Crescent- 43
Dixie- 13 Southside Christian- 40 Ware Shoals- Nam Lincoln County- 41 McCormick- Not nam Whitmire- 26 Great Falls- Nern Lamar- 31 Pageland Central- Seriously, did anyone who lost score any points this week? Lewisville- 24 Blacksburg- 22 McBee- 52 Chesterfield- 45 Timmonsville- 14 East Clarendon- 6 The Fightin' Barts- 26 Blackville-Hilda- 26 points less than the Barts had. Bethune-Bowman- 32 Denmark-Olar- 6 Ridgeland/Hardeeville- 22 Estill- 12 Hunter-Kinard-Tyler- 46 Edisto- 15 Branchville- 37 North- 14 Saluda- 49 Ridge Spring-Monetta- 13 Wagener-Salley- 50 Pelion- 14 Silver Bluff- 42 Williston-Elko- 12 Baptist Hill- 36 Garrett Academy Tech U A&M- 14 Porter Gaud- 51 Charleston Charter- Zip North Charleston- 52 Military Magnet- 22 St. John's- 35 R.B. Stall- 21 Bamberg-Ehrhardt- 28 C.E. Murray- 0 Manning- 28 Scott's Branch- ZERO Latta- 57 Creek Bridge- 6 Marion- 16 Hannah-Pamplico- 10 Hemingway- 44 Kingstree- Goose egg Lake View- 42 Johnsonville- 14 Breakdown- As is always the case early in the season, there were a bevy of Class A teams playing up in classification in Week 1 and they more than held their own, going 9-11 in such games. Region II had an especially good night on Friday, with Lamar shutting out Pageland Central, Lewisville beating Blacksburg and McBee winning a shootout with Chesterfield. I've said for a while that I think the upperstate champion is coming from this region and you can put those three games in the "LOOK AT ME, I'M RIGHT" file for safe keeping. Lamar shut out the perennial AA power 31-0 on the road. The Silver Foxes are still breaking in some new offensive skill talent and didn't put up eye-pooping numbers there, but I think with the way they are playing defense, a legless ninny goat could probably play quarterback for Lamar and they'd be OK. I mean, as long as the ninny goat doesn't turn it over a lot or eat the ball, which might be a penalty, but I digress. Dating back to the state title game in December, Lamar has allowed three points in its last three games. Math is not area of strength for me, but even I can discern that a point a game isn't many. That number may swell some next week when they play AAAA Darlington, but the Silver Foxes D not only doesn't break much, it doesn't even bend. They held Pageland to well under 100 total yards. Even if Pageland is down, which I understand may be the case, to have not only the athletes to shut them down, but the discipline to never make a mistake or get out of position against that offense is very impressive. McBee overcame a five-touchdown-pass performance by Chesterfield's Savion Watson to notch a third-straight win over the Rams. Unless McBee is doing some different stuff this year, they are normally comfortable bringing the house and playing man coverage which can leave the door open for some big passing plays. But, Dashonnell Wright did his normal Dashonnell Wright kinda stuff, scoring three touchdowns and the Panthers are 2-0 with two impressive "up" wins. Lewisville showed some real grit and fortitude in its victory over Blacksburg. They were without quarterback Trey Keels, who suffered an ankle injury in the opener. That meant Quentin Sanders, a running back who hasn't been under center since ninth grade, got the start. The Lions weren't able to throw it as much, which took the big-play element out of the offense, but they have a single-wing package they use some anyway, so they just leaned more heavily in that direction. On top of that, stud OLB Jene Thompson was injured in pre-game warm-ups and missed the game. There were several times the game could've gotten away from the Lions, including on a fumble with under five minutes to go only up two, and in past years it might have. This is a different bunch this year with a lot of senior leadership...keep an eye on them. The other "up" winners were HKT (who did terrible, awful things to Edisto), Wagener-Salley (same, only Pelion was on the receiving end), Baptist Hill, St. John's Hemingway and Lake View, who really took it to the sausage people and look every bit like the contender my clandestine lowerstate soothsayer predicted. The early portion of the schedule has offered some surprises, both positive and negative thus far. Slot the Bethune-Bowman Mohawks into the "positive category." The program had four wins in three years before Coach Ken Tucker arrived on campus last year. They took a measured baby-step forward in 2015, going 2-8, but now are 2-0 with back-to-back blowout wins. I didn't realize how badly they'd beaten Military Magnet last week. I saw they won 34-0, but missed the fact that the game was topped at halftime by the weather. They followed that up with a good rootin' of Denmark-Olar on Friday. There isn't a whole lot of information available on either victory, but I did find some video highlights from the D-O game. Quarterback Braxton Wedgeworth looks like a good athlete with a good arm, running back Makiah Simmons is exactly the kind of runner his 5'8, 225-pound dimensions indicate he would be (read: an irritable cross-breeding of a bowling ball made of butcher knives and angry hornets) and the defense was very opportunistic, with three picks. They have an excellent shot at 3-0 this Friday with North on the schedule, then will have a real measuring stick game against Wagener-Salley...speaking of the folks from Chitterlingville, the War Eagles are also 2-0 after thumping Pelion. Two years ago, they were 1-9 and most of the losses were not close. They got to 4-7 last year and look ready to make a serious run this season. Running back Tyquaun Williams, a converted receiver, ran for 214 yards and 2 touchdowns Friday night while Tre Davis added 144. When I saw them last year, they'd moved to a sort of hybrid wing offense and must still be in it, since they had two backs over 140 yards and threw it twice with one completion. That means their defensive backs actually caught more passes than their receivers (they picked four Friday) but there's certainly nothing wrong with lining up behind a big O-line, ramming it down someone's gullet, controlling the clock and forcing turnovers on defense. They'll be off this coming week, then have a couple of tough ones against Bethune-Bowman and HKT. Their region figures to be a fight between they and Williston-Elko...or not, since I'm now seemlessly veering into the "sheetfar, who'da thunk they were 0-2" portion of the proceedings and Williston tops that list. Now, their start is probably nothing to panic over since they've played up against Barnwell and Silver Bluff the first two weeks. It's worth nothing, though, that they shut out Barnwell 26-0 and gave Silver Bluff, who would ultimately play for state in AA, a 44-29 battle last year. They only managed 59 yards rushing, 87 passing and turned it over twice Friday, which aren't the kind of offensive numbers you're used to seeing from that program, which has had among the most prolific offenses in the state for the past decade. Maybe Barnwell and Silver Bluff are improved over last year or maybe, as happens at every Class A program from time to time, there has either been a talent dip at Williston or they lost a big group of seniors and need more time to develop the younger kids that are plugging the holes. I'm guessing by the time they start playing Class A teams, they'll look considerably more formidable. Same goes for 0-2 Ridge Spring-Monetta, who has fallen to Batesburg-Leesville and Saluda to open the season. Suggested Reading (and viewing) Look at me doin' some vidya of Lewisville's win over Blackburg! And a second vidya, even. (h/t for production and editing help to "Mr. Unincorporated.") Speaking of moving pictures on your screen, check out these highlights of the 2-0 Mohawks! I'm not big on eating stuff that poop has to be removed from before cooking, but let's not hold that against the folks from the Chittlin' Capitol of the World, who beat the poop out of the opposition on Friday night. Williston lost to Silver Bluff and I have four free articles left to read on this website, if that's something you care about. Bamberg-Ehrhardt and C.E. Murray played a Saturday game at Oliver C. Dawson Bulldog Stadium. Great experience for all the kids involved I'm sure, but it was B-E emerging with the victory. You can read capsules on game involving Hannah-Pamplico, Lamar, McBee, Lake View and others here. Or you can go through not life knowing...knowing is half the battle kids. More capsules can be found here on North, HKT and others. I've given you a lot of capsules...it's like we met behind some bushes at a weigh station off the interstate and you needed something to keep you awake for the long drive...or not. That's all I've got. Want to weigh in on a game you saw or something stupid I said? Leave it in the comment section or email me at [email protected].
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TravisI am Travis, the king 0f SC 1A Football Archives
November 2021
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