Southside Christian- 58
Calhoun Falls Charter- Failed to score in this football contest Dixie- 25 Ware Shoals- 3 McCormick- 45 Whitmire- 6 C.A. Johnson- 22 Keenan- 20 Great Falls- 8 McBee- 6 Lamar- 34 Lewisville- 16 Blackville-Hilda- 12 Ridge Spring-Monetta- 6 Denmark-Olar- 40 Calhoun County- 24 Williston-Elko- 40 North/Hunter-Kinard-Tyler- 18 C.E. Murray- 52 Scott’s Branch- 6 East Clarendon- 33 Hemingway- 6 Carvers Bay- 27 Hannah-Pamplico- 20 Johnsonville- 32 Green Sea Floyds- 14 Lake View- 46 Timmonsville- 8 Bamberg-Ehrhardt- 24 Allendale-Fairfax- A bit less that Bamberg had. 24 less, actually. Estill- 22 Bethune-Bowman- 14 Baptist Hill- 30 St. Johns- 6 Whale Branch- 33 Cross- 14 Military Magnet- 26 Charleston Charter School of Taxidermy, Haberdashery and Pie- 8 Breakdown- With the season shortened because of COVID, we aren’t getting a lot of 1A teams with the chance to show their stuff in “up” games, but we had one Friday night. I’ve said that C.A. Johnson wasn’t just coasting on a cupcake wave, in Softy Ocean, just off the shore of Sucky Suck Beach. I think that meant I said they were good and weren’t just beating weaklings. Analogies and examples aren’t my strong suit. Anyway, they trailed AAA Keenan 20-2 with eight minutes left. I’ve seen Keenan in-person and I can tell you they have nice size up front, an athletic QB, a hoss of a RB and some receivers that can run. Somehow the Hornets found a way to rally for the close win. So, they trailed Lewisville in the second half and found a way to rally for a narrow victory, they roasted Great Falls (which, given how they’ve played defense since that game looks pretty impressive now), they gutted one out over a gritty McBee squad and they’ve now come-from-behind late by multiple scores to beat a AAA team. When you keep finding ways to win, it starts to get contagious and you never feel like you’re out of it. Awful easy to say “Hey, we hung with one of the big boys for a while and kept it close,” but they didn’t. Isom Harris threw a couple of picks, but he also threw three touchdown passes in the fourth quarter while hanging tough in the pocket and taking some monster shots. Now they have a somewhat improbable region championship game this Friday night against Lamar. My flash reaction is that it’s one they aren’t going to win, but then, I didn’t think they’d be playing for a region title either, so… As surprised as I’ve been by the rise of C.A. Johnson, I’ve been equally vexed by the struggles of Green Sea Floyds. The two-time defending state champions have frightening football cyborg Jaquan Dixon back for his senior year and a lot of returning talent. But something is amiss. It’s a patty of confusion, on a bun of consternation with a side order of DO WHAT fries being served up cold at the WTH Diner. They lost to Johnsonville Friday night and after leading 14-12, they just sorta got spanked. The past few years, they have put up mammoth point totals but the overlooked thing was how good their defense was. They gambled, they brought tons of pressure and they loaded up the box. They’d give up a big play here-and-there, but it worked to great effect. Now, their offense is struggling. Dixon has still put up good numbers but they managed only one offensive touchdown against the Sausages. Defensively, they couldn’t stop the run, which has been a strength. There could be lots of explanations. This is a bad year to be in your first year at a school and they do have a new coach. So, new head man Joey Price got no spring practice, no 7-on-7 work, limited practice then had to not only start the year, but start in region games that really matter. I still think losing QB Bubba Elliot (who is named like a guy driving the Leon’s Deer Cooler Mazda at a demolition derby somewhere) was a big deal. If you saw him, you realize that his presence, his play-making ability and his intelligence elevated the entire unit. I also think Johnsonville and Lake View (to whom they’ve lost) are both REALLY good. In a normal year they’d have time to work through their issues, improve, get in and then make a run. There’s only two per region this year, though, they’ve lost two and only have non-region opponents remaining. Essentially at this point, the Trojans are out of the playoffs. They finish up with a couple of county rivals and will have a shot to at least end on a good note, but not the great note they have the past two seasons… Whale Branch locked up the Region VII title Friday night with a 33-14 victory over Cross. Joseph Hicks delivered a personal and painful rootin’ to the opposition with 202 yards rushing and three touchdowns. This region was essentially decided by two plays, which shows how paper thin the margin for error is this year with the shorter season and fewer playoffs slots. Whale Branch beat Baptist Hill 21-20 on a Hail Mary as time expired in their game. Baptist Hill made one more play in triple overtime than Cross did in beating them 26-20. So, minus a mountainous dungaree soiling on the part of Whale Branch and Baptist Hill, they’ve secured the region’s two playoff spots. Cross is a really good team, they’re tougher than a Dollar Store Steak (these are things that really exist BTW) and they’re pretty much going to left out in the cold where the postseason is concerned… POLL TIME!!!! As per usual, here is the Top 10 rankings in Class A from the S.C. Prep Media Poll, followed by my ballot for said poll. 1. Lake View (11) 2. Lamar (3) 3. Southside Christian 4. Blackville-Hilda 5. Whale Branch 6. Bamberg-Ehrhardt 7. Carvers Bay 8. Wagener-Salley 9. Johnsonville 10. C.A. Johnson Others receiving votes- Green Sea Floyds, Ridge Spring-Monetta, McCormick, Williston-Elko, Branchville Lake View The Wild Gators have the best resume, have looked good every week and with Green Sea officially out of the picture are the current favorite to come out of the lowerstate. Blackville-Hilda The offense hasn’t been super productive the past two weeks, but they have an exciting quarterback, play great defense and have quality wins under their belt. Southside Christian The only reason they aren’t higher is because they haven’t played the roughest schedule, but make no mistake, this is a contender to win it all. Lamar Only loss is to a 5A team by a touchdowns. Great size, great athletes and they throw a little bit of everything at you on offense. Bamberg-Ehrhardt They just shut out a good Allendale-Fairfax team. A defense that doesn’t yield much and an offense that slowly drains your will to compete or tackle or even keep playing football. Carvers Bay Could actually be higher on the list. Excellent secondary, physical up front and has some nice wins so far. Whale Branch Put it on a good Cross team with an offense that rams a big first with giant sausage fingers down your gullet. C.A. Johnson They just keep finding a way to win every week. They vault up the rankings with a win on Friday. Johnsonville YAY SAUSAGES! McCormick One of the most exciting groups of young talent in the state. They’ve locked up second place in the region and a playoff spot already.
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TravisI am Travis, the king 0f SC 1A Football Archives
November 2021
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