McCormick (1-4) at Dixie (0-6)
The Chiefs are coming off a bye week but picked up a 37-0 blowout win over Eau Claire their last time out. They had been really close in a couple of previous games (against Crescent and Fox Creek) so maybe that victory was the start of something. A’Chean Durant looked very much like his older brother (Mataeo) against the Shamrocks, running for 227 yards…so it would be more accurate to say he looked like what you’d get if Tecmo Bowl Bo Jackson and a bullet could somehow have a baby. And he’s a freshman, so everyone have fun trying to tackle/catch/keep up with him for three more years. Dixie lost 18 starters from last year’s upperstate finalist team. They’ve got some size, but it inexperienced size, and they are lacking in team speed generally. They were shut out by Ninety-Six last week (thought he defense didn’t play badly at all) and have scored just 27 points on the year. Ware Shoals (1-5) at Whitmire (3-3) The region opener for both teams. Whitmire has alternated win-loss through its first six games of the year, including a nice 21-6 victory last week over the Mr. T Haircuts. Whitmire just kinda did Whitmire stuff in that one, dominating the clock and rushing for 291 yards. Jaquan Tindall-White had 15 carries for 108 yards, Matthew Prather had 72 yards and a touchdown and bull/Buick hybrid Chandler Crumley had 71 yards and two touchdowns. Ware Shoals got worked pretty good by Great Falls 40-3. They’ve lost five straight and outside their victory to start the year over Oakbrook Prep, they just haven’t done much offensively and that puts a lot of added pressure on a defense that is struggling too. Jamarius Goodman is a human highlight reel on offense, but playing a disciplined, tough, clock-squashing squad that considers a three-yard rush a successful play might be a bit heavy of a lift for the Purple Hornets right now. Gray Collegiate (2-3) at Lamar (5-1) You probably remember that this game last year is what marked the end of Lamar’s winning streak and it was the game in which Cam Galloway was injured. That changed the complexion of the Silver Fox offense and maybe played a roll in their not winning state. He’s back healthy and playing well now and he’ll be needed tonight. Gray is 2-3, but those losses have come in a shootout to a Gilbert team I expect to make some big noise in the AAA playoffs, to The OC Semi-pros and AAAAA White Knoll. They have the state’s most productive passing offense and wide open spreads aren’t a thing Class A schools encounter often. Lamar coach Chad Wilkes is a spread guy at heart, he ran that at C.E. Murray and I think that will be beneficial in this one. He knows how to defend that kind of attack. I think Lamar’s O line and running game will give Gray some trouble. This one could go either way, though, and figures to be an excellent game. Lake View (3-3) at McBee (0-5) I give the Panthers immense credit for nuttin’ up and playing a non-region gauntlet made up of scary jungle cats, dragons and monster trucks. Seriously…AJ, Chesterfield, North Central, Hannah-Pamplico, Green Sea Floyds, Blacksburg next week and the Wild Gators tonight. Aside from AJ and Green Sea, the games have actually been competitive. Given who they’ve played, it’s difficult to tell a whole lot about them. It could be like last year where they started 0-7 then ended up winning two playoff games. Lake View has lost three straight but that’s been against Dillon, Marion and Lamar (in overtime). It may be another rough one for the Panthers but I tend to think better things are coming down the line. HKT (3-2) at Blackville-Hilda (3-2) To have any shot at a region crown, both of these teams need this game, then they’ll need some help (what with both already having been unmercifully flogged by Wagener-Salley). B-H lost to them last week. They played really well for a half, but they were stopped at the goal line to end the second quarter and didn’t much sniff the end zone again. Adonis Davis didn’t have much success throwing the ball, but he did run for more than 100 yards. HKT has lost a competitive game to Edisto and a not-in-any-way competitive game to Wagener-Salley. Outside of that, though, they’ve thrown some beatings on Eau Claire, The Mr. T Haircuts and Estill, so this gave probably shouldn’t be viewed as pushover for the Hawks by any means. Denmark-Olar (3-2) at Ridge Spring-Monetta (3-2) RS-M has won three straight after an 0-2 start. Those two losses are almost toss outs, though, as they came against Saluda and Batesburg-Lessville. Against like-sized, Class A competition, they’ve actually been pretty dominant. That pasted a pretty good Whitmire team, gave North a proper seeing to and knocked around Williston-Elko last week. Collier Sullivan is a very good RB, but D-O has done a pretty nice job defensively this year for the most part. Another game where there is an obvious favorite but nothing should be taken for granted. North (0-5) at Estill (1-4) I hope North turns things around. Being mired in as long a losing streak as they are in is a morale crusher for everyone involved…and looking at what they have left on the schedule, if they’re gonna do it this year, they better get it done tonight. After beating Allendale-Fairfax to start the year (which is a head-scratcher, frankly, given what has happened with both teams since) they’ve been blown out four straight times. Williston-Elko (1-4) at Wagener-Salley (5-0) I don’t know what is going on with the Blue Devils. One week they’ll play well on offense and lose in a shutout, the next week, the defense will come to play and the offense will have a rough night for one reason or another. I do know that trying to fix any of that on the road in Chitlinburg is generally a recipe for HERPA DERPA DOO.. Wagener laid it to a good Blackville-Hilda team last week, they have a suffocating defense that can actually defend the pass (a weakness for them some years). Offensively, they can just mash you with a massive front line and a stable of backs, but they can also throw it a bit now. They are much more complete than they’ve been during any year in their recent run of success. Williston is a proud program, they have talent, are well-coached and maybe they’ll make this interesting, but given all the evidence on hand, this may not be close Green Sea Floyds (4-1) at Baptist Hill (4-2) So, here is the game of the week in Class A. Green Sea comes in fresh off a 35-7 win over McBee. The offense actually got off to a slow start, but Jaquan Dixon, QB/Dirt track tire changer Bubba Elliot and Anwain Graham all put up their customary “holy crap, Playstation” type numbers and pulled away. That offense just has so many ways to hurt you. It isn’t so much death by a thousand tiny cuts and it’s being filleted by a thousand chainsaws. The defense doesn’t get enough credit (probably because the offense is so potent) but that is a very box-stacking, downhill type defense. They haven’t played many teams that will challenge them downfield like the Bobcats are going to. It doesn’t mean they can stop the pass, they just haven’t had to. Aside from the two sound rogerings they handed out to Burke and Academic Magnet, Baptist Hill hasn’t put up the points and yards we’ve become accustomed to in recent years. After a rough go of things against The OC Semi-pros in the opener, the defense has played pretty well. They’ll have to score a lot of points to keep up with Green Sea and make some big plays in the passing game, but this might be a pretty entertaining contest. The Legion Transfer Portal (2-2) at The Charleston Charter School for Forensic Science and applied Poop Studies (0-3) Really bad matchup here. Prayers up for the Riptide. Military Magnet (0-4-1) at Bethune-Bowman (1-4) The Mr. T. Haircuts have an all-star quality back in Jesus Benjamin, but they haven’t been able to do much else offensively but ride him and their defense has been up-and-down. Benjamin alone might be enough tonight. Military Magnet hasn’t really been close in any of their contest this year. St. John’s (1-4) at Calvary Day (3-1) This will be a tough one for the Islanders…another tough one. They’ve played a fairly brutal schedule but I believe they’ll be more than ready for when region play starts next week. Scott’s Branch (1-5) at Branchville (5-1) This game is significant as it pits the two schools in our state with the word “branch” in their name against each other. That is actually in no way significant, now that I think about it. It’s more an “interesting note” or “a dumb thing I noticed.” Anyway, Scott’s Branch has given up 217 points in six games, and that number was made to look a little better by their one win (over Military Magnet). That total figures to be much higher after tonight. The Yellow Jackets are scoring a ton of points and have an athletic, strong-armed trigger man for their offense in big Zack Wiles. C.E. Murray (3-2) at Cross (3-2) This will be such an old-school, tater kickin’ type game that it will actually be played in black and white. I don’t mean pictures, I mean the field and uniforms will be devoid of color…the coaches will chew stoagies on the sidelines and order players named Clem and W.E. to more properly execute cross body blocks. I’m only mildly joking. Neither of these teams is much interested in throwing the football. They win on a power running game and great defense. Cross put up a heck of fight against Baptist Hill two weeks ago. They lost, but they also only allowed 22 points to the Bobcats. They won over Lake Marion last week, but the persistent problem for them has been consistently scoring points. They have not cracked the 20 threshold since late 2017. Against a team like C.E. Murray that allows less than 6 points a game, that is likely to be their undoing. The War Eagles are a bit more equipped to make big plays and put up points too. Still, this should be a physical war. Hemingway (0-6) at Timmonsville ( It’s been a rough year for Hemingway. They are winless, they have scored 13 points all year and have yielded 270. Timmonsville is young and they’ve taken some whoopings this year, but the kids seem to be playing hard and in games when they haven’t been totally outmanned, the defense has kept them close. They got a 26-20 win last week over Scott’s Branch (Thomas McFadden’s first as head coach) and would seem in line to get another this week.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
TravisI am Travis, the king 0f SC 1A Football Archives
November 2021
Categories |