Upperstate championship game
Ridge Spring-Monetta (9-3) at Lamar (12-0) RS-M gutted out a 28-24 win over Lewisville last week. Now, they got the benefit of a very friendly offensive pass interference call that disallowed a game-winning Lions touchdown pass in the closing seconds, but I don't want to minimize what they accomplished in any way. Late in the second quarter, Lewisville was up 24-0, they were ripping the Trojans through the air and their defense was completely overwhelming them at the line of scrimmage. Flipping the script on that one took some real toughness and guts. They went with more quick-hit passes, used a little more misdirection in their running game and got a lot more aggressive on defense. They also took advantage of every Lewisville mistake and took some big chances that paid off, recovering a pair of onside kicks in the second half. Tyson Bettis is a very athletic QB with good size at 6'1 and 200 pounds. He's also super slippy and evasive. Defensively, they are very tough to run on up the middle. Lamar put Williston-Elko away early last week, scoring on their first three possessions and winning 48-14. That rout came despite the Silver Foxes getting atypically sloppy with the ball (four first-half turnovers). Jacquez Lucas had 200 yards rushing on 13 carries, which qualifies as a productive night, according to the research I did on the subject. Defensively, they did to the Blue Devils what they do to most everyone, that being to not only stop them at every turn, but to physically bludgeon them in such a way that their will to compete and desire to engage in competitive activities slowly evaporated. Really, Lamar has only been challenged twice all year. They beat Crestwood (a AAAA team that made the playoffs) 17-8 and Lewisville was within 16-6 in the fourth quarter against them. Aside from those two, most of their games have essentially been settled after a quarter. That speaks to their talent, the team's excellent coaching and also a mentality they bring to the field. I make jokes about them grinding opponents to a fine powder and using those dusty remnants to fill potholes and whatnot, but they really are a lot more physical than most teams they play and they compete with an edge. They win a lot of games mentally before kickoff or at about 7-0. I don't think they are going to intimidate RS-M, but I also think this game is an easy pick. Lamar throws it pretty well and has crazy speed at RB outside the tackles, both of which will cause the Trojans problems. RS-M's O line had a tough time holding up against Lewisville last week so I expect Jeblonski Green and company to have a big game tonight. I will say that Lamar can't afford to put the ball on the ground like they did last week, but I think they cruise to a third straight upperstate championship. The pick...Lamar C.E. Murray (11-1) at Baptist Hill (10-1) This has the potential to be the most entertaining game of the high school season. Last week, the War Eagles killed Goliath and the wishbone was their slingshot. (Note to new readers, I make terrible analogies). C.E. Murray, having lost to unbeaten Hemingway 56-35 during the regular season, scrapped their up-tempo, high-octane spread offense last week and came out running the wishbone. I think that was a bold but very good strategy by coach Chad Wilkes. First of all, running a totally different offense than you've shown the whole year had to catch Hemingway a bit flat-footed. It shortened the game, limited possessions and helped minimize the turnovers that Hemingway ABSOLUTELY ALWAYS scored on. Wilkes also took Darius Rush, who has about 20 touchdowns this year and is one of the most explosive offensive threats in South Carolina, and had hm focus only on defense. Having his legs fresh probably made the difference on the team's late goal line stand that clinched the 20-19 win. Baptist Hill blistered a very good Lake View defense last week in a 46-32 victory. But leaving opposing defenses bow-legged and drooling is kind of Baptist Hill's thing as they've scored 40 or more seven times this season. Corey Fields, who I'm not convinced isn't a scary football robot bent on the humiliation of low country school children, had his usual 400-plus yard passing performance and six touchdowns. It feels stupid to use the phrase "his usual 400-plus yards passing performance" but at this point it's only news if he doesn't put up obscene numbers. The thing is, they have a pretty good defense to go along with the slap nuts, 100 mph funny car, fireworks hoo hah offensive spectacular that dazzles folks from Hollysood to Peter's Point every Friday night. C.E. Murray's sudden switch to the bone was genius on another level than just baffling Hemingway...now Baptist Hill has to be ready for both a super-productive air show and a ground-and-pound attack. The War Eagles probably have a better defense than the Bobcats but at this point I honestly don't think how good a defense facing Corey Fields is matters. At all, even a little bit. He's a special talent and his team is going to score points and if you want to beat them you have to score points too. Probably a lot of them, unless you can have long, sustained drives that limit how many possessions Baptist Hill has. Even then, though, you can't just chew clock, The long drives have to get in the end zone. I say this one goes down to the wire, is a fun-back-and-forth contest and whoever has the ball last wins. War Eagles get it last. The pick, in a close one- C.E. Murray Note: I plan to be at this game and will be posting updates on @CNR_Sports on Twitter if you'd like to follow along.
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TravisI am Travis, the king 0f SC 1A Football Archives
November 2021
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