Christ Church (2-3) at Calhoun Falls Charter (0-4)
The Cavs have found the sledding a little tough in AA and they’ve played a fairly brutal out-of-region slate. They did notch a win over Riverside last week and they can put up points (50 a game in their two wins), but they’ve allowed 64, 55 and 55 in three losses. The Flashes lost to Southside Christian 48-8 last week and lost Spartanburg Christian a few weeks before that, so, you know, this probably isn’t going to go well for them. Dixie (3-2) at Greenwood Christian (3-1) Dixie bounced back from the snot-wringing (I just made that up) they endured the week before against Southside Christian with a 28-6 win over Spartanburg Christian Academy. The thing is, that was a one-score game well into the third quarter and SCA dressed 14 kids for that game. You figure Dixie, even with injuries in the secondary, has enough to outlast Greenwood Christian here…but keep in mind the Hawks did knock off Ware Shoals last week, so this IS NOT a gimmie. Allendale-Fairfax (1-3) at McCormick (1-3) Going into the season, you would’ve considered this a game where McCormick was trying to toughen itself up and get ready for region play. A game where they anticipated going in that they’d get their noses bloodied. Maybe end up with a black eye…karate chopped in the uvula…you get my point. I’m going to say, though, this is not an unwinnable game. The Tigers opened with a win over Estill (though not a blowout) but have dropped three straight since then. That hasn’t been against a creampuff schedule, but still, they’ve given up more than 40 points twice. Not something you’re used to seeing. They got torched for 340 passing yards last week by North Charleston’s Yancey Washington, but gave up some big gainers on the ground too. So McCormick, with a dynamic athlete like Mataeo Durant, has at least a puncher’s chance. Ware Shoals (1-4) at Crescent (2-2) The good news for Ware Shoals was that they scored more touchdowns last week (three) than they had in their first four games combined (two). The bad news was they still lost to Greenwood Christian, so traveling to the greater Starr and Iva communities to play a AAA team is likely to be a less-than-successful venture. Whitmire (2-3) at Bethune-Bowman (4-1) I’m not an “I told you so” type of guy, so I’ll again just mention that SOME blog that focuses on 1A football and meat and makes up terms like “snot-wringing” told you Whitmire was going to take out previously-unbeaten Branchville last week. Jaylen Brown, who is an excellent athlete, scored three touchdowns in that one, while Trey Lyles scored twice for the Wolverines. The task this week is considerably tougher. The Mr. T Haircuts, aside from in their loss to Wagener-Salley, have put up bonkers offensive stats every week. QB Braxton Wedgeworth III, Esq., didn’t have his normal gaudy numbers last week against C.A. Johnson (though he did hit 6-of-6 passes) but he didn’t have to. Makiah Simmons had 22 carries for 203 yards and three touchdowns. I’ve seen some of his highlights and he looks like a wheelbarrow full of bricks rolling down a hill…maybe one with a gun turret and a bumper made of broken glass. I tend to lean to the Mr. T Haircuts, given Whitmire’s youth, but never underestimate these Wolverines and their will to fight to the final whistle…and make things interesting with onside kicks. North Central (1-3) at Great Falls (0-3) I keep thinking the Red Devils are on the verge of breaking out of their losing streak that now dates back almost two full years. I think that again this week. Great Falls has some seriously athletic playmakers on this team, but they are very young. Kelton Talford is, I’m sure, 11 feet tall by now (he looks like he’s grown every time I see him). He’s got three touchdowns catches in three games. One of the big problems has been turnovers, but they were off last Friday, so I’m sure they’ve spent two weeks focusing on ball security. North Central opened with a close win over Eau Claire, but have gotten hammered the last three times out. They are coached by former NFL DB Tyrone Drakeford. Last week, his team had negative 22 yards rushing on 28 attempts. That wasn’t skewed by a big loss on a fumble or bad snap, either. AJ stuffed them at or behind the line on 20 of their carries. They have what looks like an athletic QB with a live arm in Bubba Williamson (whose name makes him sound like a professional bass fisherman) but he was out last week with a concussion, so no telling if he’ll play this week. I expect a pretty good game here (I’ll be at this contest and live-tweeting at @CNR_Sports for those he may want to follow along). Lamar (5-0) at Crestwood (3-2) Hand it to Lamar, they don’t line up a bunch of tomato cans they can easily knock over out of region. The top-ranked Silver Foxes face their second AAAA team of the year in Crestwood tonight (they rogered Darlington 57-6 in their last such game). I don’t know a whole lot about Crestwood, other than their two losses came to good teams in Manning and Sumter and they beat an explosive Lower Richland team. My super-confidential undercover Lamar informant tells me Jacquez Lucas either didn’t play last week of played very little. If Lamar is without him, this one is going to be tough. They threw it well last week, played the same crap-kicking defense they always do and rode Jeblonski Green to an easy win…but Lucas is the dynamic, breakaway compliment to Green’s SMASH I RUN ANGRY, style. I will say, though, no one seems to come swinging harder in these “up” games than Lamar. Lewisville (4-1) at C.A. Johnson (1-3) The Lions are finally getting healthy on the offensive line and it is showing. QB Rhett Cox threw for nearly 150 yards last week and also ran for more than 100. As he’s getting more comfortable as the starter and the protection in front of him continues to get better, the Lions are getting more creative offensively with more read option and with a down-the-field passing attack. C.A. Johnson is a little bit improved, from what I understand, but they’ve scored 34 points in four games, 28 of which came against North, the team with the state’s longest losing streak, so… Timmonsville (2-3) at Scott’s Branch (2-2) The Whirlwinds are a significantly improved team this year. They gave Hannah-Pamplico all they wanted last week before falling 20-16. Haven’t found a whole lot of info on them, so I’d love to hear from anyone who has seen them play. Scott’s Branch got everyone’s attention a few weeks back by shutting out Bamberg-Ehrhardt, then nearly knocked off Edisto last week. Thus ends the relevant and true statements I can make about this football contest. Blackville-Hilda (2-2) at Wagener-Salley (4-0) The Hawks, so far this year, have followed the same pattern they did last year. They’re big up front and basically have a truck lined up under center who runs lots of sweeps and power plays. If they can physically outman you, they are going to grind you into fine powder and sweep your dusty remnants into the parking lot…WTH did I just say? What was that? Your dusty remnants? Anyway, if they can’t physically overwhelm you, then you’ve got a good shot against them. The War Eagles are entering an important two-game stretch (that will include Williston-Elko next week) that could decide the Region III title. The boys from Chitlintown, much like the Hawks, don’t do anything fancy, they run the ball and play great defense. Holding HKT and the Mr. T Haircuts to 6 total points in their last two games speaks volumes. If they win tonight, especially convincingly, it will be time to start viewing them as a real contender. North (0-4) at Denmark-Olar (0-4) Not to be flippant, but hey, somebody gets to win a game tonight. Both programs are struggling, North has the state’s longest losing streak actually, and the two have combined for 28 points this year. I’m glad one or the other will get to celebrate tonight. Estill (0-3) at HKT (0-4) Not all winless records are created equal. Estill has lost three games by a combined score of 106-0. HKT has played a big, beefy schedule, almost beat Calhoun County and gave Wagener-Salley a pretty tough game last week. This feels like an opportunity for Trojans QB Devante Scott to have a big night and help his team notch a region victory. Ridge Spring-Monetta (2-2) at Williston-Elko (2-2) Both teams played some “up” heavyweights early and took tough losses, but both have also obliterated Class A competition in the past two weeks. I’ll actually, graciously, pass the baton for the preview on this one to the good folks at The Aiken Standard. North Charleston (3-0) Baptist Hill (3-0) The Bobcats got the signature win last week (over Cross) they’ve lacked since they started scoring points and winning some games last year. Most impressive to me is that they won a close game with some good defense and a clutch late drive. QB Corey Fields has almost 1,200 total yards in three games and he and that defense will need to have another good night to win this one. North Charleston is a AA school that gave Allendale-Fairfax a goo-ood rootin’ last week behind Yancey Washington’s 410 total yards of offense. This may end up looking like a basketball score tonight. And I don’t mean no shot clock, four corners crap. I’m talking full-on, slapnuts, up-and-down, Loyola of the late 80s basketball. Garrett Academy Tech A&M Charleston Campus (0-3) at The Charleston Charter School for Fish Scaling and Frog Gigging (0-4) Took up so much space with the names, I have no room for a preview. Garrett probably wins it. Moving on… R.B. Stall (1-2) at Military Magnet (0-4) Military Magnet lost to Green Sea-Floyds 61-3 last week. So traveling to play a AAA school, um, just read what I said above about Ware Shoals. Oceanside Collegiate (3-2) at St. John’s (3-1) The O.C. (which is what I’m calling the Oceanside school from now on) has a transfer quarterback in Sam Hartman who is committed to Wake Forest. They’ve put up a lot of points this year and aren’t to be taken lightly. St. John’s lost to Hanahan last week, but that came after wins over AAA Bishop England, AAAA Stall and AAAAA James Island. That’s a brutal schedule. The Islanders have a versatile QB in Kam Smiley and some other nice weapons…but let’s focus on TE in K.J. Robinson. I watched some highlights of him and he’s an authentic, real, actual tight end. He isn’t an extra lineman or the biggest, slow wide receiver on the team lining up next to the tackle sometime. He can play in-line, or get flexed out, has good speed, the hands and ups to go up and get the ball and he weighs 225…which leads to lots of ole’ tackle attempts when he’s loose in the secondary. The Islanders obviously don’t have a cakewalk tonight in “The Marsh” but if they take care of business they are still in the conversation where lowerstate dominance is concerned. Branchville (3-1) at Palmetto Christian Academy (0-4) Branchville’s figures to bounce back from it’s loss to Whitmire last week against a school I previously did not know existed. Hemingway (4-0) at C.E. Murray (4-1) This is the game of the night in Class A. Hemingway has gotten a lot of attention (rightfully so) after playing four AA schools and destroying them by a combined score of 221-51. Poor old Waccamaw might still be walking funny after the 61-point whipping they toted last week. The thing is, aside from Andrews, none of the teams they’ve beaten are very good. Tonight will be the biggest test the Tigers have had yet. C.E. Murray is fresh off 50-0 win over Creek Bridge and, aside from their one loss to Bamberg-Ehrhardt, they’ve allowed 27 points in four games. They have one of the most physical defenses in the state. Coach Chad Wilkes mentioned to me before the season he loved the power-running attack he was inheriting but wanted to tweak the offense just a bit and employ some spread comments. Safe to say that has worked out well, with Elijah Bey hitting 59-of-88 passes for 858 yards and 15 dadgum touchdowns. He’s also run for 211 yards. Darius Rush is his top target (duh) with 26 catches for 400 yards and nine scores. He’s a threat to go the distance whenever the ball is in his hands. This has the makings of a great one! Cross (1-2) at Lake Marion (0-5) After losing a tight one to Baptist Hill last week Cross is mad, Lake Marion is bad, (that rhymed) and uh, what rhymes with “butt whipping?” Camden Military (0-3) at Green Sea-Floyds (2-2) See Cross at Lake Marion, only without the rhyme-ness.
1 Comment
9/27/2017 01:17:02 am
Uncover the mystery of the 11.5g Hold'em Saloon Casino Poker Chips and see if they are right for you at this time. Please read our detailed overview of the 11.5g Hold'em Saloon Casino Poker Chips and make your own final determination.
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
TravisI am Travis, the king 0f SC 1A Football Archives
November 2021
Categories |