Region play is nearing as we are just one week away from getting into the games that truly matter the most, but before we can get there we have week 5 on Friday Night as teams finish their non-region schedule. Let’s look at the matchups from the 2A/3A games in our local listening area.
Chapman @ Union
The Chapman Panthers will travel to Union County this Friday night to take on the Yellow Jackets. The Panthers will look to bounce back after a lopsided defeat to an excellent Clinton team as they would go on to lose by a final score of 49-19.
The Yellow Jackets are also coming off a lopsided defeat as Laurens crushed them by a final score of 44-14. It simply was a game that Union never had a chance in as Laurens jumped on them early and never look back.
Both teams are coming into this game having some problems that they would like to clean up before region play next week. Chapman has really struggled offensively and hasn’t gotten into a rhythm so far this year and Union has given up some big plays on the defensive side of the ball. It will be interesting to see what gives will the Yellow Jackets’ defense make some adjustments and add to the struggles that Chapman has had offensively, or will Chapman click on the offensive side of the ball?
In the past, these two teams have played in some exciting football games and I think this one will not be much different, right now I am leaning towards Yellow Jackets winning this game at home.
Broome @ Woodruff
Broome will be on the road to take on a familiar opponent as they will take on the Woodruff Wolverines. Broome was able to bounce back after a loss to Union by beating Berea by a final score of 39-7. Woodruff also was able to pick up a win last week, which snapped their two-game losing streak by beating Chesnee 49-24.
Woodruff has outscored their opponents 123-86 so far this season, but 58 of those points have come in the last two weeks. The first 3 weeks of the season they were allowing just over 3 points per game so they will look to get back to shutting teams down on the offensive side of the ball.
The good news for Broome so far this year is they are unbeaten on the road with a 2-0 record so they will look to continue that winning trend and steal another W away from their home turf.
I expect this game to be a fun one just like it typically is, right now I am leaning towards Woodruff to win a close one and improve to 4-2 on the year.
Landrum @ Blue Ridge
The Landrum Cardinals were able to snap their two-game losing streaks, in which both losses were games where they simply just did not play well as they suffered back-to-back lopsided defeats. But they definitely took care of business last week when they defeated SCA by a final score of 56-20. They will look to make it 2 wins in a row but in order to do so, they will have to win on the road against Blue Ridge.
Blue Ridge had a nice start to the season their first two weeks by winning both of their games, but the past three weeks have not been kind to the Fighting Tigers as they have suffered from three straight losses including their last game against Wade Hampton by a final score of 35-25.
The Cardinals did what they needed to do last week and played a great game, hopefully, that will get them rolling in the right direction. But I want to see some consistency from the Cardinals, that I have not seen yet and that is why despite losing three straight I am leaning towards Blue Ridge winning this football game.
