Whitmire- 42
Calhoun Falls Charter- 16 McCormick- 14 Dixie- 7 Lamar- 50 Timmonsville- 20 McBee- 42 Great Falls- 6 Blackville-Hilda- 26 Estill- 3 Hunter-Kinard-Tyler- 38 Denmark-Olar- 8 Williston-Elko- 53 North- Remember how many times she was a lady, according to the Commodores? Well, subtract three from that. Ridge Spring-Monetta- 28 Wagener-Salley- 8 The OC- 33 Baptist Hill- 22 Military Magnet- 28 Charleston County Technical Academy for TIG Welding and Massage Therapy- 14 Scott’s Branch- 8 St. Johns- 7 Cross- 40 Mr. T Haircuts- Did you ever learn about the wonders of the world? There was a particular number of them. Seven less than that. C.E. Murray- 40 Branchville- 8 Hemingway- 65 Creek Bridge 8 (COVER YOUR FACE CREEK BRIDGE!) East Clarendon- 24 Green Sea-Floyds- 12 Lake View- 34 Hannah-Pamplico- 27 Breakdown- As we roll into the final weeks of the regular season, region standings and possible playoff scenarios are starting to become more clear. Lamar has now all but wrapped up the Region II title and a number one playoff seed by virtue of its 50-20 win over Timmonsville Friday night. I heard from my double-secret, imbedded Lamarian (Lamartian? Lamartino? What do you call a person from Lamar) and he said the game wasn’t really as close as the score makes it sound. Lamar led 30-8 at halftime, and built on that before the Whirlwinds scored a couple late to make it look closer. So now only winless Great Falls and one-win McBee stand between the top-ranked, 8-0 Silver Foxes and a region championship. They have everything; a trio of talented running backs, a fairly athletic quarterback who has improved as a passer and a defense that just mule kicks you in the face until you submit to their horrific brand of barnyard justice (I have no idea what that means). Timmonsville has some excellent players, namely QB Jamaric Morris (1,800 total yards and 19 scores) Tyquan Eaddy (Nearly 700 yards rishing and 11 scores) and Chris Taylor (who averages nearly 25 yards per completion) but it was still no match for Lamar. They now have another big game this week, facing Lewisville (fresh off a bye) for second place in the region and a home playoff game…McCormick proved me wrong this past week. Not by beating Dixie, which I fully expected, but by proving they actually have more than one weapon. I have called their offense a one-trick pony; mind you the pony does the most amazing trick ever, playing an oboe while it rides a unicycle through a flaming hoop, but I thought they were basically Mataeo Durant and 10 guys who block for Mataeo Durant. Well, I’m dumb and was wrong. He suffered an ankle injury early in the game that limited him severely, so Silas Cannady and KaDarius Garrett stepped in and ably filled in. This being 1A, both also play on defense and Cannady picked off three passes. So, they extended their win streak to five games and moved to 3-0 in the region. They don’t have Region I totally locked up yet, because Whitmire (who plays Dixie this week) is still unbeaten in the region and the two battle next Friday, but they’re close and apparently have multiple ponies to ride…I pretty much expected the Ridge Spring-Monetta v Wagener-Salley game to be an even match-up and apparently it was despite the final 28-8 score. The Trojans held a 6-0 lead in the third and the Chitlinville 11 were mounting what looked like a go-ahead drive. Instead, they lost a fumble, RS-M recovered it and returned it for a score. They put it on the ground again on their next drive to set up another Trojan’s score and that was that. I don’t know what it is about RS-M, but they ALWAYS seem to hit their groove about this time of year. Probably, it only looks like they are scuffling early, because they play a plus-sized, manly out-of-region schedule. They played Batesburg-Leesville and Saluda the first two weeks (and actually gave Saluda a good game) but the only loss since then was a competitive one to Williston-Elko. They should beat Estill this week, then face a pesky Hunter-Kinard-Tyler team in the regular season finale for second place in Region III. The Stump Whooped All-Stars are probably locked into third place now. At one point, they seemed like a legitimate contender in the upperstate when they ran out to a 5-0 mark. However, hindsight being 20/20, some of their early wins that looked impressive (Blackville-Hilda and he Mr. T Haircuts) have lost some luster as those teams began to struggle. Now, they still do play some fierce defense, but in losing two-of-three, they’ve score 18 points total. Really, they haven’t been especially prolific all year on that side of the ball. They’ll be fine the next two weeks against Estill and Denmark-Olar, but right now they’re likely facing Lewisville or Timmonsville in the first round of the playoffs, which ain’t an easy draw, Chester…Williston-Elko, barring a player revolt or a massive scurvy outbreak in the greater Barnwell County area, will not lose again, will win Region III and the number one playoff seed that comes with it. I think that’s about it…I’m not going to lie, I did an almost silly, cartoonish spit take when I saw that The OC had not only beaten previously undefeated Baptist Hill, but had held one of the state’s most prolific offenses to 22 points in the process. Now, The OC is a talented team, had a D-1 quarterback transfer in and already have a couple of nice victories, but if they were going to beat the Bobcats, I thought it would be by some slapnuts, pinball score of 89-88 or something. Well, I did a little reading up on the matter and it turns out uber-stud Baptist Hill QB Corey Fields was injured in the first half as was one of the team’s top receivers. From what I read, he’ll be fine, but it was a non-region game, they are off this week, so there wasn’t much point in having him tough it out with a hurt shoulder. I’m sure The OC is excited about the win (as they should be) but this was a throwaway for Baptist Hill. If Fields started and finished I assure you things would have been significantly different. Quick Hits- I haven’t been able to find anything on St. John’s 8-7 loss to Scott’s Branch. After starting 4-0 (with wins over AAA, AAAA and AAAAA teams) St. John’s has now lost four-of-five. If you look closely at those losses, you see a close one to AAA Hanahan, a tight one with The OC, a close shootout with Baptist Hill and a one-pointer Friday. They’ve been in every game and I still think with Kam Smiley and his weapons in the passing game, they are a threat, but the losses are losses (two of them in the region) so they’ll have a much tougher path come playoff time. Scott’s Branch remains the hamburger meat of mystery, mixed with the spices of confusion, fried in the perplexing skillet and served in a WTH taco shell. They have now shut out Bamberg-Ehrhardt, held St. John’s to seven, limited the Mr. T Haircuts to 12, but also gave up 52 to Timmonsville and 40-plus on another occasion. They have won three straight, though, and seem to be playing well when it matters…I though Green Sea-Floyds was perhaps a team on the rise at the start of the year. They lost a few “up” games close, blew out a few bad teams and gave Lake View a heck of a game. Hard to understand, then, their loss to previously winless East Clarendon Friday. Could have been just a bad night, which happens sometimes, but they only scored six points on offense against a team that had yielded at least 42 on five occasions this year. Hard to figure…Hannah-Pamplico has sometimes eaten that same taco that Scott’s Branch grubs on. They beat Timmonsville and gave Lamar its most competitive game, but also got smacked by THE SAUSAGES and needed OT to beat Waccamaw. This is the team that, last year, miraculously pulled rabbits out of its hats, or cards out of its sleeve, or crap out of a fire or jelly beans out of their tail hole, um, whatever analogy I’m supposed to use here. They won a lot of close, last-second games is my point. Anyway, given all that, it’s not surprising, I don’t guess, that they nearly upset Lake View. The Wild Gators, since losing the opener to Latta, have been cruising along, but honestly, you look at their schedule and wonder if they’ve really got a quality win. De’Ante Bridgett is versatile weapon at QB (He ran for three scores Friday) and they’ve generally played good defense, but we’ll see all we need to see and know all we need to know Oct. 27 when they play Hemingway...Cross is back ya’ll, announcing that with a 40-0 beat down of the Mr. T Haircuts. Again, not surprised by the outcome, but shutting down Bethune-Bowman is a day’s work Nathan Walker ran for 231 yards and three touchdowns. Apparently, the Mr. T Haircuts got down early, had to abandon the running game with man-tank Makiah Simmons and the receivers had a very rough night with drops. If Cross keeps playing like that, they will be a very tough out. The Mr. T Haircuts, however, might find themselves on the outside looking in where the playoffs are concerned now, with an 0-2 region record and C.E. Murray coming up next on the schedule. Poll Time! As per usual, my submission for the S.C. Prep Media Poll is listed first with the full poll listed after… 1. Lamar- Duh. 2. Hemingway- Double duh. 3. Lake View- Three through five are almost interchangeable, but by virtue of their 7-1 record, they earn this spot. 4. Lewisville- Top end talent and penchant for the big play make them the top upperstate contender not named “Lamar.” 5. C.E. Murray- I’d love to see them get another shot at Hemingway. Nasty defense, a good QB in Elijah Bey and one of the state’s best all-around players in Darius Rush. 6. Baptist Hill- Corey Field was hurt, so I’m not really punishing them for that loss. 7. Williston-Elko- They play solid defense and have some offensive variety. They’ll win their region, but given how things are playing out, what is their signature win? 8. Wagener-Salley- The Chitlinburg boys are super stingy on defense but need to find some offense soon. 9. Scott’s Branch- The taco tastes like uncertainty…but they’re playing well down the stretch. 10. McCormick- I had a rough time deciding between them, RS-M and Cross, but by virtue of the five straight wins and the presence of a transcendent talent, I go with the Chiefs here. 1. Lamar (14) 2. Hemingway 3. Lake View 4. Lewisville 5. Williston-Elko 6. C.E. Murray 7. Baptist Hill 8. Wagener-Salley 9. Ridge Spring-Monetta and Scott’s Branch (tie) Receiving votes: McCormick, Cross, Hannah-Pamplico, Timmonsville Suggested Reading Behind the wall, next to the public course, just down the road from a truck stop that used to have good hamburger steaks, in the Pearl of the Piedmont, the Wolverines are going playoffin’. Seriously, that one pony bounced on a pogo stick, played the kazoo and did long division all at the same time. Remember that one A-Team episode where Mr. T shockingly got his tail whipped by that really big scary dude? Just pretend Nathan Walker is that big scary dude. Corey Fields was hurt, nothing to see here.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
TravisI am Travis, the king 0f SC 1A Football Archives
November 2021
Categories |