Dixie- 37
McCormick- 8 Whitmire- 35 Ware Shoals- 6 Great Falls- 44 Camden Military- 22 Gray- 38 Lamar- HOLY CRAP LAMAR LOST WTH? WHA WHA WHA?!?! Hemingway- 13 Timmonsville- 6 Lake View- 47 McBee- 10 Blackville-Hilda- 30 HKT- Why is everybody so hung up on numbers, man? Ridge Spring-Monetta- 40 Denmark-Olar- 30 Wagener-Salley- 60 Williston-Elko- 26 Estill- 55 North- 8 Bethune-Bowman- 42 Military Magnet- 12 Calvary Day- 52 St. John’s- Something. Or either the opposite of that, whichever. Branchville- 30 Scott’s Branch- 28 C.E. Murray- 54 Cross- 2 BREAKDOWN- I have to admit that when I saw scores Friday night from the Lamar-Gray game, I thought someone was drunk tweeting, or maybe somebody had left their phone in their back pocket and were butt tweeting oddly specific, but highly inaccurate updates. I think butts can do that, right? But no, Lamar, a team that had 18 straight wins dating back to 2016, a program that had won 39 of its past 40 games against top competition from the AA, AAA and AAAA ranks, really had gotten its stuff handed to it. Going into that game, I had a gut feeling it wasn’t going to be a total Lamar runaway for a few reasons. For one, Lamar had not played a game in three weeks. I’m sure Coach Fountain runs fairly intense practices, but at a Class A program especially, where warm bodies aren’t always in great supply, you simply can’t recreate game-like situations on the practice field. I can’t imagine any coach would want his team to be off for that long. It should also be mentioned that Gray is a AA team and while they didn’t come in with a great record, they had lost a bunch of very close games. Then you add in an unforeseen X factor in the early first quarter injury to QB Cam Galloway. I hate that for the Silver Foxes but especially for the kid who seemed to be really growing into the position in his first year as a starter. From what I’ve heard, it’s not looking good for him to return this year. My double-secret Lamar informant had told me he expected them to lose a game or two along the way this year, but the way they started, particularly on defense, I started to doubt that. Gray was able to light them up through the air, though. Now, was that attributable to rust, to the emotional blow of losing their QB or a bad night? Or, has Lamar not played a high octane passing attack and got exposed a bit? They face a pretty dang good thrower this week in Adarrian Dawkins, so we should find out pretty soon. I don’t know if we’ll see a different Lamar offense going forward. Do they dust off some of that three-back look they used a few years ago? Do they just lean more heavily on super-stud RB Jacquez Lucas, or do they just plug J.J. Langley in at QB and carry on? We’ll see. They were the last unbeaten in Class A, they lost to a AA team coming off a long lull and lost a key player. I don’t think anyone is pushing panic button right now and until I see different they are still the favorite to win the whole thing… I bet there was much merriment in Chitlin Junction Friday night. They not only beat Williston-Elko for the first time in 25 years, they laid down a frightening, signature cranksmacking. Seriously, they didn’t do anything different than they do on a normal Friday night. They lined up in power sets and crammed it right up the old tail pipe, running for over 350 yards. I’ve said before that I like this team a lot, what with their ability to run the ball and stop the run. They can play that tater-kicking, phone booth brand of ball with almost anybody. What’s tripped them up the past few years is athletic teams that spread it out and throw pretty well (namely Lewisville in the playoffs). Start looking at potential opponents in the upperstate playoffs, though, and find me anybody other than maybe Timmonsville that’s gonna do that. Williston might could have, but with Keshawn Toney hurt, their field-stretching ability went bye bye and, odd as it seems given their history, they just could not stop the run. There might be a team or two (I’m thinking Lamar and Ridge Spring-Monetta and that’s all) who can match The Stump Whooped All-Stars on the blunt force trauma scale. They play RS-M in two weeks for what sure feels like the Region III title. As for Williston, they’ve now lost to RS-M and Chitlinland, so a region crown isn’t happening. Hard to see them even getting one of Region III’s two first-round byes. They get some very winnable games coming up with Estill, North and HKT, but also real challenges in Blackville-Hilda and an up-and-coming Denmark-Olar… Hemingway is kind of a like the taco meat of confusion, in a shell of consternation, slathered with the guac of misunderstanding, on a befuddled tray at the “Who are You?”Cantina. They were completely dismantled to open the season by Lamar, got shutout by Andrews and were boat raced by Carvers Bay. Granted, that’s three good teams, but we’re accustomed to seeing them at least compete in those kinds of games, if not win them. In the last two weeks, though, they’ve suddenly recorded consecutive quality wins, doing so largely with solid defense. That’s a surprise, considering they gave up 133 points in those three early losses. Still, they held a good C.E. Murray offense to 12 points, then limited an explosive Timmonsville attack to six points. That bad start could be attributed to getting acclimated to a new system under a new coach, the loss of a massive and talented senior class and a tough schedule. Maybe playing like-sized schools and having had time now for young players to grow into their roles has made a difference. We know they have individual talent (lots of guys named Darius that are really good at football). Now they are starting to force turnovers, the offense is a bit more efficient and they seem to be hitting their stride. They are off this week, then face a Creek Bridge team they figure to easily handle. Then they’ll get a challenge in the form of Green Sea-Floyds… QUICK HITS- I hate to pronounce region over, done and settled in early October, but Region I will be over, done and settled by this Friday night. Whitmire ran its record to 4-2 with a 35-6 whipping of Ware Shoals last week. Dixie dismissed McCormick in similar fashion. I can’t seen either of those two losing to anyone in the region but each other and they play this week. Dixie is stout up front and I don’t feel like their defense gets near the credit it deserves. They played toe-to-toe with two ranked AA teams in low-scoring games. Like-sized opponents have been like the frustrated looking man that stars in every commercial for saw palmetto, which is to say unable to squeeze out so much as a drop. Whitmire is pretty good on defense, their kids play their tails off and they have a gigundous stable of backs that can hurt you on offense. The over/under on pass attempts in this one is about 8 and the game should be over by 9:25 or so, unless it’s homecoming or a the white cap accidentally locks himself in the bathroom or is stove up and won’t come out of the bathroom or whatever…I know I said earlier that RS-M v Chitlinvania in two weeks is probably for a region title, but that was several paragraphs ago and we’ve both changed so much as people since then. Blackville-Hilda get RS-M this week and they might have a little bit to say about things. They’ve already lost to Chitlineburg , but it was a fairly competitive game. Their other loss was to a loaded AA Barnwell squad. They are physical, they are playing really good defense and they can throw it a little bit. This ain’t a gimme for RS-M…After three of the roughest years in program history, Great Falls is now sitting at 4-2, having beaten Camden Military last week 44-22. That’s a testament to some tough kids and good coaching. They still don’t have a lot of depth and they have only a senior or two, but they’ve got exciting young talent. You know the name Kelton Talford (if only because you read this blog and remember my ridiculous analogies where I compare him to a giraffe with spring legs and catcher mitt hands) but Quay Bowser, D.J. Adams, Hunter Funderburk, Xavian Moore and others are excellent building blocks for the future. They’re off this week, but then they play winless McBee. The winner of that contest, in all likelihood, makes the playoffs. CRANKSMACKS OF THE WEEK- My friend Jed Blackwell from the Spartanburg Herald Journal has started giving out imaginary, online helmet stickers to worthy players. What’s it called when you take something that belongs to someone else without asking, with no intention of giving it back? There’s a word for that. Can’t remember it. It’ll come to me. I should probably think of something else to call it so as not to make it obvious I’m lifting ideas from others. I thought of “Stelmet Hickers” then realized that isn’t a real thing. So, let’s use a dumb term I coined instead. The point is that I’d like to specifically acknowledge big games by Class A players, so here’s my first go at it. D.J. Adams, Great Falls- Threw five touchdowns in a win over Camden Military. He has 10 touchdown passes (and one rushing) in the past two weeks. Jaylin Brown, Whitmire- Ran for 201 yards and three touchdowns on...wait for it… EIGHT FLIPPIN’ CARRIES against Ware Shoals last week. That’s some Bo Jackson on Tecmo Bowl stuff right there. Zyviear Jamison, Denmark-Olar- 81 yards receiving, which is good on its own, but then add in his cartoonish 16 tackles and six tackles-for-loss, and DANG YO! Jamario James, HKT- 20 tackles…so basically every tackle that was made in his team’s loss to Blackville-Hilda. If you have a candidate for CRANKSMACKS OF THE WEEK, DM on Twitter (@CNR_Sports) or email me at tjenkins@onlinechester POLL TIME! Here is my ballot in Class A for the S.C. Prep Media Football Poll. This was the hardest week I’ve probably ever had filling this out. There is a pig pile of teams worthy of consideration. Branchville is 4-1, but I left them off this week because their wins have come against teams with a combined record of 1-19. They played one pretty good team and lost by two touchdowns. Whitmire, Great Falls, Denmark, Green Sea and Blackville-Hilda are all right there too, but here’s how I voted. 10. C.E. Murray- Had dropped them out last week, but they routed Cross, have two nice “up” wins and the three losses came to three good to very good teams. 9. St. John’s- I dropped them a bit after their loss to an out-of state power, but I love their variety on offense and REALLY like what they can do on special teams. Fully expect them to win their next two and set up a de facto region title game against Baptist Hill. 8. Timmonsville- Dropped them several notches off their loss to Hemingway, but they play good defense and have some explosive offensive weapons. 7. Hemingway- First time I’ve ranked them since Lamar violently diddled their souls in the opener. They seem to be turning the corner with consecutive quality wins after early struggles against a tough slate. 6. Ridge Spring-Monetta- Experienced, physically tough and fond of hitting people. Their region fate will be determined the next two weeks. 5. Baptist Hill- They were off last week but they seem like a completely different team with Rashad Maxwell at quarterback. 4. Lake View- I think they are top-five worthy. Big measuring stick game coming this week with a PO’d bunch of silver foxes. 3. Dixie- Senior-heavy, good in the trenches, good running game and terrific defense. 2. Wagener-Salley- CHITLIN STRUT! 1. Lamar- I’m keeping them here despite the loss. They were Class A’s last unbeaten and lost to a AA team with some extenuating circumstances. They’ve only played one fellow Class A team and beat them by 62. Here is how the full poll came out, once they let other people vote and stuff. 1. Lamar (9) 2. Wagener-Salley (4) 3. Lake View (1) 4. Dixie 5. Ridge Spring-Monetta 6. Baptist Hill 7. Hemingway 8. Timmonsville 9. C.E. Murray 10. St. John’s and Branchville (tie) Receiving votes: Blackville Hilda, Denmark-Olar, Green Sea-Floyds. Suggested Reading Not much to read this week, sadly. You can see various game capsules involving Class A teams here. Or you can keep hanging out with your no-count friends smokin' wacky tobacky and playin’ them vidya games.
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TravisI am Travis, the king 0f SC 1A Football Archives
November 2021
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