUR PANTS?! Well thanks to Willie Ralph, now you can!" Next, it notes that each pair is crafted with pride in the USA. I'm in favor of Americans having jobs, so that part is good and really, can you imagine a worse fate than working in a bacon underwear sweatshop? Would it be worse to sew the draws together or be the one charged with "scenting" them? Then, would there have to be someone who smells the underpants to verify the bacon smell? "Bacon draws sniffer" would be the worst job title ever. I'm glad to know that if anyone is doing that, they are adults being paid an actual wage. Lastly, we are told the underwear provides support, freedom and "the smell of breakfast cooking in your pants." Again, I have to tread lightly here but, have you ever actually fried bacon? It's worth it in the end, but man, it spits lots of scalding hot grease at you while it's cooking. Are you comfortable with the thought of hot grease being, uh, in that location? I'm not. I'm not at all. Pants don't come with ovens sewn inside them for a reason man... Pictures of the bacon underwear are included. They don't really look like bacon so much...they are red (so my tighty whities comparison was inaccurate) and have a picture of bacon on them with the phrase "stop and smell the..." They apparently come in different sizes and styles for men and women. The bacon is positioned in such a way as to be sort of suggestive. Suggestive meat cartoons? I'm moving along now. I figure this would have to be a couples purchase. I mean, my wife likes bacon and all, but I don't think she's going to go for me smelling like it unless maybe she does too. Even then...no. I'm pretty sure most ladies don't want to smell like hog meat, in fact. That's just a really tough sell. "Come on baby, let's do this together. Smell like meat for me!" That's maybe the oddest sentence I've ever written. If you are married to a vegan, would wearing pig draws be kind of a deal-breaker? I'm just asking. The release notes that the smell of bacon will linger on the garment for six to 12 months through multiple washings. How bacon-y the smell comes across is apparently somewhat dependent on "the strength of your own scent." Eww! What if my natural scent is that of eggs? It would be the perfect combo! "Hey mom, you know how I've always had that weird, kind of eggy smell? Well, I think I fixed it!" egg-smelling guy would say to his mother. "Really? You've found something to cover it up? Thank God." "Even better! I found something to compliment it!" I'd think most people take active steps in their daily lives not to smell like meat, particularly in the lap area but if you're so inclined, you can visit BaconUnderwear.com for more details and purchasing information. It took a lot of restraint for me to NOT make every comment that crossed my mind...you're welcome. I've always wondered what the initials of BVDs underpants stood for. I guess maybe I've figured the first letter out now. The complete press release without my ridiculous asides is below… J&D’s Foods, makers of Bacon Salt®, is pleased to announce the launch of Bacon Scented Underwear™, the world’s first underwear that looks and smells like bacon. Yes, this is real. Marrying the ultimate in comfort and cured meat, J&D's Bacon Scented Underwear represents the gold standard of meat-scented luxury undergarments. Each pair is hand crafted in the USA to offer the support of briefs, the freedom of boxers and the smell of breakfast cooking in your pants. You really can have it all. Featuring state of the art moisture-wicking, scent-emission technology stolen from NASA, we’ve embedded the smell of everyone’s favorite smell into the fabric of your pants. This intoxicating scent will last through multiple wash cycles and wearings - depending on the (ahem) strength of your own scent, your underwear should continue to smell like bacon for up to 6 months or even a year. Our legal team has advised us to post the following serious warnings: • J&D's Bacon Scented Underwear is not recommended for people in the following professions: mail carriers, zookeepers, veterinarians, dog catchers and walkers, and circus performers (especially lion tamers). • If you have a large dog with razor sharp teeth, please do not fall asleep in J&D's Bacon Scented Underwear. • If you are hiking in the woods where bears are known to roam, please do not wear Bacon Scented Underwear without also carrying a firearm. J&D’s Bacon Scented Underwear is available exclusivly at www.baconunderwear.com for $19.99 per pair and comes in men’s and women’s styles and sizes. And oh yeah, we also invented the future of Bacon recently (www.candyyourbacon.com). No biggie. Thanks again for your continued support of the Bacon Arts. Division I Upperstate
Southside Christian-56 Williston-Elko-33 McBee-31 Christ Church-21 Division I Lowerstate Latta-35 Bamberg-Ehrhardt-28 Allendale-Fairfax-28 Calhoun County-20 Division II Upperstate Lamar-34 Hunter-Kinard-Tyler-6 Ridge Spring-Monetta-26 McCormick-24 Division II Lowerstate C.E. Murray-55 Baptist Hill-6 Lake View-14 Cross-6 Breakdown- As I predicted, both defending state champions went down to defeat Friday night...uh, let's not look at the rest of my picks...pretty much irrelevent in the grand scheme of things, really. Unimportant footnotes in history the way I see it. That was so long ago, I was young and needed the money etc. Eh, we'll get to them. As for those mutli-time defending champons going down, I saw one in person as Christ Church fell to McBee. The Cavs were still a very good team this year. Class A teams that beat playoff-bound AAA squads (they knocked off Eastside early in the year) can't be called anything but good. They were not, however, the same team that came into the year having won four state titles in-a-row and riding the state's longest-ever winning streak. Christ Church was still formidable up front and had a growed-up man playing wide receiver in Braxton Westfield. The passing game just didn't have the precision or efficiency of the past few years, though. Their QB was a good athlete but was also, I believe, a first-time starter and it takes time to grow into the position. Their running game was solid but didn't have a home run element or a lot of size. Defensively, again, good up front, but (again) breaking in new starters, struggled some on the back end. I thought we were in for a shoot-out when McBee scored on a long run on their first possession, then Christ Church answered with a long toughdown pass to Westfield. The pace slowed considerably after that. Christ Church took the lead on another long one to Westfield, but that brought a little defensive tweak for the Panthers. Generally they blitz like crazy and play man coverage, but when the opposition has a 6-foot-5 speedster like Westfield who stuck it in you sideways and on fire twice already, it's time to give something else a try. They gave some help to his side and kept him in check the rest of the game. Really, outside of their fourth-quarter scoring march, Christ Church just couldn't sustain anything offensively against the Panthers. They couldn't run on them at all and while McBee didn't get a lot of sacks they did get enough pressure to lead to a lot of errant passes. McBee broke a couple of long ones for touchdowns, but more importantly, Jordan Fair and Dashonnell Wright consistently moved the sticks, especially in the second half. By late in the game they even had a little success running up the middle, which no one has done on Christ Church this year. I didn't keep track of their third-down conversions, but Christ Church couldn't get them off the field. McBee also threw it twice, including once on first down...I promise I wasn't drinking at the game and am not now. Don't have rubber cement or a sharpie open on my desk. Totally of clear mind right now. It really happened! The first one netted them a 49-yard touchdown. The receiver was so open, if a football field was as long as a marathon course, he still would've scored a touchdown. Could've stopped at every water station. If they continue to mix in a complimentary passing game, I don't think they can be stopped...not when you have to worry about Fair and Wright in the backfield. McBee, surprisingly, also won the special teams battle. They successfully kicked a field goal just before the half to take the lead, but also blocked a Christ Church field goal attempt and didn't get killed on field position. The game had a sense of finality to it...somebody finally slayed the private school dragon and Christ Church is done playing Class A football, at least for a while. "There won't be a five-time state champion this year...but there can still be a first-time champion," McBee coach Charlie Poole said after the game. Then one of the players did a dead-on impersonation of the Ric Flair "kiss-stealing, wheeling-dealing..." bit, which drew a big "WOOO" from the rest of the Panthers. A lot of teams do that...why not mix it up a little a do a KoKo B. Ware kinda thing? Maybe it's because they don't have a bird. It probably is. Anyhow, the Panthers can't put the frightening power drill away just yet, though. They face Southside Christian for the upperstate championship this Friday. Neither has ever won, or even played for state before. The other state champion that went down was a little bit more predictable as Lamar offed two-time defending Division II champion Hunter-Kinard-Tyler by a 34-6 score. You remember earlier in the season when a couple of Class A teams played some SCISA squads I'd never heard of, and I mentioned I have a SCISA guy? Well, I now have a Lamar guy and a McBee guy, both of whom are slightlfully more useful to the author of a Class A blog than a dude who knows the name of Ben Lippen's deep snapper, impressive as that is. Anyway, my Lamar informant told me that you can't get an accurate picture of this game based on the box score. The final score wasn't close and Trey Ceasar had his customary 200-plus rushing yards, but this was a 14-6 game in the third. Ceasar was really having to work for every yard he got and padded his stats late with an 85-yard scoring run. Lamar apparently also had trouble containing HKT quarterback Devante Scott, though that didn't show itself on the scoreboard. The completely put the hammer down in the fourth quarter, though. Basically, I've thought since they beat McBee a few weeks ago that Lamar is the team to beat in this bracket and nothing has changed my mind on that. Quick Hits-We have no unbeaten teams left after Bamberg-Ehrhardt and Calhoun County both lost Friday. Bamberg's loss was a bit more curious. They turned it over four times and had perhaps not seen a passing offense like Latta's (they had five passing touchdowns Friday). Bitter pill for them to swallow I'm sure, but look at Latta, making it to the lowerstate finals. They lost a couple of one-sided games early (McBee probed their no-no's with that drill 56-14) but they're playing their best football at the right time. They'll face Allendale-Fairfax, who returned two kicks for touchdowns and recovered a bad punt snap that set up another against Calhoun County. So special teams bit the Saints, but it's worth noting that their quarterback Terrence Brunson had 55 touchdowns and two interceptions this year. I have a book that details all things that are good and bad in sports. For example, running for 300 yards in a game is listed as "good" while fumbling at the goal line, or accidentally crapping yourself while fielding a punt is "bad." 55-2 is falls under "good." And he's only a junior!...Isiah Odom has eight touchdowns for C.E. Murray in the last two weeks (the book says that's good) and the War Eagles are playing for a lowerstate crown. They've had a couple of easy ones in the first two rounds, a benefit of being the number one seed, and that will change this week when they battle Lake View, but this is the best season in school history, that area has been decimated by flooding and I couldn't be happier for coach Brian Smith, his players and that community as a whole. Suggested Reading DRILL POWER ARRRGGGGHHHH!!!!!!! Southside Christian rallied from a halftime deficit to earn a spot in the Division I upperstate title game. I picked Bamberg to win last week and would have this week too, but they got all fumbly and junk against Latta. McCormick hadn't played in three weeks before losing narrowly to RSM. So did they get rusty instead of rest-y, or whatever the old saying is? Offense, defense and uh...isn't there another component to football...one that can get you beat even if you totally outplay somebody? It'll come to me. (5) Williston-Elko (8-3) at (1) Southside Christian (10-1)
I went 16-0 on my first-round picks, but I doubt I'll be duplicating that feat this week...mainly because there aren't 16 games to pick, but also because very few games are of the "Green Bay Packers vs. The Orphanage for Skinny, Slow Kids" variety. There are some huge match-ups that are tricky to pick, including this one. Williston-Elko defeated Fox Creek 50-30 last week, while Southside Christian destroyed Wagener-Salley 63-14. Both teams feature big-time running backs, in W-E's Shakur Chisolm and Southside Christian's Quintyn Reeder. Chisolm ran for 197 yards and four touchdowns last week and has nearly 1,900 yards this season. Reeder has 1,430 yards and averages over 10 yards a carry. The thing is, this is the first time the Sabres have ever been in the position of playing a second-round playoff game, while it's old hat for W-E, which I think has to make at least a little bit of a difference. The Sabres are more balanced offensively, with Clayton Coulter having thrown for over 2,000 yards and 22 touchdowns this year. W-E, for comparison's sake, attempted six passes last week...now they averaged 30 a completion, but they are mostly one-dimensional. Since their close season-opening loss to AAA Travelers Rest, Southside Christian has only allowed more than 16 points once. W-E has tended to give up big points to good teams, including 46 Bamberg-Ehrhardt, more than 30 to Fox Creek twice and 57 to Calhoun County. Because of the offensive balance and more consistent defense, I'm going with the Sabres, but if this one goes the other way, I won't be surprised. The Pick-Southside Christian (3) McBee (10-1) at (2) Christ Church (9-2) Here's another one I don't feel good about. Until they lost to Lamar a few weeks ago, McBee was pretty much curb stomping everybody they played. Seriously, they handed down the kind of beatings where you not only whip the other guy, you take all the beer out of his fridge and call his wife "sweet thang" on the way out the door. Lamar not only beat them, though, they held what looked like an unstoppable offense to 13 points in the process. They then blew out an overmatched C.A. Johnson team, but struggled last week with a just OK St. Joe's team in a 21-0 win. Of course, 21-0 is only "struggling" when you are the odds-on favorite to win the whole thing and averaged almost 60 a game. I've talked to a McBee fan who said the blocking has been a little off and that the Panthers hurt themselves against Lamar and St. Joe's with penalties and turnovers. I think it's safe to say Jordan Fair hasn't been 100 percent either, but hopefully will be Friday. I saw Christ Church last week. They are very good on the front lines...VERY! WR Braxton Westfield is every bit as good as he's reputed to be and is a major weapon on offense and in the kicking game. The thing is, they struggled to get him the ball. Their passing game just isn't as good as it has been during their run of four-straight titles. They were 8-of-25 passing against Lewisville, though quarterback Jeffrey Johnsen is an athletic kid that makes some things happen with his legs. Defensively, they're nearly impossible to run on up the gut, but Lewisville had some success outside the tackles. The Cavs didn't have a good night in pass coverage at all, getting flagged for pass interference six times. That seems to be an area they've struggled in this year as they break in new starters back there. Of course, McBee has only attempted a handful of passes all year, so that isn't something they are likely to exploit. They will, of course, beg to be thrown in the "run outside" briar patch. The thing about McBee's defense is, they gamble and send the house, playing man on the back end. If the blitz doesn't get there, Westfield could have a field day, if they can get him the ball. Outside of that big-play possibility, McBee's defense has quietly been almost as effective as its offense this year. They're really solid and very physical on that side. Christ Church certainly has the edge in the kicking game. I'm totally torn and feel like this one can truly go either way...but I'll say McBee's athletes make one more big play, the Panthers win close in a fairly low-scoring game and the Cavs reign (and tenure in Class A) ends. The Pick-McBee Lowerstate (5) Latta (8-3) at (1) Bamberg-Ehrhardt (11-0) There weren't many upset in round one, but Latta, as a five seed, did knock off fourth-seeded St. John's 36-30 in overtime. Kartilus McFadden ran for a pair of scores in that one and Colby Lee threw the game-winning TD in overtime. Latta has shown all year that they can pile up points in a hurry. They also, against really good teams, tend to give up a lot. Bamberg, at 11-0, falls under the "very good" heading. They scored touchdowns on offense, defense and special teams in their 37-6 rout of Hemingway last week. They have also allowed only three opponents to reach double figures this year. Latta might be the fourth...but that will be a consolation prize. The Pick-Bamberg-Ehrhardt (3) Allendale-Fairfax (10-1) at (2) Calhoun County (11-0) The most surprising score I saw last Friday night was A-F's 14-8 win over Carvers Bay in OT. Certainly, Carvers Bay has a winner's pedigree and a tough schedule made their 4-6 record deceiving, but that was still a stunner. Calhoun County has now topped 57 points in four of their past five games. Crazy, Playstation stats QB Terrance Brunson had a quiet night by his standard in last Friday's 65-0 working of Hannah-Pamplico (ran for a score and threw for one) but he didn't have to, with the defense and special teams contributing to the scoring. A-F has played superb defense all year, but against top teams generally haven't put up big offensive numbers. I don't think that cuts it against the Saints... The Pick-Calhoun County Division II Upperstate (4) Hunter-Kinard-Tyler (7-4) at (1) Lamar (8-3) Lamar actually, no crap, broke their scoreboard in a 60-6 win over Blackville-Hilda last. I was told by someone there that the game was so lopsided, they aren't even sure the fourth quarter was played. Hard to tell with no scoreboard, I reckon. HKT won its fourth-straight game, knocking off Denmark-Olar 30-0. I was surprised to see that Trey Ceasar ONLY ran for 96 yards last week for Lamar...but I don't know that he played that long either, both because the game was a blowout and because, hey, no scoreboard. The Silver Foxes have so many backs that can hurt you in Ceasar, Barr, Durant etc. HKT is the two-time defending Division II state champ and in doing so, they disproved a theory I'd heard for a long time that schools with under 200 students just can't win state in football. That's a great accomplishment, but they aren't stretching it to a three-peat. Nobody in Class A is playing as well as Lamar right now and HKT has not beaten a team with a winning record this year... The Pick-Lamar (3) Ridge Spring-Monetta (7-4) at (2) McCormick (7-4) McCormick got the odd off-week last Friday, winning their game against Great Falls by forfeit. The week probably came in handy, since they were nursing so many injuries, including to stud hoss RB Mataeo Durant. RSM beat Whitmire 42-8. McCormick actually beat RSM 18-14 earlier in the year but closed the season with two lopsided losses. I don't know if Durant and the other injured players will be back. That would certainly make a difference but RSM seems to get going this time of year anyway. Ow, I'm hurt + Dang, you're playing good= The Pick- RSM (4) Baptist Hill (4-7) at (1) C.E. Murray (10-1) Good for Baptist Hill making it to the second round of the playoffs with last week's one-point win over Timmonsville. It should be noted that their four victories have come against teams with seven total wins. C.E. Murray did horrible, terrible things to Lincoln...may have borrowed McBee's drill even, winning 73-0. Isiah Odom had five flippin' touchdowns in that one. I said when I looked at the bracket that the War Eagles were going to upperstate at least...no reason to deviate from that. The Pick-C.E. Murray (3) Cross (8-2) at Lake View (9-2) I don't have a whole lot of insight to offer, not having seen either team in person. I know this is a hell of a match-up in the second round of the playoffs. Both teams play good defense, have some really quality wins and suffered their losses at the hands of teams from higher classes or top-notch Class A teams. Based on what seems like their more explosive offense, I'll go with the road team. The Pick-Cross Division I Upperstate
Southside Christian-62 Wagener-Salley-14 Christ Church-35 Lewisville-13 McBee-21 St. Joseph's-0 Williston-Elko-59 Fox Creek-39 Lowerstate Bamberg-Ehrhardt-37 Hemingway-6 Calhoun County-65 Hannah-Pamplico-0 Allendale-Fairfax-14 Carvers Bay-8 Latta-36 St. John's-30 Division II Upperstate Lamar-60 Blackville-Hilda-6 McCormick-2 Great Falls-0 (forfeited) Ridge Spring-Monetta-42 Whitmire-8 Hunter-Kinard-Tyler-30 Denmark-Olar-0 Lowerstate C.E. Murray-73 Lincoln-0 Lake View-50 Scott's Branch-0 Cross-36 Estill-0 Baptist Hill-27 Timmonsville-26 Breakdown- Somehow, the doofus who has served up one steaming hot failure after another this year on the prediction front (HKT is over, Calhoun County is the least impressive unbeaten team in the field, there's no way in crap McBee will lose a game all year) went a perfect 16-0 on first-round playoff predictions. That isn't quite as impressive as it sounds on its face...it's kind of like accurately predicting the fat kid will get eliminated first in dodgeball. I mean, maybe he's quick for his size or another kid will trip and fall down, but probably he's taking a ball to the face or taters. With this split playoff format, nearly everyone gets in...including a one-win team and couple of two-win teams. In an ideal system that wouldn't be the case, but those teams are there and it's pretty easy to call for them to make a first-round exit. There weren't any major upsets, but three number five seeds did knock off number fours and I called them, so GET YOU SOME! I took in the Lewisville-Christ Church game. It was much closer than the 35-13 score would lead you to believe. It was a 14-7 game at halftime and the Cavs struggled to mount long drives. They didn't have to much, though, with all five of their scoring marches starting in Lewisville territory. The kicking game and field position battle were a big plus for Christ Church. I was impressed with their front lines. They had a decided advantage in terms of size and with the passing game not clicking (Lewisville's secondary had a good night and they managed to get pressure on quarterback Jeffrey Johnsen) they leaned more heavily on the ground attack. By the fourth quarter, what had been three and four yard runs were turning into nine and 10-yarders as they wore down the smaller Lions. Defensively, it is difficult to run on Christ Church up the middle because of their size. Lewisville had some success outside the tackles and in the passing game. Braxton Westfield, Christ Church's North-South All-Star receiver is as good as advertised. Big, athletic kid that makes things happen with the ball in his hand at receiver and in the return game. They struggled to get him the ball, though. Their match-up Friday with McBee will be a very interesting one. I didn't see any accounts of the McBee-St. Joe's game, but was very surprised to see the Panthers held to seven first-half points and 21 for the game. If you were there, I'd love some kind of report on what happened. After routinely dropping 50-plus points on teams through the season (they scored 84 points TWICE) the team who I once compared to a weirdo wearing a goat mask hiding in the closet with a power drill has now been held to 21 or under in two of their last three games. Some might suggest their gaudy point totals were the product of playing inferior opponents, but I don't buy that, because they ran a good AA Chesterfield team out of the stadium and worked AAA Lakewood. If you're McBee, and you'd won three playoff games in your history coming into this year, the bulk of your starters are seniors and you have a Shrine Bowl stud lining up in your backfield (Jordan Fair) you probably feel like this year is your chance. They'll need the offense, and that demented drill, running at full speed from here on out to get where they want to go. I was really sorry to see Whitmire have their season ended by Ridge Spring-Monetta. I went down and talked to coach Charlie Jenkins and his staff this season and was really impressed with where they've gotten that program just two years removed from a 44-game losing streak. Hard not to root for the smallest of the small public schools. I just think RSM was a really bad match-up for them. One thing Whitmire does lack is size up front...RSM is a big, physical team that runs a true double-tight, full house backfield wishbone most of the time. Whitmire gave teams that tend to spread it out a little more (like Christ Church) much more competitive games that they did RSM. If you look at recent history, RSM has also tended to get rolling once the playoffs start. Still, the Wolverines have taken a huge step forward the past two years. Quick hits- I've said before that I have a soft-spot for Lincoln High School. Any school with barely over 100 students that can not only field a team but win four games and make the post-season get my respect. So, it wasn't fun to see that they were on the business end of vicious rootin' from C.E. Murray. However, if you read the story I did on C.E. Murray last week, you probably know it's impossible not to cheer that team's success, given the adversity that the storms and flooding have had on folks (players included) in that area...Certainly, Carvers Bay was better than its 4-6 record showed, but I was shocked to see them take 9-1 Allendale-Fairfax to overtime before falling 14-8. AF will almost certainly have to put more points on the board the this week as eight in regulation ain't likely to cut it against Calhoun County and scary, video-game stats quarterback Terrance Brunson... Suggested Reading You can read about Christ Church's win over Lewisville here, or you can say "screw it," close your eyes and play out the game in your own head. Maybe Lewisville wins in your version, or your son catches the game-winning touchdown, or the concession stand lady gives you the eye and tells you "your money's no good here" as she gives you a free hot dog weenie. It's fun to pretend. Lamar broke the scoreboard Friday in their game with Blackville-Hilda...no really...broke the friggin' scoreboard. So, Bamberg-Ehrhardt didn't take to sucking during their two-week lay-off. Williston-Elko and Fox Creek scored a lot of points and somebody or another won the game. Click here for some capsules on multiple games, including wins for McBee, Lake View and C.E. Murray. Division II Upperstate
Blackville-Hilda (2-8) at (1) Lamar (7-3) I'm afraid this one will go like most 8 vs. 1 seed match-ups...which is to say badly. Lamar has speed to burn on offense with Trey Ceasar, Decobie Durant and a bevy of other skill guys. They've got to still be riding high off their win over McBee two weeks ago. I've corresponded with a Lamar fan who thinks the offense the Silver Foxes are running this year, fits the talent better than the more pass-oriented spread of recent years. Like most schools in this bracket, Lamar doesn't have a ton of depth, so a lot guys play both ways. The fellow I talked to thinks not having guys running routes on every offensive play leaves them fresher as the game wears on. I saw them...they were using a lot of three-back sets with some misdirection. They run it well and on defense they have good size up front and really keep stuff in front of them to avoid giving up the big play. Blackville scored two or fewer touchdowns six times this year. The Pick-Lamar Great Falls (1-9) at (2) McCormick (5-5) Unfortunately, this game is over before it even starts. The numbers crunch that haunted Great Falls all year finally got the better of them. With only 17 players left on the roster and only about four of them being linemen, the decision was made to end the season and forfeit this game. It's a shame for the kids that were left, the ones who wanted to finish their season. It's also a shame because if stud hoss running back Mataeo Durant is still out for the Chiefs, this game might've been interesting. The Pick-I guarantee you McCormick wins. Whitmire (6-4) at (3) Ridge Spring-Monetta (6-4) I want to pull the trigger on an upset here. Whitmire has assured itself of a winning record for the first time since 2008 and has a head coach and a bunch of players named Jenkins. Hard to go against the athletic prowess of people named Jenkins. I know if you slept on distance runner Travis Jenkins back in his prep athletic days then...uh, he'd probably still be asleep when you woke up. Anyway, the Wolverines already lost to Ridge Spring-Monetta 39-14 earlier this season and for the past few years, the Trojans have gotten on a roll at the end of the season and into the playoffs. Whitmire keeps it tight with the Trojans, but... The Pick-Ridge Spring-Monetta Denmark-Olar (4-6) at (4) Hunter-Kinard-Tyler (6-4) HKT finished the season with three straight wins, have already beaten Denmark-Olar this year and every prediction doesn't have to come with a long-winded discertation. Nope. Totally fine to just declare and move on sometimes. The Pick-HKT Lowerstate Lincoln (4-6) at (1) C.E. Murray (9-1) I'm as happy as I can be for Lincoln. When a team with not much over 100 students manages to field a team, wins four games and qualifies for the post-season, it's a reason to celebrate. Which is cool, because I don't think they'll be celebrating a playoff win. I got to see C.E. Murray last week. They play no-frills football. They are a physical running team on offense with a thumper at fullback and an athletic quarterback, they play good defense and they don't beat themselves with dumb mistakes. Darius Rush is the quarterback and he went for 152 yards on the ground and four touchdowns last week. Jarmaine Kirkland is the big back that wears you down, Jamariqoui Barr is a North-South All-Star on the offensive line and other high school children probably don't like lining up across from him and the large friends that flank him. The War Eagles have a chance to make a very nice run... The Pick-C.E. Murray…who I wrote a little story about. Scott's Branch (4-6) at (2) Lake View (8-2) Remember that time when I said every game didn't need lots of ME saying what ME thinks is important to ME? The Pick-Lake View Estill (5-5) at (3) Cross (8-2) Estill was actually ranked at one point when they stood at 5-2...that was threee bad losses ago, including that head-scratching 6-0 defeat to Denmark-Olar. Cross beat their last four opponents by a combined score of 214-28. Hate to go all Pee Wee Herman on you here but 'CONNECT THE DOTS, LA LA LA!" The Pick-Cross Baptist Hill (3-7) at (4) Timmonsville (2-8) Timmonsville is hosting a playoff game after going 2-8...alrighty. I don't know a ton about either of these teams, but the Whirlwinds won a pair of close games against struggling teams. Baptist Hill only won three games, but it was the last three of the year and came by a combined total of 181-16. Granted it came over teams with five total wins, but that's about all I have to go on. Well, that and the fact that fellow BLAWGGER James and I started a fun Baptist Hill game last week. He called them Methoidst Mountain, I countered with Presbyterian Plateau...Hindu Ridge was offered up...fun game. The Pick-Baptist Hill. Agree? Disagree? Completely Disinterested? Weigh in in the comments section or at [email protected] I've used this blog to make predictions before. Remember that time I said Calhoun County was the least impressive unbeaten team in the state, then they proceeded to skunk the rest of their opponents and are one of only two undefeated teams left? Or that other time when I said McBee was clearly the class of 1A football and wouldn't be challenged until deep in the playoffs, if then. Lamar beat them. So clearly, predicting isn't necessarily my thing...yet I'm going to continue to do it anyway, largely because I don't mind embarrassing myself and there are no repercussions or consequences to saying outlandish, unfounded things on the internet, I've learned.
I'm going to drop (that's a hip word kids use meaning "to unveil") my predictions for the Class A playoffs round-by-round. I'd love to have your input, predictions, insults, well-wishes, chili recipes etc. You can leave them in the comment section or email them to [email protected]. Division I Upperstate Wagener-Salley (4-6) at (1) Southside Christian (9-1) I saw Wagener-Salley earlier this season and they were greatly improved over last year. They have good size up front and a really good, underrated running back in Keaunri Holmes. Daniel Frazier and Tre Davis were good-looking athletes too. They were 4-3 at one point this year, but they closed the season with games against three good teams (Calhoun County, Williston-Elko and Hunter-Kinard-Tyler) and got mashed by scores of 62-22, 44-20 and 62-26. Southside Christian comes in on a nine-game winning streak, their only loss was to a AAA playoff team in Travelers Rest, they blew out a good Whitmire team 41-0 and slayed the Christ Church dragon, becoming the first Class A team in several years to inflict a loss on the Cavs and will win this going away. The Pick-Southside Christian. Lewisville (3-7) at (2) Christ Church (8-2) I haven't seen Christ Church this year. Obviously, their state-record winning streak was halted in a throttling by a good AA Abbeville team and they lost in overtime to Southside Christian, losing a region title in the process. They haven't fallen off the Earth, their still solid. My understanding is they remain very good in the trenches but are perhaps not as dynamic at the skill spots, having to break in young players there. Lewisville played, without question, the most brutal schedule in Class A football, so they aren't going to be overwhelmed by anything Christ Church throws at them. They've won two straight and the off week came at a good time, allowing them to get the healthiest they've been all year. Maybe Mike Hill, who scored nine touchdowns in the first five games will be a full go after being limited by injury for a while. They don't have a lot of size up front, but they have speed on both sides of the ball and a good quarterback in Trey Keels. Am I crazy to think this might be the big upset of the first round? Don't discount it. Given their championship pedigree and ability to find ways to win in the playoffs on the rare occasions it's close (remember the Lamar game a few years ago), I guess I have to see someone actually knock The Cavs out before I can pick it to happen. I say this ends up being a good game. The Somewhat Hedged Pick-Christ Church St. Joe's (5-5) at (3) McBee (9-1) St. Joe's showed they could deal with physical, power ground attacks in wins over Ridge Spring-Monetta and Whitmire. However, they lost by 21 to Christ Church and by 26 to Southside Christian in the last two weeks of the season. One of the surprises of the season was McBee's loss to Lamar, but you're talking about a team that averaged 53 points a game, has two of Class A's most explosive athletes in Dashonnell Wright and Jordan Fair and eats up yards in chunks on the ground. The drill is set to "penetrate the Earth's crust" in this one, I bet. The Pick-McBee Williston-Elko (7-3) at (4) Fox Creek (6-4) Fox Creek won its last four games of the regular season, but those wins came against teams that won a combined eight games. The Kindergarden Cops...or whatever AHHNALD movie Fox Creek is named after (they are actually the Predators and my AHHNALD joke is starting to get tired) can certainly score points and can do so through the air with quarterback Caleb Charlton or on the ground with running back Dalton Swires. It's impossible to overlook the fact, though, that these teams already played once this season and Williston-Elko won 50-34. I'm guessing more of the same. The Pick-Williston-Elko Division I Lowerstate Hemingway (4-6) at (1) Bamberg-Ehrhardt (10-0) Hemingway is a good eight seed. Most of their losses were close and came to good teams (C.E. Murray, Lake View, Latta) but the Raiders held seven of 10 opponents to single digits this year. I don't see them stubbing their toe in the first round. Hannah-Pamplico (2-8) at (2) Calhoun County (10-0) The Saints didn't play the most challenging schedule, but they did drop 57 points on a good Williston-Elko team in the season finale and weren't really challenged by anyone this season. Quarterback Terrance Brunson was regularly accounting for six and seven total touchdowns per game down the stretch. Hannah-Pamplico struggled all year. Good for them making it in, but they are in by virtue of a couple of wins over teams with losing records in their region. Saints roll. The Pick-Calhoun County. Carvers Bay (4-6) at (3) Allendale-Fairfax (9-1) Again, Carvers Bay is not a bad team or an easy out. They lost close to Lake View, Latta, C.E. Murray and Johnsonville. Here again, though, Allendale-Fairfax has allowed eight or fewer points in half their games this season. It may not be a blow-out, but the higher seed wins again. The Pick-Allendale-Fairfax Latta (7-3) at (4) St. John's (5-5) I don't think going with the lower seed here is the upset. Latta puts a lot of points on the boards, their three losses were Dillon, McBee and Lake View (all top-notch teams) and St. John's didn't beat anyone with a winning record. The Pick-Latta Division II picks and next round projections coming up soon. I'm not sure how it happened, but I somehow became "the Class A points guy."
As near as I can tell, the title is available to anyone who has a deep, abiding love of Class A football, is good at math and pays meticulous attention to detail. I'm actually only one-for-three there, so maybe that isn't actually the criteria at all. Perhaps it's "has free time" and "is entertained by odd things." Yes, that description fits me. "The Class A points guy" is not a particular lucrative or important title...it's kind of like the guy in that money lending service commercial that wears a cape and pretends to be a low-grade super hero. I've never had a title before, though, so I try to embrace it. Several years ago, Class A football decided to split in two and crown a pair of football champions every year, since it was difficult for the state's smallest Class A schools (many have 200 or less students) to compete with the larger ones (which can have around 400 students). So a points system was devised as a way to decide which teams qualified for the post-season and what their seeding would be. Wins over Class A teams with a losing record net you a point, wins over winning ones get you 1.5 points, wins over losing AA schools are worth two points all the way up to 4.5 points for a win over a winning AAAA school. You also get points for losses, unless you lose to a Class A school with a losing record, in which case you get nothing, but a loss to a winning Class A school or a AA one with a losing record earn you .5 points, all the way up to three points for a loss to a winning AAAA team. As they say in the horrible, late-night commercials, "BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE." You can only count three games against AA, AAA or AAAA teams and can only count one per class (accept for AA), so if you have two games against AAA schools, one has to count like you're playing a Class A school (even though you're not) and at the end of the year, you have to just erase two of your games and those mark-offs have to maximize your point total. Oh, and you get big-time bonus points for how you finish in your region. Did I mention if you play a SCISA school or an out-of-state team, you have to get the enrollment numbers of the school, calculate what class they'd be playing in if they were a regular, South Carolina High School League program and assign the points based on that? Gosh, it's just riveting stuff. So, about this time of year, as the regular season wraps up, folks start to wonder what the Class A playoffs will look like. Most of those people have productive things to do with their lives, so they just call up "that weird guy from Chester that messes with points" and see what he's come up with. I used to only do the upperstate teams, since our two Chester County Class A schools (Great Falls and Lewisville) compete in the upperstate. Now, thanks to Twitter and the like, people from places I've never been are inquiring about who their team is playing in the first round. In the past few days, I've talked to coaches from every corner of the state. "How have you got us playing Estill in the first round?" a coach asked me Wednesday. We then sat on the phone and went game-for-game through the point values of every game on Estill High's schedule. We hit a snag when we saw they'd forfeited a game to SCISA team Porter Gaud. "How many people go there?" I asked. Things as seemingly trivial as the enrollment of a private school in Charleston make an actual difference in figuring up this stuff. The point value of a game that wasn't actually even played between Estill and a private school actually changed the seeding order. Because of the flooding that hit some areas of our state extremely hard, a couple of games were postponed and weren't made up until Friday, the day the playoffs would normally be starting. Still, by early last week I'd pretty well figured up everyone's point total and published those projections in print and on this blog. Wednesday morning I got a message from a coach in another part of the state telling me there was something I'd missed. At some juncture, the points formula was altered to ensure that region champions receive the highest seeds, even if their point total is lower than that of other teams. I asked a couple of other coaches about it and they'd not heard of it. Surely someone would've told the illustrious "Class A points guy" if things had changed. Well, they didn't. I talked to several coaches who said that was the case and was told that one coach, who is considered the "points guru," had also said that was the case. So, I went back and re-figured everything and printed the amended match-ups in print and on this blog. Saturday morning, I was standing in line waiting to pick up breakfast when I got a text. Funny thing...I HAD BEEN RIGHT ALL ALONG AND THAT STUFF ABOUT REGION CHAMPIONS BEING ASSURED THE HIGHEST SEED WAS A BUNCH OF HOGWASH! I ended up looking like more of a doofus than I already am. I should have just stuck with the formula as I know it. I've never seen so much confusion about playoff seeding in my life. How is it that a guy who is terrible at math and lacks attention to detail was the one who had it right? It's worth noting that next year, with reclassification and a switch to five classes instead of four, that there won't be split Class A titles and meaning we probably won't have a points system. No points system means having a "Class A points guy" won't be necessary. It's my only title, but one I won't mind giving up. See the full Division I bracket RIGHT HERE and the Division II bracket RIGHT HERE. Division I Upperstate
(8) Wagener-Salley at (1) Southside Christian (7) Lewisville at (2) Fox Creek (6) St. Joe's at (3) Christ Church (5) Williston-Elko at (4) McBee Division II Upperstate (8) Blackville-Hilda at (1) Lamar (7) Great Falls at (2) McCormick (6) Whitmire at (3) Ridge Spring-Monetta (5) Denmark-Olar at (4) Hunter-Kinard-Tyler Division I Lowerstate (8) Hemingway at (1) Bamberg-Ehrhardt (7) Hannah-Pamplico at (2) Calhoun County (6) Carvers Bay at (3) Allendale-Fairfax (5) Latta at (4) St. John's Division II Lowerstate (8) Lincoln at (1) C.E. Murray (7) Scott's Branch at (2) Lake View (6) Estill at (3) St. John's (5) Baptist Hill at (4) Timmonsville Fox Creek-55
Calhoun Falls Charter-16 Ridge Spring-Monetta-43 Dixie-8 Christ Church-42 McCormick-6 Southside Christian-42 St. Joe's-16 Whitmire-27 Ware Shoals-0 Lewisville-40 Great Falls-13 Lamar-HOLY CRAP THEY BEAT MCBEE! McBee-THEY LOST! WTH?!?! Blackville-Hilda-45 North-16 Calhoun County-57 Williston-Elko-42 Hunter-Kinard-Tyler-62 Wagener-Salley-26 Allendale-Fairfax-34 Estill-12 Bamberg-Ehrhardt-40 Denmar-Olar-6 Bethune-Bowman-53 Branchville-12 Baptist Hill-61 Military Magnet-Much less than 61 Lincoln-38 Burke-19 Cross-52 St. John's-16 C.E. Murray-20 Scott's Branch-6 East Clarendon-14 New Covenant Knight-6 Timmonsville-28 Hannah-Pamplico-21 Carvers Bay-12 Hemingway-2 Lake View-62 Creek Bridge-14 Latta-30 Green Sea-Floyds-14 Breakdown- Do you remember the folk story/tall tale about John Henry? He was a steel-driving man that was pitted against a fancy, new-fangled steam-powered hammer in a "let's dig a hole through this mountain" contest. It seemed improbable that one mortal man with a hammer could defeat an unstoppable machine that didn't require rest or sustinence, but he did. It was inspiring, it was an object lesson on the strength of the human spirit, of determination of...oh, did I mention John's heart exploded or something and he died. Yeah, the ending isn't nearly as uplifting as you'd think. For eight games, the McBee Panthers seemed to be unbeatable. A collection of bloody, bow-legged opponents were left in their wake as they routinely topped 50 points, hit 60 against East Clarendon and scored 84 points on two occasions. Their backfield combo of Shrine Bowler Jordan Fair and Dashonnell Wright averages 10 yards a carry. So pronounced was their dominance over everyone they played, including a AAA team and a couple of good AA squads, that I concocted an inane meme centered around "The McBee Power Drill Massacre." So, imagine my surprise when I saw that Lamar was beating them at halftime. I figured they must've turned the ball over a couple of times or something and that they'd roll in the second half. That never happened, though. The 21-13 score at the break stood as the final score. I've seen Lamar this season and they are very good, particularly on offense. Tre Ceasar and Decobie Durant have rare speed and playmaking ability. Performance against common opponents (Lamar lost to AJ, McBee been them eleventy jillion to five) seemed to indicate it was going to be another night at the office...another bloody, shreik-filled night at the office, for McBee. If I'd seen that Lamar had won a 52-48 shootout over McBee, I'd have been surprised, but not to the point of hollering "Holy Crap" on the sidelines like I did at the 21-13 result. For anyone to limit McBee to around 300 total yards (a third of which came on two plays) and 13 points stunned me, quite honestly. I've read a little about the game, Fair apparently was dinged up and didn't play defense, there were lots of penalties and the Panthers had two scores called back. I have a couple of theories on what could have played into the loss. On September 18, McBee beat a good Latta team 56-14, then had an off week. Because of lightning, their next contest (against Lewisville) was called off at halftime. Then our state was hit with massive rainfall and floods, postponing their next game. They played Great Falls the next week and won easily...maybe too easily, since there was a running clock from the start of the second quarter on. Up next was a game with Camden Military, in which I have to assume they ran the clock and played their backups, then Lamar. They haven't played a real, full football game in about six weeks. Even a powerful, well-oiled drill has to be turned on and revved up occasionally. Maybe not being challenged and not even playing a regular-length game since the middle of September is part of the explanation here. Could it be that the team having such a one-dimensional offense finally bit them? A team with Lamar's athletes can probably find a way to limit an offense if they know what's coming. It could have been an off night in general, but I don't want to take anything away from Lamar. Their defense, the front line especially, had to have played the best game any team has played this year. To keep McBee from ripping off the big 50 and 60 yard touchdowns is a day's work, but to keep them from even consistently moving the sticks with clusters of four and five-yarders...DAMN! McBee is still the favorite to win the Division I title, but they don't seem like the mortal lock they did before Friday night. Lamar now feels like a prohibitive favorite to win Division II, so long as they bring the defense they did Friday, Ceasar and Durant...and a hammer, just to complete the circle on my inane John Henry analogy. For the playoffs, Class A uses a point system. To figure the points out you need a deep, abiding love of Class A football, you have to be good at math and need to be detail oriented. I'm only one-for-three there, but I give it my best effort anyway. Now, I'm still working on lowerstate points and there are several teams down there that still have a game to go because of the flooding we had a few weeks ago, but I will hopefully post projections Wednesday or Thursday. I think I have a pretty good handle on the upperstate points, though. McBee's loss to Lamar shook things up considerably in Division II. Had they won that game, McBee would have locked up the number one seed, but that distinction now goes to Southside Christian, who I have edging Christ Church by just half-a-point for the spot. Below are my projected upperstate Class A pairings... Division I (8) Wagener-Salley at (1) Southside Christian (7) Lewisville at (2) Fox Creek (6) St. Joe's at (3) Christ Church (5) Williston-Elko at (4) McBee Division II (8) Blackville-Hilda at (1) Lamar (7) Great Falls at (2) McCormick (6) Whitmire at (3) Ridge Spring-Monetta (5) Denmark-Olar at (4) Hunter-Kinard-Tyler Quick hits...With McBee's loss, we are down to just two unbeaten teams in Calhoun County and Bamberg-Ehrhardt. Odds seem pretty good that the two will end up tangling in the playoffs at some point, deep in them I'm betting...Hard to not be happy for C.E. Murray. A win next week will make the team 9-1 for only the second time in their history, this breaks a string of 10 consecutive losing seasons for the school and the team has an inside track at being the number seed in the lowerstate Division II playoffs. They have accomplished all that despite having their season halted for three weeks because of the flooding that crippled parts of our state. At one point, some of the team's players were living in shelters and others could not get out of their own homes. They've gone from that to region champions. Congrats to the War Eagles!...Whitmire won again to finish up 6-4, so the "I write a story about you, you stop winning" jinks is over and coaches should totally call me for story opportunities. Suggested reading McBee-Lamar was the game of the week, but Calhoun County's high-scoring win over Williston-Elko had to be a close second. Whitmire won again so I'm totally not the toxic force you might think. Read about Latta's win over Green Sea right here...or don't. You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him link. HAHAHAHAHAHAHÅ!!!!!! Lewisville beat Great Falls but take anything read here with a grain of salt. Writer on this one is hack-y deluxe. |
TravisI am Travis, the king 0f SC 1A Football Archives
November 2021
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