By Thomas Grant Jr.
What was originally set as the opening round of the S.C. High School League playoffs is now Week 11.
With schools having to make up games due to Hurricane Helene, an extra week was added to the schedule. This resulted in numerous games getting pushed back or leaving a day for makeup games.
The final week started early for Gilbert as it traveled Wednesday to Aiken for its regular-season finale. Meanwhile, as Dutch Fork and Irmo has its showdown, the other Region 4-5A teams will play for better playoff seeding.
Lexington (5-4, 1-3) will play host to archrival River Bluff (7-2, 2-2) while White Knoll (5-4, 1-3) travels to Chapin (4-5, 0-4). Both games could have ramifications for third place for the Wildcats, Gators and Timberwolves:
- A River Bluff win clinches third place in the region regardless of the outcome between White Knoll and Chapin.
- A Lexington win and White Knoll win gives the Timberwolves third place in the region.
- A Lexington win and Chapin victory creates a three-way tie for third place between the Wildcats, Gators and Timberwolves.
Only White Knoll is coming off a Week 9 victory. It snapped a 3-game losing streak in a 35-14 victory over Lexington.
The host team Eagles will attempt to snap a 5-game losing streak. In looks to rebound from a 55-21 loss to Irmo in which quarterback A.J. Brand accounted for eight touchdowns (five passing, three rushing).
River Bluff is coming off a 41-14 loss to Dutch Fork. It was the most points scored against the Silver Foxes this season as Hayden Myers rushed for 128 yards and a touchdown.
The Gators have lost the last three meetings to the Wildcats and are 3-7 all-time in the series.
Lexington and River Bluff will compete in the Division I playoffs, while Chapin and White Knoll will play in Division I. Eight teams will receive a first-round bye in each division.
Panthers, Bulldogs play for region titles
Batesburg-Leesville are a win away from clinching the Region 2-2A title and its first undefeated season since 2000.
The Panthers defeated Saluda 21-7 on the road to improve to 9-0 overall, 4-0 in the region. Quarterback Tanner Watkins completed 13-18 for 181 yards and two touchdowns to K.D. Whitt and Amadre Wooden rushed for 175 yards and two touchdowns.
Batesburg-Leesville can clinch the Region 2-2A title with a win at Strom Thurmond (6-2, 3-1). A loss would create a 3-way tie for first place with point differential as the tiebreaker.
A loss by less than 14 points will claim the region title for the Panthers. In either scenario, Saluda would place second based on its head-to-head win over Strom Thurmond two weeks ago.
It’s simpler for Newberry (5-3, 3-0) when it travels to Silver Bluff. A win claims the Region 4-3A title outright for Newberry, while a loss gives Silver Bluff (2-7, 2-1) an improbable title after a 0-7 start.
Newberry is riding a 3-game winning streak in which it has posted two shutouts. In last week’s 45-0 win over Swansea, Kenton Caldwell threw for 288 yards and three touchdowns, one to South Carolina commitment Jamel Howse.
Cash Brown and C.J. Earl also had touchdown catches and B.J. Jones rushed for two scores.
Swansea is locked in third place as it owns the tiebreaker with W.J. Keenan.
S.C. PREP FOOTBALL MEDIA RANKINGS
Class 5A
1. Dutch Fork (15) (8-0)
2. Northwestern (1) (10-0)
3. Summerville (10-0)
4. Irmo (9-0)
5. Sumter (9-0)
6. Spartanburg (7-1)
7. Gaffney (7-1)
8. JL Mann (7-2)
9. TL Hanna (7-2)
10. Greenwood (7-2)
Others receiving votes: Hillcrest, Dorman, Clover, River Bluff
Class 4A
1. Westside (16) (8-0)
2. Daniel (8-1)
3. South Pointe (8-2)
4. Hartsville (8-1-1) ↑ 1
5. North Augusta (8-1) ↑ 2
6. Seneca (8-1) ↑ 3
7. South Florence (7-3) ↓ 3
8. Gray Collegiate (7-2)
9. May River (7-2) ↓ 3
10. (tie) Wren (6-2) ↓ 2
10. (tie) Bishop England (8-2)
Class 3A
1. Belton-Honea Path (12) (9-1)
2. Mountain View Prep (4) (8-0)
3. Loris (9-1)
4. Dillon (8-2)
5. Woodruff (7-1)
6. Oceanside Collegiate (7-3)
7. Powdersville (6-3) ↑ 3
8. Newberry (5-3)
9. Orangeburg-Wilkinson (7-3)
10. Swansea (7-3)
Class 2A
1. Batesburg-Leesville (16) (9-0)
2. Barnwell (9-1)
3. Fairfield Central (8-1)
4. Clinton (6-2)
5. Saluda (7-1)
6. Manning (8-1)
7. Philip Simmons (8-2)
8. Hampton County (7-2)
9. Strom Thurmond (6-2)
10. Central (8-2)
RPI RATINGS
Class 5A
Division I
(Upper State)
1.Dutch Fork, 8-0, 0.86398, 2. Spartanburg, 7-1, 0.76197, 3. River Bluff, 7-2, 0.69895, 4. JL Mann, 7-2, 0.67508, 5. Dorman, 6-3, 0.62036, 6. Clover, 7-3, 0.61893, 7. Lexington, 5-4, 0.595882, 8. Boiling Springs, 5-3, 0.56335, 9. Blythewood, 6-4, 0.56370, 10. Rock Hill, 5-5, 0.54581, 11. J.F. Byrnes, 4-5, 0.54255, 12. Mauldin, 2-7, 0.35300 13. Wade Hampton, 0-8, 0.21096
(Lower State)
1.Summerville, 10-0, 0.77742, 2. Sumter, 9-0, 0.75349, 3. Ridge View, 6-3, 0.64056, 4. Ashley Ridge, 7-3, 0.61842, 5. James Island, 6-3, 0.61337, 6. Carolina Forest, 5-3-1, 0.58531, 7. Fort Dorchester, 5-5, 0.51585, 8. Stratford, 4-5, 0.47463, 9. Wando, 5-5, 0.46604, 10. West Ashley, 4-6, 0.45999, 11. Cane Bay, 2-7, 0.36164, 12. Spring Valley, 0-9, 0.29078, 13. Stall, 0-8, 0.24439
Division II
(Upper State)
1.Northwestern, 10-0, 0.81007, 2. Gaffney, 7-1, 0.69433 3. TL Hanna, 7-2, 0.66099, 4. Greenwood, 7-2, 0.64891, 5. Hillcrest, 7-2, 0.61847, 6. Catawba Ridge, 7-3, 0.58371, 7. Riverside, 4-4, 0.52357, 8. Indian Land, 5-5, 0.48252, 9. Eastside, 4-4, 0.44713, 10. Woodmont, 3-6, 0.43356, 11. Nation Ford, 2-8, 0.38028, 12. Greenville, 1-8, 0.34853, 13. Easley, 1-8, 0.30387, 14. Fort Mill, 1-8, 0.29509
(Lower State)
1.Irmo, 9-0, 0.81206, 2. White Knoll, 5-4, 0.61561, 3. West Florence, 6-3, 0.60009, 4. Chapin, 4-5, 0.57090, 5. Berkeley, 5-4, 0.53771, 6. Goose Creek, 5-4, 0.52977, 7. Myrtle Beach, 4-4, 0.50912, 8. Westwood, 5-5, 0.50762, 9. Socastee, 4-5, 0.46390, 10. Lugoff-Elgin, 4-6, 0.45239, 11. Lucy Beckham, 4-6, 0.42940, 12. North Myrtle Beach, 3-4, 0.42128, 13. Conway, 1-8, 0.35036, 14. St. James, 0-9, 0.23213
FRIDAY’S SCHEDULE
(All Games start at 7:30 p.m.)
American Leadership Academy at Saluda
Batesburg-Leesville at Strom Thurmond
River Bluff at Lexington
White Knoll at Chapin
Photo by lexingtonwildcats.com
