Tyler Shugart
The second week of high school football in South Carolina is here, or week one as the SCHSL knows it. Last week was fun. It was good to be back in a football stadium that was mostly full and enjoy the atmosphere that comes along with football here in our area. Being at Viking Stadium was really cool and it was absolutely electric Friday night.
I went 2-2 in my picks last week, missing on Dorman and Broome. There are a few more games this week so hopefully I can improve on that record.
Spartanburg Nutrition Game of The Week- Byrnes at Chapman
Gabe Rogers was good last week for Byrnes. Rogers was 10 of 16 passing for 235 yards and 5 touchdowns in the win over Greer, and proved himself early to the Byrnes faithful. We talked a lot about Mack Long and what we expected to see from him this season, he carried the ball 19 times for 73 yards and a touchdown. Byrnes also got a great game from Elijah Barnes who carried the ball 10 times for 112 yards and a touchdown. The Byrnes defense was also lights out allowing Greer only 189 total yards on 66 plays. The defense was especially effective against the run. This week will be a great test for the Byrnes defense.
Chapman will take the field for the first time this season Friday night but of course expectations are high for the Panthers. Coming off another region title year, Chapman returns a lot of players from last years team, including quarterback Drew Settle. Chapman, however, does have a new offensive coordinator. It will be interesting to see if the offense is ready under the new OC early in this season.
If things go as predicted we could see a lot of points in this one.
Pick-Byrnes
Chesnee at Broome
This week I will be going over to Royal Stadium to see the Broom Centurions host the Chesnee Eagles. Both teams got off on the wrong foot last week losing to Powdersville and Woodruff respectively. Both teams were in the game for most of the contests to only find their opponents pull away late.
Chesnee wants to get the ball and grind it out on offense keeping the ball away from Broome and their talented quarterback Dylan Ramirez. I think this has the potential to be a very close game that moves very fast.
Coach Fleming has talked to us all off season about having more depth than he has ever had before at Broome. I think that makes a difference in this game.
Pick-Broome
Spartanburg at Mauldin
I saw some good things from the Vikings last week. Despite being without their starting quarterback and having several miscues on special teams the Vikings were in the game in the 4th quarter against a very good Gaffney team. Drek Carter was impressive and is going to be a great player for the Vikings especially when paired up with quarterback Raheim Jeter. The Vikings also need to clean up some things on special teams. Having one blocked kick in a game is bad enough, having several isn’t good at all. I think with Jeter and Carter this team is much different.
Pick-Spartanburg
Boiling Springs at Dorman
Coach Gutshall had been telling us that Dorman had some offensive issues. I kind of chalked it up to “coach talk” and that they would be just fine behind that big offensive line with some talent at the skill positions. Should have know that Coach is always upfront and honest and doesn’t sugarcoat things. Dorman’s offense struggled last week and Coach Gutshall said it was as much on his team than it was on Clover being good. He talked about the struggles upfront with miscommunication that allowed Clover’s defense to “run right through.”
Boiling Springs is young. They have youth all over the field. Coach Tate says they are thinner upfront on both sides of the ball than they have ever been. I expect this team to have a lot of speed but inexperience can be a big threat to your success.
This could be a low scoring game.
Pick-Dorman
Other Picks:
I think Greer bounces back nicely over Blue Ridge after a rough started against a talented Byrnes team last week. Greer has to be able to find a way to run the football and I think they will against Blue Ridge. Pick-Greer
Landrum gets their 2021 season started off at home against Christ Church. Coach Farmer is excited about this team especially up front. However they will be without a couple of lineman Friday night due to the return to play protocols. I like this Landrum team going forward this season but coming back from a shutdown is tough. Pick-Christ Church
Woodruff got off to a great start last week led by quarterback Carson Tucker who was our player of the week. Tucker was efficient and effective. He will match up this week with a good, fast, athletic secondary from Hillcrest. This will be a good challenge for the Wolverines. Pick-Hillcrest
Final Note-
I know we were all excited about Dutch Fork and Gaffney. I really hate that this game won’t happen it would have been a marquee matchup in this state. Sometimes things are more important than football.
The tragic event at Dutch Fork this week is hard to put into words. I cannot imagine. Our thoughts and prayers are with the players, coaches, faculty, staff, students, family and friends of the young man that lost his life. Those players didn’t only lose a teammate, they lost a brother. Football is family. Remember them all when you head out to a game this week.
