Lamar (6-1) at Southside Christian (8-0)
Honestly, a blind, limbless marmot could have picked this as the upperstate final. I’m not sure how he’d go about indicating such, what with not having eyes or legs or the ability to speak in a language we can understand, but it was pretty obvious is my point. Blackville-Hilda was in the mix too, but these were the two best upperstate 1A teams pretty much from the jump this year. Lamar advanced last week with a 52-28 win over Wagener-Salley. That represented some sweet, delicious revenge for the Silver Foxes, who were eliminated by the Chitlinburg All-Stars in the third round of the playoffs last year. It was actually tied 14-14 at the half, but Lamar exploded in the third quarter. McManus threw for 212 yards hitting long touchdown passes to T.J. Dolford and Derrick Higgins. Dolford plays some RB and some WR and last week looked very much like a scary rocket/robot/dragon mashup sent from the future to demoralize opposing school children and sap their desire to compete in athletics. Was that dark? It seemed a tad dark. But he had 230 total yards of offense, so I think you see what I’m getting at. Here’s the thing, though, you look at the numbers McManus posted and figure they threw it a lot, but he attempted only 10 passes and completed five. If you’ll remember, against Williston-Elko the week before, he threw for 200-some yards but nearly every yard was accounted for via scoring passes. Chad Wilkes has installed a spread, but they run out of it a lot. When they do throw, they exploit mismatches and make huge plays down the field. Higgins and Dolford are electric players that can go the distance whenever they touch the ball. Lamar can also get in a bone and just plain old maul you with a power running game. It’s sort of like they announce “Hi, we’re here to diddle your soul…would you prefer we beat you in the face with a brick or stick lit explosives in your tooter?” If you’ve got a defensive weakness, they can exploit it and Wilkes has a real knack for doing just that. The O line features a future Coastal Carolina Chanticleer at LT and four other blocks of granite besides. They’ve given up some points and they’ve been in a shootout or two, but the defense is solid for the most part. Southside Christian actually got a full, four-quarter challenge for maybe the first time all year last week but came away with an impressive 24-7 win over previously unbeaten Blackville-Hilda. The Sabres were extremely run-heavy for the second-straight playoff game, only throwing for a handful of yards but plowing a good B-H defense for 320 on the ground. QB Ja’Corey Martin led the way again, going for 144. Don’t mistake those numbers to mean they CAN’T throw the ball. They certainly can and have when they’ve needed to this year, but they have been able to overwhelm their last two opponents in the run game. The really attention-grabbing aspect of the game was how well their defense played. They limited B-H to 198 total yards and well under 100 on the ground. B-H was more “very good” than “holy crap” on offense this year, but that is still impressive and they did it in large part with a D line that blew up almost everything B-H tried to do and contained Adonis Davis, which is no small achievement. This is a tough one to pick. If you’ve read this BLAWG at all over time, you probably know where my personal feelings lie when it comes to “small town team vs. private school.” But this is about honestly comparing the combatants and proffering a legit guess on the outcome. I might give Lamar a SLIGHT edge offensively. They can do anything they want thanks to that O line and good skill people. Little more big-play zip, but the Sabres are good up front too, Martin has run like a man possessed the past two weeks and they can toss it efficiently. I don’t think they’ll be quite so one-dimensional as they’ve been able to be the past two weeks. I probably give Southside Christian the edge defensively. With the exception of McCormick running for some big yards in an early-season game, they just haven’t given up much of anything. That and the kicking game probably decide this one by a narrow margin. Let’s not forget that until they ran into the red-hot eventual champion Saluda Tigers last year, the Sabres were a pretty real threat to win the AA title. And there are, to be frank, some built-in advantages beyond just playing at home at play here. My heart says something different but my big, dumb head says… The winner- Southside Christian. Bamberg-Ehrhardt (8-0) at Lake View (7-0) Another one that poor marmot that’s lived such a rough life might could have picked out. B-E was a force in AA last year, so it’s not a shock that they’re playing for the lowerstate title. Last week they survived a tough challenge from Whale Branch but hung on for an 18-15 win. As an aside, I’d like to state how glad I am to have Whale Branch on out of the bracket. I don’t have anything against them per se, but I’m 9-3 picking 1A playoff games this year and they are responsible for two of those misses…because really, isn’t me being right the real point of all this? Once again, QB Treyton Still almost entirely carried the offense, throwing a 37-yard touchdown pass to Frank Hyland and running for a 65-yard score. The team’s other TD came via a punt return. As I’ve mentioned, I saw B-E in person this year against Great Falls. Basically, there is very little they do that leads to pants-poopin’ excitement. Good line, good QB who throws it and runs it pretty well. Good D line that holds its ground…the one exception is at LB, where they have next-level speed. On the rare occasion there is a crease or opening, they close on it like flies on stink. But, like, really athletic flies that spend their entire 36-hour life cycle running sprints in weight vests. They allowed ONE FLIPPIN’ SCORE in the regular season, but have yielded a bit more (though still not a ton) in two playoff games. They don’t make many mistakes, they are well-coached and they don’t beat themselves. My question is what has become of their RBs? They had a couple of good ones the night I saw them and through the regular season. In two playoff games, Still has pretty much had to carry the load entirely on his own. That almost wasn’t enough to beat a hot Whale Branch team. Lake View got a stiff challenge from a Carvers Bay team that had an outstanding year. It was 30-22, and Carvers Bay was throwing in the end zone as time expired with a shot to tie it. The thing about the Wild Gators is how many studs they have that can rip you to pieces. Last week it was Ja’Coreus Ford who logged TD runs for 61, 38 and 10 yards. But it could be Trey Page or Michael McInnis or Adarrian Dawkins or D.J. Bethea. Defensively, they’ve been good all year and put up solid numbers despite facing some really good offenses. This game is going to be tight and probably relatively low-scoring. Bamberg-Ehrhardt is too good defensively to get run off the field. However, Lake View has SOOOO many offensive weapons that I don’t believe even a good defense can completely contain them. I also think that Lake View’s defense is up to the task of stopping (or slowing significantly) an efficient if unspectacular offense that has increasingly leaned on one player in the playoffs. The winner- Lake View
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Blackville-Hilda (6-0) at Southside Christian (7-0)
This is, quite honestly, a state championship worthy matchup in the second round of the playoffs. Both teams are undefeated and both have insane “we scored this many, you didn’t score nam” differentials. The FIghtin’ Hawks have scored 257 points while yielding only 71 and that has come against plenty of quality competition. Wagener-Salley, Williston-Elko and Barnwell all ran face first into the big brick wall covered in fishhooks and fire that is the B-H defense. Five of their eight opponents have scored six or fewer points on the year. They beat a pesky Whitmire team last week 31-0. Adonis Davis did some Adonis Davis stuff at quarterback and Omarion Buckman had a big day running the ball, but it has to be pointed out they only led the young Wolverines (whose defense has mostly been overwhelmed by top-flight offenses this year) 7-0 at halftime. They’ve been good on offense this year with a dual-threat QB and strong running game, but they only put 12 up against Ridge Spring-Monetta and 22 against North/Hunter-Kinard-Tyler*^@ and they’re high-point offensively was laying 42 on a pair of opponents. You don’t have to score seventy-bajillion points-per-game to win football games obviously…running the ball and playing frightening defense is plenty enough to succeed. Not getting enough to distance themselves from people they should probably roll over on a few occasions is about the only flaw you’ll find here. Southside Christian doesn’t have quite as many impressive wins on the resume this season, but that has to do with the makeup of their region. They did beat a good McCormick team and last week they doled out a painful rootin’ to the resurgent C.A. Johnson Hornets 50-6. They forced five turnovers, the defense scored twice and they allowed a potent offense only 192 yards. It hasn’t been against a difficult schedule, but the Sabres have only given up 52 points all year (20 of those to McCormick) and have held four opponents to six or fewer points. They’ve scored at least 50 in five straight games and have done so with starters rarely playing more than a series in the second half. Much like Davis, Ja’Corey Martin can gut you with his arm or his legs. He ran for a cool 156 yards last week (and four touchdowns). They didn’t pile up big passing yards but didn’t have to and certainly can. T.J. Goldsmith ran for 120 yards last week to compliment Martin. The only question with them is how they’ll react to a full four-quarter challenge as they are likely to get against the Hawks? That isn’t something they’ve really had to do and with their starters really only having played 12 to 14 quarters all year are they at a disadvantage over someone who has been in a few real fights, has played two more games and worked together a lot more on the field? Also, a team with a dynamic QB and RB (McCormick) ran for a bunch of yards on them and Blackville-Hilda has a reasonable facsimile of that. I expect this to be a terrific game. However, I said on our podcast last week that my pick to represent the upperstate in the Class A title game is Southside Christian. I’m not going to belabor the point (because I have on so, so many occasions over the years), but there are some obvious advantages to being a private school, particularly in Class A and especially when you are the only such team in Class A. They won’t score 50 and their starters probably won’t be able to sit comfortably after the half, but the ability to secure takeaways, a solid defense in general and a bit more of an explosive offense gives the Sabres the edge. The winner- Southside Christian Wagener-Salley (6-1) at Lamar (5-1) These two teams met in the playoffs last year and it was the rare occasion when somewhat out-Lamar’d Lamar. That is to say they booted them in the taters a few times, then just kind of pointed and laughed. Usually, it is Lamar who is so dominant and so physical that the opposition can’t really do much about it. Last year, though, it was the fellows from Chitlinburg that delivered the physical whipping. I don’t think this year’s edition will follow the same script. For starters, despite having graduated four starters on the O line, I swear I think the offensive front of the Silver Foxes is actually better this year. Their only loss came to a 5A team by a single touchdown. Aside from C.A. Johnson, no one else they played really gave them much of a challenge. Despite a three-week layoff, they showed no rust last week as they left marks on a good Williston-Elko team to open the playoffs. It was 48-12 but it was a worse beating than it sounds like. It was 48-6 in the third, at which point they went with a running clock. Tyle McManus threw for 216 yards and four touchdowns and his throwing scores accounted for nearly all that yardage (32, 52, 30 and 76 yards). He also ran for a score. Derrick Higgins caught three of those. They can spread it out and throw on you or line up in the bone and ram it down your gullet, offensively. That allows them to attack whatever your weakness might be…or just screw with you if they are in a bad mood. They also locked down on what has been a very productive Williston-Elko offense. The Stump Whooped All-Stars are plenty good, complete with a group of D linemen that look like they belong on the sides of green bean cans. They aren’t as dominant as they were last year, though. They got strapped by Blackville-Hilda early in the season, but haven’t lost since. As I figured would be the case, the War Eagles had a great game against McCormick last week, hanging on for a 48-38 victory. I don’t know that it will be a blowout, but I think the front line of Lamar can neutralize the greatest strength W-S can offer, that being their defensive front. They have more versatility and big-play ability on offense and I believe they will be at Southside Christian for the upperstate title game next week. The winner- Lamar Lake View (6-0) at Carvers Bay (6-1) The Bears came up with a 33-8 win over Baptist Hill last week. Now, the Bobcats haven’t been putting up the slapnuts, video game number of the past few years, but it’s still a good offense and I feel like with Marion Brown calling plays, a team comprised of seven dwarfs, two limbless marmots, a stapler and me could probably score points. So, that’s a good defensive effort, which is something they’ve offered all year. They’ve only allowed two opponents to reach double figures and I’ve heard they have a good secondary (Tony Ball had two picks last week). They also have people named “Walker” like McBee does Wright’s. Joshua Walker scored a TD in that win and Terrell Walker had two in the fourth quarter. It’s always helpful for an athletic program when folks with great athletic bloodlines enjoy procreating on a large scale. They’ve had a great year all the way around and have some quality victories on the resume. Lake View, per some coaches I’ve talked to, is completely loaded. They beat a good Allendale-Fairfax team last week 26-6 and the one score they allowed came on a long pass play in the third quarter. I don’t think they throw it a ton, but D.J. Bethea tossed a couple of touchdowns in that one. One of those went to former QB turned scary receiver Adarrian Dawkins. They have A LOT of school children able to avoid being tackled by opposing school children (Trey Page, Ja”Correus Ford, Michael McInnis etc. and so on). They’ve given up 70 points this year and that’s come against some good offensive teams. They’ve scored defensively a good bit (did last week) and that defense has gotten better as the year has gone along. Again, I’m not calling for a blowout, but I don’t think Lake View, good as they are on both sides and with as many weapons as they have, is losing until at least state…and maybe not even then. The winner- Lake View Whale Branch (8-0) at Bamberg-Ehrhardt (7-0) The Warriors made one of the biggest statements of Round 1 and that statement was “Eat it, Travis.” I thought Johnsonville would knock them off last week. The Sausages had an impressive resume, gave Lake View their closest game of the year and had a super-balanced offense. I looked at them as a dark horse, really, who could get to the lowerstate title game and MAYBE even shock Lake View (since the two played a competitive game earlier). Well, that was worth JACK…SQUAT!!!! Whale Branch eviscerated them 52-12. Jadon Grant and Joseph Hicks both scored two touchdowns. The Warriors got a defensive score and blocked a punt. It was a dominant performance. I think I made the mistake of looking at a regular season full of blowouts over mostly inferior teams and discounted them. They did beat a good Cross team pretty soundly, but needed a Hail Mary as time expired to beat Baptist Hill (that was one of a only a handful of passes they completed all year). That 343-67 point differential DOES mean something. B-E got a rare scare last week, holding off C.E. Murray 26-20. The War Eagles (a very good team), had a chance to tie the contest as time expired. They scored on an 80-yard catch-and-run on their first offensive play. So, they scored as many TDs on their first play as all of B-E’s opponents did in six games. They had five straight shutouts coming in, but gave up 80, 60 and 35-yard scoring plays to the War Eagles. I’ve seen them in person and they are solid in every respect. Not any one thing that floors you (except for maybe speed at LB), but just good with no real apparent flaws. Now, QB Treyton Still ran for 80 yards and three scores (on 24 carries) and threw for 174 yards. He showed he could run it the night I saw them, but he didn’t log anywhere near that many totes and they didn’t throw it that much. The night I saw them and in most games I’ve read about, they lean heavily on a few backs, especially Quinton Banks. So, did he not play? Did B-E just have to take what C.E. Murray gave them, with the War Eagles opting to make someone other than Banks beat them? I don’t know, but I think they’ll need a bit more balanced offensive attack to win this one. For me, this is the toughest game on the slate for me to pick. It might be considered an upset, but I’m going to go with the red hot hand… The winner- Whale Branch |
TravisI am Travis, the king 0f SC 1A Football Archives
November 2021
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