Calhoun Falls Charter (1-5) at Ware Shoals (2-6)
These two teams met in the first game of the year in a contest that did not count toward region standings. The Flashes won that one, breaking a years long losing streak, but haven’t tasted victory since. Most of their losses haven’t been especially close, either, including a 45-point loss to Whitmire last week. Ware Shoals had only a win over Oakbrook on the resume until they absolutely rolled Dixie last week. This was a 14-13 contest the first time around so, it’s likely to be close again, but if the Flashes can win either this one or next week against Dixie, they’re in the playoffs, which would be a huge step forward for a program the has struggled for so long. Ware Shoals is probably already in, but could improve their seeding with a victory. McCormick (3-5) at Whitmire (6-3) This game is for the Region I title and the sweet, delicious number one seed (and first round bye) that goes with it. The Wplverines roughed up CF Charter last week and are playing well in general, having clicked off four straight wins. Chandler Crumley (the fullback/piledriver/angry oxen) had a big game on the ground as did his speedy compliment Jaquan Tindell-White. The thing about the Wolverines is they put a ton of pressure on you by onside kicking on every kickoff, usually eschewing punting and going for it on fourth down etc. That can blow up in your face sometimes, but it usually doesn’t for them. They bank on the fact that if they apply lots of pressure and force you to have to make plays, you often won’t. And seriously, it’s such a mental crotch kick to have them run that scrum for 12 plays, 70 yards and eight minutes, then they recover an onside kick and your defense has to trudge right back out on that field. McCormick had a three-game winning streak snapped last week by St. Joe’s, but who cares? It was an out-of-region game on the road against a ranked AA squad. They hung in there and scored some points and accounted for themselves pretty well. In their previous three games, they averaged right at 40 a contest against lower-level AA opponents and in two region games. A’Chean Durant is the guy to watch, the electric freshman running back with super-awesome bloodlines (Mataeo is his brother). Should be a great one. Lamar (6-2) at Great Falls (4-3) The Silver Foxes laid down the CRANKSMACK of the week last Friday in blowing out Timmonsville 70-0. In that game, from what I understand, they actually showed some four-wide spread stuff for the first time this year and moved athletic QB Cam Galloway to WR and RB a bit. Now, with the playoffs coming up and them likely facing a trip to Wagener-Salley in the third round, I wondered if they were putting one more thing on tape for Wagener to worry about. My super secret Lamar informant said he thinks it was just a matter of letting the seniors have a little fun with the game well in hand in their final home game. Whatever, with a line and athletes like they have, they can kinda do whatever they want. Great Falls was playing its first game in three weeks, looked rusty early and got behind McBee. Rather than take a conservative approach and attempt to lose close, coach Tom Butler took some gambles to try to give his team a chance to actually win. I like that, since a loss counts as a loss whether it’s 21-14 or 49-7. They have athletes who can make plays on anybody (guys like D.J. Adams) and they have talent in the trenches, but not much depth. I’ll be at this game, so follow along at @CNR_Sports if you you’re interested. McBee (1-7) at Timmonsville (2-6) The 1-7 next to McBee’s name is deceptive. They played a big-boy, “holy crap y’all are playing who?” kind of schedule out of region. They took some lumps, but they also blew out a pretty good Great Falls team last week. Eerily similar to how things went for them last season when they started 0-7 and made it to the third round of the playoffs. Here’s a shocker, there is a person with the last name “Wright” on the McBee roster who is good at football (Jaheim). They have other weapons too and that might be plenty this week against a young Whirlwinds team coming off savage beating against Lamar. Williston-Elko (2-6) at Blackville-Hilda (6-2) I don’t know the health status of Blackville-Hilda QB Adonis Davis…and I may regret being flippant here, but I don’t think it matters. That seems odd to say when talking about W-E, but it’s been a rough year from them, with wins over North and Estill tucked among a series of one-sided tail whippings. It sure feels like this one is a foregone conclusion and that W-E will need a win over Denmark-Olar next week to even make the playoffs. Wagener-Salley (8-0) at Denmark-Olar (4-4) Another game that just feels like a formality. D-O has had their moments and is a physical, quality football team, but the boys from Chitlinville have basically won the region already and feel like they are head-and-shoulders and hips-and-knees and shins-and-toes better than anybody they’ll face until a likely matchup with Lamar in the third round of the playoffs. HKT (5-3) at North (0-8) This is a great region but there aren’t a lot of great matchups in it this week. HKT is the kind of team that might sneak up on somebody in the playoffs. North hasn’t won a game in a few years. Not much need to dig into this one very far. Baptist Hill (5-3) at Military Magnet (0-6-1) Baptist Hill scored 70 gojillion points last week (roughly)against Charleston Charter etc. et all and so on Academy and probably will this week. That’s not really proving much, since that will represent two blowouts of winless teams. Now, next week when they face St. John’s might be more interesting than anyone thinks. Charleston Finishing School for Aspiring Anglers (0-6) at St. John’s (2-6) The Islanders had a brutal schedule out-of-region that featured a private school juggernaut, the OC Semi-Pros and a road trip to the friggin’ Waxhaws (depending on how old a map you’re looking at). But they pitched a shutout last week against Military Magnet. They are very young on offense but against like-sized, reasonable competition, that defense is going to win them some games, including this one, most likely, against a Riptide team that gives up 53 a game. Bethune-Bowman (2-6) at C.E. Murray (5-2) The Mr. T Haircuts are likely going to go from winning a region crown in 2018 to not making the playoffs this season. They have a great RB in Jesus Benjamin (who should be playing in an all-star game and it’s ridiculous a kid with his numbers isn’t) but the defense has struggled and the offense often has aside from Benjamin. C.E. Murray is pretty much on a region title victory tour at this point, having destroyed Branchville last week, their only real contender. This is a team people need start paying more attention to. Trying to move the ball on their defense is like trying to cut down an oak tree with a toothbruch…like a soft-bristle one. Antonio McKnight is a two-way stud, they have a dominant running game and it sure feels like they are on a collision course with Green Sea deep in the lowerstate playoffs. Scott’s Branch (2-6) at Cross (4-4) Cross ran all over the Mr. T Haircuts last week and in doing so broke the 21-point threshold for the first time in two full years. It’s good to see them rising back to prominence after a winless campaign last year resulting from one of the youngest rosters in the state. They are apparently growing up and getting back to thumping heads on defense. They’ve been a bit offensively challenged but maybe last week was the breakthrough they’d been looking for. Scott’s Branch is hard to get a beat on. They’ve beaten to not-very good teams, lost close to one OK team (Timmonsville) and gotten routed against a couple of really good teams of higher classification. They did win their last time out (pretty impressively over the Mr. T Haircuts) and had an off week last Friday to heal up for the stretch run. Hemingway (0-8) at Green Sea Floyds (7-1) Hemingway has scored 26 points in eight games and allows nearly 40 a game. They are on the road against the defending state champions, who have one of the best and most explosive offenses in Class A paired with a bunch of crap kickers on defense. So, you know, this might not go real well for them.
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November 2021
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