It’s the final week of the regular season and here’s what’s coming up in 4A and 5A.
I’ll start with our Spartanburg Nutrition Game of the Week which is Dorman at Spartanburg. Dorman defeated Wade Hampton 54-27, while the Vikings defeated Riverside 35-7.
The region title is at stake this Friday, and Spartanburg can clinch it out-right with a victory over the Cavaliers. If Dorman pulls out the win it could be a three-way tie with Spartanburg and Byrnes, if Byrnes beats Wade Hampton, and playoff seeding will be determined by a tie breaker.
Both teams have been inconsistent this season, but it seems like the Vikings are playing better at this point in the season. Quarterback Raheim Jeter has been outstanding this year and getting running back Drek Carter back last week was a huge boost to this Spartanburg offense. This team has been averaging over 40 points a game with Jeter as the starter, with the only loss coming to top ranked Dutch Fork .
The Cavaliers have been a bit more up and down lately, winning big last Friday after dropping back to back games to Gaffney and Byrnes. The Cavs offense rolled up 442 yards of total offense against Wade Hampton after struggling to move the football against the Rebels the week before. Dorman will need it’s run game to be effective this week if they want to match the explosiveness that the Vikings have on offense. Quarterback Hudson Talley may be asked to throw 20+ times in this game, and he will need to be accurate if Dorman wants to come away with the victory.
Both teams have struggled with penalties this season and that could play a huge part in the outcome on Friday night. I’m leaning towards picking the Vikings, but I expect this to be one of the more entertaining games of the year. Tons of elite players on both rosters, but I think it’s Raheim Jeter who is the difference maker. He will be sharp in the second half and lead his team to an emotional win and a region title.
Also, in action this week are the Byrnes Rebels, as they are at Wade Hampton. Byrnes fell in a heartbreaker to T.L. Hanna 28-22, while Wade Hampton lost to Dorman last week.
The Rebels need to have a short memory after last week’s loss. They lead with less than two minutes to play but couldn’t hold off the Jackets in the final seconds of the game. This week shouldn’t be nearly as close as they get a struggling Generals team. Byrnes has secured a playoff spot and they still have a chance for the region title. I think Coach Reggie Shaw and his team will handle their business this week and roll to an easy win in the regular season finale.
In Region III-5A, the Gaffney Indians have wrapped up the region title and they host Fort Mill this Friday. Gaffney defeated Clover 21-3, while Fort Mill lost to Boiling Springs.
The Indians shouldn’t have any problems this week, as long as they aren’t looking ahead to the playoffs. Gaffney is the more talented team and should come away with an easy win to finish the regular season undefeated.
Also in Region III, Boiling Springs is hosting Greenwood. The Bulldogs secured a playoff spot with a 36-22 win over Fort Mill last week. Greenwood defeated Greenville 30-29 to win the Region II-4A title.
The Bulldogs finally got their first win of the year lead by running back Kam Williams, who finished 246 yards and 3 touchdowns rushing in the game. In clinching the 4 seed, Boiling Springs has already locked in their opponent for the first round of the playoffs, which will be Northwestern.
While I think Greenwood wins this game, I think you will see a much more confident Bulldog team who has improved a great deal since the beginning of the season. Coach Tate and his team will hopefully get through this game healthy and prepare for a tough road game to open the postseason.
In 4A the Greer Yellow Jackets are at the Laurens Raiders. Greer defeated Eastside last week 41-14, while Laurens beat White Knoll.
Greer has been playing really good football for about a month now, and Coach Young will look to continue that as they finish the regular season with a tough road contest. Laurens has been hit hard with Covid this year, so it’ll be interesting to see if they are close to full strength in this game. A win for the Jackets gives them the 3 seed heading into the playoffs so they do have something to play for. I think Greer pulls out a close victory and will be primed to possibly pull off a couple of upsets in the postseason.
Next week we will be previewing the first round of the playoffs.
