Get used to this everyone. Although this is the 2nd week of High School football, this is the Week 1 Preview and Picks. Yes I know, it’s dumb. Here are my picks for Friday Night. As usual, because I do the play by play for Spartanburg High School, I will preview it, but won’t pick that game.
Boiling Springs gets their season started with a familiar playoff opponent from last year, Ashley Ridge. Many, including myself, have picked the Bulldogs to win Region III 5A this season thanks to having the only returning starting QB Mason Streater. The senior is a dual threat QB with the ability to make you miss and beat you with a 30 yard strike in the same play. Even though pretty much everyone surprised me last week, I think the Bulldogs get off to a great start this week and win comfortably. Boiling Springs 42-21.
Broome travels to Christ Church. Even though Broome lost last week to Chesnee 47-42, RB D’marco Jackson was almost unstoppable on both sides of the ball. Christ Church has been a source of controversy with being a private school mixed in a region with public schools. This is a good test to see where both stand. This game will be incredibly close in my opinion. Broome 38-35.
Byrnes will host Greer in the Rebels home opener. Both teams lost their season openers in a somewhat surprising fashion. This will be a very emotional evening in Duncan as it’s the first home game of the season for Byrnes following the passing of fellow player Markell Nesbit. Byrnes had a tough time last week not turning the ball over but I think they right the ship this week. Byrnes 31-10.
Chapman hosts Seneca. The Panthers lost a high scoring game last week against Union County but make no mistake, this is a very good football team. Seneca won last week but in a non Seneca way they only scored 16 points. It’s going to take a lot more than that this week to beat Chapman. It’s the Panthers home opener and I think they’ll leave happy. Chapman 41-31.
Chesnee hosts West Oak. I’ll make this simple. The Eagles QB and reigning Fox Sports 1400 Player of the Week Isaiah Ellis will have another monster game. That is all. Chesnee 49-27.
Dorman hosts Northwestern. Can you believe that one of these teams will start 0-2? I know I can’t. Unfortunately, the Cavaliers are facing one of the best teams in the state who are hungry to get back on track after losing their #17 National ranking. Dorman will get better as the season goes on, but this will be a very tall task. Dorman keeps it close because Dave Gutshall is a mastermind. Northwestern 34-21.
Gaffney travels to Union County. This could be the game of the night. Both teams stunned us all as Gaffney knocked of TL Hanna and Union County actually ran the football. In case you’ve been out of the country, I’m not making any of that up. Gaffney will have their hands full with this offense of the Yellow Jackets led by Shi Smith but Gaffney’s defense is once again for real. This game could go 9 different ways. I’ll go way #4. Union County 31-30.
Landrum at Blue Ridge. Landrum starts their season in week 1 with a road trip to Blue Ridge. We’ll learn a lot about this Landrum offense in week 1 as they are switching to a power formation. Landrum wants to be physical but it may take a few games to work out a few pieces. Blue Ridge 21-17.
Spartanburg hosts TL Hanna. Hanna had 5 starters out last week against Gaffney and all are expected back this week. Nonetheless they’ll have to work on hanging on to the football as Spartanburg has a lot of weapons as they showed last week. The big question for the Vikings is can they stop the run up the middle and if they can’t, will they switch to 4 DL. Hanna has an amazing sophomore QB Alex Meredith, who almost beat the Vikings on his own in the playoffs last year. The Vikings will need to create some short fields and if they do, this could be another 4th quarter close one. No Pick
Woodruff at Abbeville. Woodruff looked very good last week against a solid AC Flora team. It’s another tall task as Woodruff hits the road for the first time in 2016. However I think the Wolverine’s offense will be too much for anyone to handle right now so look for Woodruff and the fighting Rixon Lane’s to come back happy. Woodruff 35-20.
