Lewisville- 42
McCormick- 14 McBee- 41 Blackville-Hilda- 8 Lamar- 54 Dixie- White Candy Bar Williston-Elko- 44 Hunter-Kinard-Tyler- 8 Hemingway- 30 St. John’s- 25 Hannah-Pamplico- 17 Cross- 12 C.E. Murray- 32 Green Sea-Floyds- 6 Lake View- 56 Baptist Hill- 26 Breakdown- For the second straight week, I went 7-1 on my playoff predictions, which is a dang good average, unless you’re surgeon or something, in which case you suck at your job. “There’s nothing much to worry about Jimmy, I’ve done this surgery 80 times in the last month and 70 of the patients came through it just fine. I get the shakes or start playing with my phone sometimes, but it probably won’t happen with you. Just put on the mask, breathe deep and you’ll probably wake up in a little bit.” Let’s focus first on the one game I did miss. I said last week that Hannah-Pamplico doesn’t just pull rabbits out of its hat, it pulls out really big rabbits wearing hats they pull rabbits out of. They can ride unicycles and speak four languages and play the bassoon. Seriously, they opened the season by getting drilled by Lamar, then lost in a close game to Marion…but since then, they beat Johnsonville by one, Timmonsville by six, beat a few not-very-good teams by big margins, then Waccamaw by four, Green Sea-Floyds by three, Hemingway by three and now Cross by five. They’ve won a game on a last-second touchdown pass, downed Hemingway by causing and returning a fumble for a touchdown with just over a minute left when Hemingway was leading and just trying to run out the clock and they picked off a pass with under a minute last week to advance in the playoffs. I’ve had coaches tell me before that momentum and confidence are two of the most important factors for a football team. If a team believes they can win, it really does make a difference. Well, H-P has every reason to think, even if things look bleak late, that someone will make a play and they’ll come out on top…since they’ve won every flipping close game they’ve played. I said last week if it was close late they’d win, but it wouldn’t be close late because Cross had beaten its last three opponents by a combined score of 182-6 and would beat H-P down physically over the course of the game. “Nurse, where’s my scalpel and my bottle of Johnny Walker. Daddy needs to calm his nerves before he gets to cuttin’.” Eric Mays and Nick Owens each had a touchdown in the win. This is obviously a fun team to watch and root for. They’ll have a rematch with Hemingway with this week. I was able to take in the Lewisville-McCormick game Friday night. First of all, Mataeo Durant is every bit as good as I’d heard he was on both sides of the ball. He’s electric with the ball in his hands. However, Lewisville, save one 67-yard touchdown run, contained him fairly well. On top of that, they won the game up front on both sides of the ball. The Chiefs ball-carriers got hemmed in behind the line frequently and their quarterback, on the rare occasions they tried to throw, just didn’t have a pocket to stand in. Josh Belk, Jene Thompson et al consistently blew things up in the backfield. On the other side, Lewisville was without North-South All-Star Mike Hill, but Quentin Sanders consistently moved the chains on the ground and quarterback Trey Keels had a big night, despite being without his top weapon. A.J. Robinson and Johnny Courtney both stepped up at receiver and made tons of big plays. McCormick having been sitting idle for a month certainly didn’t help them, but I honestly don’t think they could match Lewisville in terms of talent up and down the roster. So, we get another rematch this Friday as Lewisville goes to McBee. Speaking of the Panthers, they doled out a vigorous rootin’ to Blackville-Hilda on Friday 41-8. B-H had a nice turnaround year, winning seven games after scuffling for a couple of seasons, but they lost two-of-three to finish the year and, in retrospect, their region may not have been as tough as it appeared at one point this season. Most of their success came when they could use their size to physically overwhelm opponents. Since McBee ran for 460 yards, it’s safe to say that didn’t happen. Richardo Wright ran for 304 yards and four touchdowns ON 20 CARRIES HOLY CRAP OH DEAR. Dashonell Wright ran for 111 yards, meaning people named “Wright” outrushed Blackville-Hilda by 300-ish yards. I think it would behoove McBee to encourage the Wright family to continue procreating at a high rate. Maybe just send them some Barry White albums and good bottles of wine to keep that athletic pipeline flowing. Just a thought. McBee rolled Lewisville pretty well earlier in the season, but I have a feeling Friday’s game will be considerably closer. We’ll see. I’m as big a fan and supporter of the “up from the ashes” turnaround stories as anybody, so it was hard not to admire and pull for Dixie. The Hornets got to 6-4 (their first winning record since 2000) in the regular season but I wondered if it was fool’s gold since they played a fairly weak schedule. Once they beat a good, physical Ridge Spring-Monetta team in the first round of the playoffs, it was obvious they had legitimately taken a big step forward under first-year Coach Vic Lollis and even better things may be in store down the road. However, they had as much chance of beating Lamar last Friday as I do of being named Miss America (bearing in mind that I’m too old to enter, am a man and am not even especially good-looking). Lamar has the best resume of any team in the field with wins over AA, AAA and AAAA teams, they’ve won 19 straight games, they have a fast defense that physically intimidates most everyone it plays and an offense that’s a weird cross-breeding of heavy stones and cheetahs wearing jetpacks…in that they can just beat you down with clock-eating drives or break a big play at any minute. I was told that game ended at 9:05 with a clock running the whole second half. The Silver Foxes didn’t give up a first down until a minute was left in the second quarter, their defense scored twice, Jeblonski Green trampled opposing school children…just your typical Lamar kinda stuff. They get Williston-Elko this week. W-E actually trailed Hunter-Kinard-Tyler 8-6 at halftime Friday, but outscored the Trojans 38-0 in the second half. Tyran Parker didn’t forget how to be a running back during the bye week, piling up 187 yards. Now they get to go to Lamar Friday night…”get to.” Hahaha listen to me. Might not be a fun trip, but I’ll save my official prediction for later in the week. I wasn’t able to find much info on Lake View’s win over Baptist Hill, but it seems to have played out about like I figured. Baptist Hill had a good year, but piled up big numbers and wins against a fairly weak schedule and got torched by the three good teams they played. Lake View, who was without Shrine Bowl QB/DB Duane Nichols (who should be back this week, I hear), got 180 yards and two touchdowns on the ground from Tyshawn McDaniel and another 130 yards rushing and a score from Randall Washington. My clandestine low country expert has pegged them as the team to beat this year with their size, their athletic backfield, their 20 seniors and with them now 11-0 he may just be right, but getting to the lowerstate finals won’t be easy… Because they’ll be playing defending lowerstate champ C.E. Murray Friday. I thought the War Eagles might get a decent battle from Green Sea Floyds Friday, but it wasn’t competitive. C.E. Murray’s defense held Green Sea very powerful, very productive rushing attack to under 140 yards, which not many teams have been able to do (including Lake View). C.J. Robinson had 96 yards rushing for the War Eagles, Darius Rush had 87 yards and a pair of touchdowns, Sean Swaringer ran for 78 yards and two scores and Elijah Bey hit 6-of-10 passes for 87 yards and a touchdown. It’s worth noting not one of those backs had as many as 10 carries, so everybody stays fresh and you have to contend with a lot of weapons when you face them. Anthony Wilson and Shyhiem White keyed the defense with nine tackles each. It feels like C.E. Murray-Lake View is basically for the lowerstate title and the game will be an absolute war right on par with McBee-Lewisville. Finally, we had Hemingway, nipping St. John’s on the road. St. John’s, like McCormick, had not played a football game in a month and though their coaches (to their credit) did not blame the loss on that layoff in any way, it had to have been a factor. Hemingway, who has had a great year despite some odd ups and downs (beat C.E. Murray one week, nearly lost to East Clarendon the next) got a big game from quarterback Troy Singletary, who accounted for three touchdowns. Their defense also came up with interceptions on three straight drives in the second half. They’ll now turn around and face the H-P team whose late game heroics against them became a viral video sensation a few weeks ago. Suggested reading (and viewing) Some vidya for you here of Lewisville’s dominant effort against McCormick. 9:05. The game was over at 9:05. Williston-Elko advanced in the playoffs and claimed the prestigious Old Oaken Hyphen Trophy with a win over Hunter-Kinard-Tyler. Is Hemingway named for that guy? The dead one that wrote stuff? I’ll check on that, but they won a game Friday, so there’s that. Have a thought, a suggestion, an insult for the doofus who writes this every week? Leave it in the comment section.
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Last Week’s Record- 7-1
Lewisville (9-2) at McCormick (5-5) The Lions had one of the most impressive wins in Class A last week, roughing up the Creek Slung Eagles 64-0. Both teams came into that game at 8-2 and while I picked Lewisville and figured they’d win it by a few scores, I figured Wagener-Salley would keep it close with their ball-control offense and a defense that had been pretty solid all year. Instead, the Lions stuck it in them sideways, on fire and wrapped in sandpaper. When’s the last time you remember an 8-2 team in the playoffs losing so badly that the second-half clock ran? Never. The correct answer is never. Trey Keels threw for 356 yards and Lewisville DID NOT ATTEMPT A PASS in the second half. Mike Hill did freaky Mike Hill stuff, with 125 yards receiving and three touchdowns, Quentin Sanders was over 100 rushing and 100 receiving and the defense held that physical, blunt-force trauma running game of the War Eagles to 118 yards. Now, the Lions make the long bus ride to McCormick. The Chiefs come in on a five-game winning streak, but unfortunately for them the last of those wins was a month ago. Because of the two-week extension of the season, designed to let schools affected by Hurricane Matthew make up postponed games, McCormick sat idle for two weeks, then they got a first-round bye last week. So they haven’t been on a field in a month. Well, they’ve been on a field, but not against school children wearing different-colored jerseys in a competitive environment. Most people would ask if McCormick is rested or rusted, because it’s alliterative and the words are rhyme-ish. I eshew convention here, as you well know, so I’ll ask “Are they healthy or have they gotten fat and forgotten how to play football-y.” That long a layoff will definitely play a role. McCormick has a super-stud running back in Mataeo Durant. When his team was busy losing its first five games and scoring at a positively baseball-like rate, he was hurt. In their last five games, all wins, he’s rushed for about 1,100 yards. He’s also a big part of their defense, but they do everything they can to get him the ball in space on offense. It needs to be noted, though, that the Chiefs have one win over a team with a winning record. Lewisville is more battle tested (both out-of-region and against Region II competition), has more variety and explosiveness on offense and, this is a key, hasn’t been doing things other than playing competitive football for the past four weeks. McCormick had a heck of a finish and I’m excited to see Durant in person this week but… The Pick- Lewisville McBee (8-3) at Blackville-Hilda (7-3) Back in your wild, young, single days was there a girl you fancied? Not just a run-of-the-mill pretty girl, one who just got your gravy to bubbling in every way possible. The kind you couldn’t quit gawking at ,then one day she came to work or school with a weird tat on her face…like a cross-eyed ear of corn wearing chaps or something? She was still hot but the chaps-wearing corn tat just gave you pause. That’s happened to all of us, right? Well, Estill is McBee’s awful face tat. For new readers, making analogies is not a strength of mine. Also, I have no idea what getting your gravy bubbling means. Anyway, McBee is, in my opinion, one of the three best teams in the upperstate. They lost two games early when they were riddled with injuries, after that they laid waste to everyone they played, with their only other loss coming in overtime to unbeaten, top-ranked Lamar. They have Dashonnell Wright, Richardo Wright and other fleet-of-foot, tough as nails people named Wright that play for them. They weren’t in any danger of losing to 1-9 Estill last week, really, but they were only up 14-0 at halftime and didn’t really put it away until the fourth quarter. There can always be contributing factors to games like that. I didn’t find any full reports on the game, but maybe they turned it over or had trouble with penalties. I was told Alex Miller, a stud hoss fullback and linebacker, missed the game with an injury. Hopefully they’ll be all hands on deck this week. Blackville-Hilda, after struggling for several years, had a nice turnaround season and I’m glad. They are one of the classic, prestige, pereinnial contender type programs in Class A and I don’t like to see those struggle. I’m glad they’re back. They’re big, very physical and run a funky single-wing hybrid. They crush the clock, your soul, play good defense and win by something like 20-6 every week. They lost two of their last three games, though, and didn’t do as well when they went up against teams they couldn’t physically overwhelm. Good a year as they’ve had, I don’t think they can do that to McBee and having been off for three weeks doesn’t help either. The Panthers are as physical as it gets on both sides and their defense, which loads the box, sends buttloads of pressure and blows up plays in the backfield while playing man coverage often feasts on teams who can’t take advantage of one-on-one match-ups down the field. So, it turns out that was a temporary tat the girl got at the fair. The Pick- McBee Dixie (7-4) at Lamar (10-0) The only game I missed last week was Dixie’s victory over Ridge Spring-Monetta. Dixie hasn’t had a winning record since 2000, but they’re competitive in other sports, so I’ve always wondered why that didn’t translate to football. Well, now it has. They didn’t play the roughest schedule, really, but forcing five turnovers and managing to play keepaway from a pretty rugged Trojans team shows they’re legitimately good and have come a long way in a short time. Now comes the “keeping it real” portion of this entry. Lamar has the state’s longest winning streak (18 games) they are one of the most intimidating teams you’ll see (on defense especially) they’re well-coached, they have speed all over the field and they have the most impressive scalps on their belt of any Class A team this year (having beaten AA, AAA and AAAA teams). This season can be the start of good things for Dixie, but this game will be the start of, um, basketball season I guess. The Pick- Lamar Hunter-Kinard-Tyler (5-6) at Williston-Elko (8-2) HKT showed some fortitude last week, battling back from a 22-0 deficit on the road to pull out an overtime win against Whitmire. It was hard to find much on that game, but it’s safe to assume quarterback Davonte Scott had a good night, since that’s kind of his thing. Williston kinda thumped it around with a lower appendage in their last game, a messy 27-6 win over North, but a lot of that was self-inflicted. If you look at how things are playing out (see the vicious rogering 8-2 Wagener-Salley toted last week), it makes you question if some of the folks from Region III are as good as we thought. Well, I do still think Williston is. HKT is scrappy and will hang in there for a while, but these two teams played a few weeks ago and Tyran Parker, Fabian Bing, Will Nolind and other Williston skill players had a field day in a 55-20 win. Hard to see how this one ends much differently. The Pick- Williston-Elko Hemingway (8-3) at St. John’s (7-3) I’ve had a hard time getting a feel for Hemingway this year. They beat C.E. Murray, then nearly lost to East Clarendon the next week, they almost beat undefeated Lake View, then lost to Hannah-Pamplico. They seem pretty dialed in now though, having won their past two games by a combined score of 70-0. I will admit to not knowing a ton about St. John’s, since they are in a part of the state where people communicate by scrawling messages on crumpled paper, putting it in a bottle, throwing it in a creek and hoping it finds the right person. If your mama lives upstream, she’s never going to get that birthday card, Junior. That’s how it goes where I live, anyway and this draught has dried the creek up something fierce, but I digress. It also has to be noted that, like McCormick, St. John’s hasn’t played in four full weeks and that their seven wins have come to teams with a combined record of 21-41 and even that is inflated with one win over 9-2 Baptist Hill. Another home team goes down… The Pick- Hemingway Cross (8-2) at Hannah-Pamplico (7-3) Cross lost to C.E. Murray 18-12 on September 30. Since then, they’ve beaten four opponents 211-12. I checked and that is considered good. They viciously flogged East Clarendon 66-0 last week, with Nathan Walker running for 196 yards and three touchdowns and quarterback Monte Shaw accounting for three scores. They’re loaded and they’re rolling. Hannah-Pamplico is one of those feel good “you normally aren’t good but now you are” stories we get every year. And seriously, they don’t just pull rabbits out of their hat, they’re really big rabbits that wear hats they pull rabbits out of . And those rabbits can ride unicycles and do long divisions and whatnot. H-P has wins this year by totals of 1, 6, 4, 3 and 3 points. They won one game early in the year with a touchdown pass in the final seconds, then beat Hemingway 37-34 by stripping the ball away from the quarterback who just wanted to run the clock out, and returning it 70-some yards for a touchdown with 1:11 left. They lost their last game, but gave unbeaten Lake View a decent game in that one. They have something special going and if they’re in it late, they’ll find a way to win. You have to love that, especially from a team that’s struggled for a while Fun as it’s been to watch, I don’t think this one will be close late. The Pick- Cross Green Sea-Floyds (6-5) at C.E. Murray (6-2) Green Sea got its first playoff win in 13 years last week over Military Magnet. They have a potent one-two punch at running back in Graham and Gause, who were both over 100 yards last week, then several other guys that were over 50. Given all that community has gone through, being one of our state’s hardest-hit areas by Hurricane Matthew, it’s cool that the community got something to pull for and equally cool that they’ve gotten to six wins and the second round of the playoffs. C.E. Murray was off last week and has, frankly, gotten the raw end of the deal in a couple of respects. First, they lost one game when Lincoln High was closed down and they weren’t able to find anyone to plug the hole. Then, their game with the Charleston Discovery Center and Goat Breeding Outpost (or whatever that school is called) was postponed because of the hurricane and the Goat people decided they just wouldn’t make it up. When they have played, though, Darius Rush has proven himself to be one of the state’s best players, but he isn’t the only weapon the team has. Green Sea’s style of play may keep it close for a bit, since they run it so well, but I don’t think one-dimensional gets it done against the War Eagles and I don’t think a defense that gave up 23 to Military Magnet will have fun with Rush and company. The Pick- C.E. Murray Baptist Hill (9-2) at Lake View (10-0) On paper, this looks like quite a match-up. Of course we don’t play football on paper, it’s a crappy surface that doesn’t hold up well to cleats. Baptist Hill is 9-2, it’s been a great turnaround year for them and Corey Fields has put up crazy numbers at quarterback for the team. But, those nine wins have come against teams with a combined record of 21-69. They beat one team with a winning record, that being their narrow win over Bethune-Bowman, who really faded down the stretch this year. They played two really good teams this year in Cross and St. John’s and lost those by a combined score of 105-26. Lake View is a really good team so… The Pick- Lake View Lewisville- 64
Wagener-Salley- The great Frank Drebin will spell it out for you McBee- 49 Estill- 20 Dixie- 24 Ridge Spring-Monetta- 6 Hunter-Kinard-Tyler- 44 Whitmire- 42 Hemingway- 20 Scott’s Branch- Tell ‘em bout it Graham Cross- 66 East Clarendon- Let’s make it educational…for the children Green Sea-Floyds- 52 Military Magnet- 23 Baptist Hill- 28 Bethune-Bowman- 24 Breakdown- It wasn’t a banner week if you wanted to see compelling, dramatic football games, but if you like to see school children cry and second-half clocks run, Friday was basically an early Christmas for you. I went 7-1 on my playoff picks…you know how teachers will forever remember that one child they didn’t reach in a room full students that they did, or how a doctor can successfully treat seven patients and have them slip from his mind after bringing their bodies back to full, pulsating vitality, but he can never forget that one who ends up with his head sewn to his butt? Um, I’ll focus on the one I missed is what I’m saying here. I thought Dixie was a really nice story this year, having their first winning record in 16 years, but I also felt like their win total chunked up on a delicious selection of scheduling creampuffs. Three of their six regular season wins were against private schools, military academies, loose packs of kids that went unclaimed at daycare centers, whatever. I still thought they showed real progress, since they’d not managed six wins in a year against any schedule since 2000. Ridge Spring-Monetta plays a physical style on both sides of the ball and has had a tendency to get hot at the end of seasons and make a deep playoff push for several straight years. Well, I was totally wrong. Dixie, under new coach Vic Lollis, is legitimately a good team, and beating RS-M 24-6 proves that. Yes, the Trojans turned the ball over five times, but Dixie’s Jarod Hagood ran for 159 yards and two touchdowns on what’s been a pretty good RS-M defense. He also added a crucial interception on defense. Dixie has been good in a number of sports in recent years, so you know they have athletes, but that never seemed to carry over to football. Well, now it has. The folks in Due West have been waiting for a winner for a while, so good for them. They’ll be playing the top-ranked, unbeaten Lamar Silver Foxes next week so, hey, they’ll have another shot to prove me wrong and make a terrible analogy about a doctor doing something weird with a patient’s head. The other two competitive games were Hunter-Kinard-Tyler’s 44-42 overtime win over Whitmire and Baptist Hill’s 28-24 victory over Bethune-Bowman. Whitmire didn’t just dig into their bag of tricks early in their game, they emptied the contents of the bag out on a street corner and then threw them at vagrants and kids playing that Pokemon game. They went for and recovered two onside kicks in the first quarter, got a couple of Devin Vo touchdown runs and led 22-0. From the account I read, Coach Charlie Jenkins (no relation, but he’s a good fellow like most Jenkins’) said his team just got outmanned athletically. They lost 18 starters from last year, which is kind of a lot when you only have 160 kids in your whole school. But, Jenkins has built a nice program there, so a lot of youngsters had to step in. There was a learning a curve and they hit some real rough spots, but they won four games, made the playoffs and should be better for it next year. I didn’t see a lot of info on HKT’s end of things, but I think it’s safe to assume quarterback Davonte Scott put up stupid video game numbers. Not like video games now, that are relatively realistic, I mean like Madden 95 numbers, where you could just get to third and one, have the defense stack eight in the box, audible to all streak routes and score a touchdown every time. Or, you could run sort of a split 4-3, bring the middle backer on the blitz and end the year with 70 sacks. Or maybe the old NBA game where the ball would actually catch on friggin’ fire when you made a few shots in a row. If you have video of a flaming ball coming out of Scott’s hand, how bout shoot it to me. As for Baptist Hill-Bethune Bowman, I’m glad the Mr. T Haircuts had some success this year, since they’d not had a winning record, I don’t think, since Bethune and Bowman consolidated. Unfortunately, they really limped down the stretch, losing four of their last five. It’s been a while since Baptist Hill had a big year too, though, and we’ll know REAL QUICK how good they are when they play unbeaten, physically menacing Lake View next week. Region II had a good night, as I figured they would with Lewisville and McBee both winning convincingly. I picked Lewisville to win and felt comfortable that they’d take it by a few touchdowns over Wagener-Salley, but I wasn’t expecting the red hot tooling they threw on the Stump Whooped All-Stars. Now, Wagener-Salley’s leading rusher was out, which hurt, but when you lose 64-0, it ain’t just because a running back is hurt. Lewisville hammered them from the get-go, with Trey Keels throwing for more than 350 yards and four touchdowns IN THE FIRST HALF! Mike Hill did his normal, crazy North-South All-Star Burning Footballs thing, scoring three more touchdowns (two receiving, one rushing) Quentin Sanders had more than 100 rushing and 100 receiving and five touchdowns and the defense held the Poop-filled innards people to 118 total yards. So, I guess I’ve now shot my limit on chitlin jokes this year. I’ll miss them and I’m sure you will too. On a good note, the Lions are as talented as anybody and could get a rematch with McBee with if they can get by McCormick this week. Speaking of McBee, they were never in danger of losing to Estill at all, but they were only up 14-0 at the half on a team that somehow got an at-large bid despite being 1-9. I was told fullback/linebacker Alex Miller was out with an injury, which may have had an effect. Hopefully he’ll be back since he’s an important part of what they do on both sides. Luckily, Dashonnell Wright and Richardo Wright combined for five touchdown. I hope some paper in the McBee area has had a cornball “Wright Brothers” headline. I don’t know if they’re actually brothers, but they both live in McBee, have the same name and are good at football, so it stands to reason. Anyway, McBee matches up with a big, physical Blackville-Hilda team this week. Cross narrowly edged out Lewisville for the largest tail-dragging of the week with a 66-0 pummeling of East Clarendon. Nathan Walker played rough with the children from Turbeville, running for 196 yards and three touchdowns. They get to play another magical, feel-good team this week Hannah-Pamplico. Big congrats go to Green Sea-Floyds, which got its first playoff win in 13 years Friday with a win over Military Magnet, which hilariously got to host a playoff game at 1-9 because of dumb, pre-set brackets. Mohammad Graham had 128 yards, Akil Gause 101 and GS-F had 423 as a team. Given that that was one of the areas hardest hit by Hurricane Matthew and its aftermath, it’s cool that the community has something positive to rally around like a winning football team. This week they get a school that did the same thing for its community last year, C.E. Murray. Could not find a thing on Hemingway-Scott’s Branch. Nothing. That might be one of those pockets of South Carolina that is tucked away from any form of media, where the only means of disseminating news is to whisper it to Gert after church on Sunday, safe in the knowledge that she’ll have told everybody about it by Bible study on Wednesday…not accurately, she’ll have mixed in questions about somebody’s parentage and will have somebody that’s actually as healthy as horse on their death bed (Lord, ol’ Willis has got one foot in the grave and one on a nanner peel). That’s what it’s like where I live anyway. One non Class A note to pass along…Mullins had its season ended by Whale Branch in the first round of the playoffs on Friday. That means my favorite player, Mullin running back Willie Nelson, had his season ended. Hate that, it was fun year but now the party’s over… Suggested reading I blame Dixie for that doctor butt-to-head sewing analogy, I really do Whitmire may have lost to HKT in the playoffs, but they have a Piggly Wiggly and an honor-system at their public golf course, so I’m still a fan GS-F won the war in the trenches against Military Magnet…which is funny because I mixed in some military jargon there Cross proved successful in its most recent athletic endeavor First of all, an apology for the lack of BLAWGS last week. You may have noticed there was a major news event last Tuesday and covering that for my “pay the bills…or pay on the bills and swear we’ll get caught up next month” job had to take precedent, unfortunately. I know some people like how last Tuesday turned out and others are threatening to move to the moon or some such, but I think we can all agree the biggest tragedy brought about by the election was a lack of Class A updates. Well, I’ve checked and there isn’t another election between now and the state championships, so we’re good to go from here on out. ON TO THE PICKIN’!!!!
Wagener-Salley (8-2) at Lewisville (8-2) We begin with the best match-up of the week. The Stump Whooped All-Stars have the best record of any road team in the Class A playoffs. I’ve been talking up W-S all season as one of the season’s “feel-good, they used to suck but now they don’t” stories. Coach Willie Fox started laying the groundwork last season, milking four wins out of a team that went 1-9 the year before he arrived. The team converted to a power look on offense, going with a Wing-T behind a good-sized line that stepped on the faces of opposing school children. They’ve carried that forward to this season. Tyquan Williams, a converted wide receiver, has run for more than 1,000 yards this year, but the team from Chitlin Town has a couple of other backs right at 500 yards. They rarely throw it, but can lull you to sleep, or beat you into a stupor, with that power game and bust you over the top with a big play once in a while. Defensively, they run an aggressive 4-3 and come after the quarterback. They allowed only 13 points a game, but it does have to be noted they didn’t play the toughest schedule. They beat a pair of six-win teams (Bethune-Bowman and Ridge Spring-Monetta) but their other six wins came against teams with 19 combined wins. They played two upper-end teams (Blackville-Hilda and Williston-Elko) and got trucked by both. In Lewisville’s last game, they were within three points of top-ranked, unbeaten Lamar (15-12) but two late scores boosted the Silver Foxes to a win. This team is oozing with talent. Quarterback Trey Keels, running back Quentin Sanders, receiver/running back/single-wing quarterback Mike Hill, lineman Josh Belk, linebackers Jene Thompson and Darryl Manning, cornerback Chase Yoder and other are among the best in the state at their positions. They have two distinctly different offensive sets (a spread and a single-wing) and are effective running both. The defense makes a lot of “splash” plays in terms of sacks and forced turnovers. Though they lost that Lamar game, they showed a lot in the way of toughness that night, going toe-to-toe with one of the state’s most physical and intimidating teams. They don’t really have a kicker to speak of, which may be an issue later on down the line. This should be a great one, but based on the Lions’ tougher schedule, overall talent and the fact that they have a few more marquee wins (Andrew Jackson and Blacksburg) I say the feel-good story and my references to chitlins ends. The Pick-Lewisville Estill (1-9) at McBee (7-3) I was considered “The Class A points guy” last year and in seasons prior, when we had a points system that determined who made the playoffs. That ranks somewhere between “guy who hangs out at Lil’ Cricket and mumbles to himself” and “dude with really hairy ears” on the prestige scale. Anyway, I was considered somewhat of an authority on the points system, but I have no clue how the at-large teams that made the playoffs were decided. My pick would totally NOT have been 1-9 Estill. Not sure how they got the nod over Timmonsville (2-8) and Ware Shoals (3-7). A few weeks back I jokingly said the left tackle for each team should face off in a biscuit-eating contest to decide the at-large bid. Maybe they actually did it? Them fellas from Estill can throw down some Hungry Jacks, I guess. Anyway, their one win came in the last week of the season against Denmark-Olar. The Fighting Gators actually aren't awful on defense this year (26.5 points a game) but they only scored as many as 14 points three times. McBee, since recovering from a spate of injuries, is 5-1, the only loss was to top-ranked Lamar in overtime and they’ve gone over 40 four times. They have, I’m not making this crap up, three stud running backs all with the last name of “Wright” their defense is among the most physical and aggressive in the state and…you know, this is probably not going to end well for Estill. The Pick-Duh. Ridge Spring-Monetta (6-4) at Dixie (6-4) It seems like every year, Ridge Spring-Monetta gets off to a slow start, but really finds their groove down the stretch and makes a nice run in the post-season. The Trojans were 3-4 at one point this season, but won their last three games, including a nice victory to close the year over Blackville-Hilda. RS-M is a hard-hitting team that typically chews up the clock with a wishbone offense. I think they employ the same system, but in that win over B-H, quarterback Tyson Bettis threw touchdown passes of 50 and 68 yards. They also had a punt return for a score by Rocky Isreal, which is just an incredibly bad ass name. Also, he has nine interceptions this year, which ties him with Chester’s Quay Hardin for the second-most in the state. Anyway, Dixie has struggled in terms of wins and losses for a long time. They eased up on the schedule quite a bit this year, playing three non-SCHSL teams. Against everybody else they were 3-4, with the three wins coming against two-win Calhoun Falls Charter and three-win Ware Shoals twice. I think their scheduling was smart…it’s one of the things that jump-started Whitmire a few years back. There’s no shame in lining up a few teams you figure to beat when you’ve be down for a long time. It builds confidence, gets some enthusiasm and confidence going etc. They’ve genuinely improved this year too, as evidenced by their slightly more competitive losses. Any further progress will take place next year, though, I’m afraid. Remember at the start of this, I said RS-M starts slow and finishes strong…but I also mentioned something about winning playoff games. History repeats. The Pick- Ridge Spring-Monetta. Hunter-Kinard-Tyler (4-6) at Whitmire (4-6) I’m a little torn on this one. HKT finished up the season by delving out a grade 1 rootin’ to Denmark-Olar last week 42-8. Whitmire hasn’t played since October 28 when McCormick left marks on them in a 50-6 blowout. HKT has a dynamic quarterback in Davonte Scott, but I’ve read he’s been limited with injury in a lot of games. If I knew he was healthy and a full go, this pick would be a little easier. Charlie Jenkins (no relation) has done a fantastic job at Whitmire. Seriously, few have done better. That he cobbled together four wins after graduating 18 seniors last year is an impressive feat…when you consider that 18 kids is about 15 percent of the school student body. They have Devin Vo, a workhorse back, to make their scrum offense go. I expect them to take a big step forward next year. The Wolverines are just young at a lot of spots. I can see a scenario where they play keep-away and win this close if they don’t turn the ball over, something that’s bit them a few times this year. Because they’ve had that long, layoff, though (which makes a real difference) and because HKT has big-play potential, I’ll unfortunately go against the folks behind the brick wall, next to the public course in the Pearl of the Piedmont. But if there’s a game on this list I’ve gotten wrong, I’ll bet this is it. The Pick- HKT. Hemingway (7-3) at Scott’s Branch (5-5) The Tigers are more up-and-down than a fat kid on a see-saw. They beat C.E. Murray, then had to hang on for an 8-6 win over one-win East Clarendon the next week. They gave unbeaten Lake View perhaps their toughest game of the year (losing only 22-14) then lost the next week to Hannah-Pamplico. Quantaye Singletary is a very good running back and Hemingway, generally, has played some very manly defense this year. Scott’s Branch has lost three of its last four and have allowed more points than they’ve scored this year. It may be close, because that’s how these Tigers roll this year, but I expect them to do just enough to move on and face St. John’s next week. The Pick- Hemingway. East Clarendon (1-9) at Cross (7-2) Hey, so sometimes you blather on when you pick games and you need to look for a place to save some space…found it. The Pick- Cross. Green Sea-Floyds (5-5) at Military Magnet (1-9) This game provides the best evidence imaginable on why pre-set brackets are a terrible idea that is terrible. Not to pick on Military Magnet at all, but they won one game, that coming in a fairly close game against the winless Charleston Carpentry Academy and Bovine Fertility Clinic. Most of their other losses were blowouts (they yielded 41 points a game). Yet, because they finished third in a four-team region and it was decided ahead of time the third place finisher from that region got a home game, here they are, not only in the playoffs but hosting a game. Green Sea-Floyds lost a lot of games close this year, but have a nasty one-two punch at running back with Mahammud Graham and Akil Gause and will get a shot at C.E. Murray (who got a bye) next week. The Pick- Green Sea-Floyds Bethune-Bowman (6-4) at Baptist Hill (8-2) These were two of the aforementioned warm fuzzy feel-goods this season, with neither team having been good in a while. The Mr. T Haircuts have an athletic quarterback (Braxton Wedgeworth) and a running back (Makial Simmons) who is kind of like a bowling ball on rocket skis with anger management issues. However, after starting 5-1 against a just OK schedule, they went 1-3 down the stretch and got blisted by C.E. Murray (40-12) and Cross (60-6). Baptist Hill has quarterback Corey Fields, one of the state’s top passers. They are 8-2 and score a lot of points but mainly have done so against people who don’t hit back much. When they played two really good teams (Cross and St. John’s) they walked funny for a few days. They also struggled to put away Military Magnet in their regular season finale. So neither team finished strong. Hard to get a strong feel on this one either way, but I’ll roll with Fields making one or two plays that make the difference. The Pick- Baptist Hill. First-round byes- McCormick, Blackville-Hilda, Lamar, Williston-Elko, St. John’s, Hannah-Pamplico, C.E. Murray and Lake View. Dixie- 23
Ware Shoals- 21 McCormick- 50 Whitmire- 6 Lewisville- 58 Great Falls- A pricey lighter Lamar- 17 McBee- 14 Blackville-Hilda- 53 North- Bob Barker can handle this while reminding you to spay and neuter your pets Williston-Elko- 48 Denmark-Olar- Love, as our tennis-playing friends say Wagener-Salley- 31 Estill- 22 Ridge Spring-Monetta- 45 Hunter-Kinard-Tyler- Wikipedia isn't always accurate, but seems to be in this case St. John's- 53 Charleston Ship-Building and Dry Cleaning Academy- 6 Bethune-Bowman- 32 Branchville- 14 C.E. Murray- 41 Scott's Branch- 18 East Clarendon- 14 Creek Bridge- 12 Hannah-Pamplico- 31 Green Sea Floyds- 28 Lake View- 22 Hemingway- 14 Breakdown- There were a couple of big, important game this past week, none more so than Lamar's 17-14 overtime win over McBee. As regular readers know (if you read this blog often, it would be hard to call you "regular" though, unless it's in the "eats a lot of oat bran" sense, but I'm digressing) I have an embedded, secret Lamar informant who was at the game. He was very impressed with McBee's defensive line, said the Panthers were one of the few teams that has physically matched up with Lamar. He said they punched the Silver Foxes in the mouth early on, to the point that, at halftime, he thought Lamar was going to lose. He said they moved the ball well (about doubled McBee up in total yardage) but struggled to punch it in. That they held that McBee offense to less than 200 total yards should reinforce everything you already think about the Lamar defense. There's not a better one. Anyway, the Silver Foxes faced a late deficit, but drove the length of the field when they had to and got a field goal to take it to overtime. At that point, I was told, McBee's fullback was hurt and rendered ineffective and the offense went down with him, since they aren't really capable of throwing it. They couldn't score, then Lamar drove inside the five and got a short field goal to end it. The Silver Foxes are good on offense and great on defense...but having Audy Tedder kick three field goals, including one to send it to overtime and one to win it in the extra frame, isn't something to be overlooked. Most Class A teams do not have a reliable kicker and that makes a huge difference in terms of field position and in terms of deciding close games. It's entirely possible these two teams will meet again. Lamar has now won a state-best 17-straight games. They'll face another major challenge this Friday at an 8-1 Lewisville team that is playing very well and will have stud hoss lineman Josh Belk available, which was not the case against McBee. Lamar will lock up first place in the region with a win. A loss would mean Lewisville, Lamar and McBee would all finish at 3-1 in the region and each would be 1-1 against the other two. At that point it goes to either defensive points allowed within the three-way tie, or a sudden-death thumb-wrestling contest. Probably the points allowed thing. I don't think Lewisville can get first in that scenario, but if they win by a large enough margin they can finish second and knock Lamar to third, so there's a lot to play for. Another big game, though it wasn't as close or compelling, was McCormick's 50-6 rout of Whitmire to claim the Region I title. The Chiefs, at one point this season, were 0-5 and averaging six points a game. That isn't a recipe for winning titles, or games against teams of "big-for-their age" Cub Scouts. However, you have to toss that bad start out of your head. They played a rugged early schedule, but they were also beat to pieces and minus super-studly running back Mataeo Durant. Once he came back, they won five straight games. He rushed for 197 yards against Whitmire and the defense scored a couple of times to really blow the game wide open. The unfortunate thing for McCormick is their schedule. The team has completed its regular season, which means it will sit idle for the next two weeks while teams affected by the hurricane make up missed games. By virtue of winning their region title, they then get a first-round playoff bye. That means they will have 28 days in-between football games. I've honestly never heard of a break that long and can't imagine any coach wants that. Sure, you get everybody healthy and can get in lots of practice, but there's no way to keep your edge. The routine of the season is smashed to bits and, I can't speak for the young men of McCormick, but when I was 17-year-old boy it was hard to hold my attention to anything that didn't relate to 17-year-old girls for more than two or three seconds, much less a month. You just hope they are somehow able to play their best football when they come back and aren't hurt by something that is totally out of their control. I wish I could find more information on Lake View's 22-14 win over Hemingway, but you know, you get into some pockets of the state and the only means of mass communication is spray painting stuff on water towers. Even then, you have to lug a paint can up a ladder, find space between "Go (local sports team) and about the illicit activity someone's sister engages in. That's what's it like where I live, anyway. My omnipotent Lamar/Lowcountry sage remains convinced Lake View is the team to beat in the lowerstate and they've certainly looked that way, rolling to an 8-0 record. He loves their size, loves their speed and of course they have a Shrine Bowl athlete playing quarterback and defensive back. Hemingway, who I don't have a ton of info on, seems to basically play everyone close lately. They got a signature win over C.E. Murray, then nearly lost to then-winless East Clarendon 8-6. They beat Green Sea-Floyds by six, then gave Lake View a nice battle, sounds like. Lake View hasn't locked up the region title just yet. They face East Clarendon this week, which figures to be a W, then they play Hannah-Pamplico which could, surprisingly, be a bit of a test. H-P gutted out another close one Friday, beating a scrappy Green Sea-Floyds team 31-28 for their sixth-straight win. They were blown out in their season-opener at Lamar and haven't beaten a team with a winning record in their current streak of success. So, you might reason they are feasting on a sweet, delicious schedule of cream puffs but will get dealt with against a quality opponent. I'll tell you this, that may well be the case but a team that consistently finds ways to pull its junk out of the fire and win close games starts to build confidence and believe. If they beat Hemingway this week, we'll know it's a different team than the one whom Lamar savagely flogged. If not, it's still a nice story for a team that hasn't won much in a while, but not a threat to inflict a loss on Lake View. Playoffs- We're in a new era in terms of how the playoffs are formatted. The points system is gone, which I have some mixed emotions about. As convoluted and difficult for fans to understand as the points system was, it made your entire season relevant, not just your region games, which is a notion I support. Also, selfishly, ditching the point system also rendered me somewhat obsolete. You see, I was sort of considered "the 1A points guy" which in terms of prestige was right on line with "guy with scary big thumbs." Anyway, now we have a system where regions are guaranteed a certain number of slots based purely on size and the match-ups are predetermined. In the upperstate bracket, the third-place finisher from Region II will play host to Region III"s number three. Now, this is not official, but that probably means Wagener-Salley at Lewisville. The Stump Whooped All-Stars can't get higher than third in their region but won't drop any lower so long as they don't lose to 1-7 North Friday. If Lewisville is able to beat Lamar, they would likely forge a three-way tie for first in Region II. On points allowed, though, it is impossible for them to pass McBee and they can only get to second (knocking Lamar to third) if they beat the Silver Foxes by 29 points, which, I don't think anyone is doing. The Lewisville-Chitlin Town winner would then go to McCormick, who gets a first-round bye. Region II's number two (most likely McBee) will host the upperstate's one at-large team. I have no clue how they determine who gets the at-large spot. I'd recommend a biscuit-eating contest by each team's left tackle, but my ideas are usually ignored. My guess is that it would be Ware Shoals or Timmonsville, but I'm seriously pulling that our of my tail. The winner of that game (so, McBee) goes to Region III's number two, which will be Blackville-Hilda, who gets a bye. Region I's number three (Dixie) will open at home against Region III's number four, which will almost certainly be Ridge Spring-Monetta. I owe the Trojans an apology, maybe. Last week I saw in multiple places they'd lost to Estill, which shocked me. I wondered if they'd fallen victim to eating gas station tacos for a pre-game meal or if there was some randy cheerleader with mono. Now I look at Maxpreps and they are listed as having won that game. Whatever...four seed. The winner of that contest goes to Region II's number one (probably Lamar), who gets a first-round bye. The last upperstate playoff game will see Region I's number two (Whitmire) playing host to Region III's numbber five seed. I'm fairly certain that will be Hunter-Kinard-Tyler. The winner of that game goes to Region III's number one (Williston-Elko), who gets a first-round bye. In the lowerstate, Region V's number three gets a home game. That will either be Cross or Bethune-Bowman, who close the season against one another next week. The opponent will be Region VI's number three, which will either be Hemingway or Hannah-Pamplico, who play this week. The winner of that one then goes to the number one finisher from Region IV, (St. John's) who gets a first-round bye. Region V's number two seed, (Cross or Bethune-Bowman) faces an at-large team, and I got nothing for you on who that will be, Bubba. The winner of that game goes to the number two finisher from Region VI in the second round (Hemingway or H-P), who gets a first-round bye. Region IV's number three finisher gets a home game and that seriously shows the folly of these pre-determined brackets. Military Magnet, who has won one game (over the winless Charleston Finishing School and Dead Language Repository) will be at home. They'll face the number four finisher from Region VI, which I'll just about bet you ends up being Green Sea-Floyds, provided they beat East Clarendon. The winner of that'n goes to the number one seed from Region V (C.E. Murray), who gets a first-round bye. The final first-round match-up is Region IV's number two finisher (Baptist Hill) against a second at-large team. If I had to take a totally uneducated guess on the at-large teams, I'd say maybe Scott's Branch and Branchville. The winner of that game goes, most probably, to Lake View in the second round, who gets a first round bye. Suggested reading (and viewing) Lewisville set up a big game against Lamar this week with a rousing victory over county rival Great Falls. Your humble correspondent was on hand to obtain shaky, grainy video of the event. Congratulations McCormick, you've won a region title and an all-expenses paid trip to, uh, McCormick for the next freakin' month. The Dixie Hornets created quite a buzz with their win over the Ware Shoals Purple Hornets. Get it? Hornets? Buzz? Do hornets actually buzz, though? I'll have to check. There's some capsules you may enjoy here, including one on Bethune-Bowman's win over Branchville. Also, I checked and hornets do buzz, so feel free to laugh at my pun now if you didn't already. Hannah-Pamplico won another close one, claiming the Hyphenated Two-Town School Trophy over Green Sea-Floyds. |
TravisI am Travis, the king 0f SC 1A Football Archives
November 2021
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