Week 0 of the high school football season featured several exciting games in our area and week 1 is looking like it should be another exciting week. Let’s take a look at the matchups from the 2A/3A games in the local listening area
Chesnee @ Broome
Both teams are coming into this game with plenty of momentum after both teams are coming off impressive opening week wins.
Chesnee opened their season against Blue Ridge and after a tough season a year ago where they were in just about every game but just couldn’t find a way to win.
It was curious to see from the growing pains they had to suffer from last year that would help them this year and so far they have impressed me. They jumped out to a big lead against Blue Ridge and never looked back, winning by a final score of 41-30.
Broome took on Powdersville on the road last week and Powdersville, who is coming off a state championship appearance, and has seemed to have Broome’s number for the past couple of years.
But Broome flipped the script this year with stellar play on offense by their two leaders Kamjay Brackett-Brannon and Jaylen McGill who combined rushed for 291 yards with two rushing TD’s. Brackett-Brannon also was 9-12 passing for 125 yards and a passing touchdown.
On the defensive side of the ball Chance Williams, who was the week zero player of the week presented by 365 Grillin and Seafood. Williams had 10 tackles, 2 of them were for a loss and he also had the game winning tackle on a two point conversion try.
For Chesnee their challenge will be trying to contain McGill if he gets space you are not stopping him. So for Broome they have to win the battle upfront if they do that then I see them going on to win the game.
Byrnes @ Chapman
This is a fun matchup between two teams that have had a lot of success over the last several years so seeing these teams meet up for a regular season is a lot of fun.
Both teams are coming off victories last week, Chapman was in a shootout against Woodruff last week, which with about 9 mins left in the game Chapman was up 36-34. But in a blink of the eye the Panthers were able to pull away and win by a final score of 57-34.
The Rebels played on Saturday on the road against a very solid Hough program and the Rebels were the only 5A Region II team to get a win in the opening week as they won by a final score of 28-9.
I think the key for Chapman is cleaning some things up defensively. I believe offensively they will be able to make some plays but the defense is going to have to come up with some consistent stops and perhaps cause some turnovers.
I am leaning towards the Rebels to win this game as I think the depth and speed that Rebels have will be too much for Chapman too handle.
Berea @ Landrum
The Landrum Cardinals had a bye week for week 0 so they are ready to begin their season this Friday Night as they will host Berea.
This is also the start of the Brent Bridges era at Landrum, Bridges was the Offensive Coordinator at Broome High School previously. Coach Bridges does have an experienced bunch with 25 seniors being on the roster so they will be leaning on that leadership this season.
Berea will be opening their season this year as well and last year was not a kind year for Berea as they were just 1-9 on the season. One of the nine losses for Berea included last year’s season opener to Landrum where they lost 34-3
I look for this to be a similar start as I expect the Landrum Cardinals to take care of business on their home field and start the year at 1-0.
Fountain Inn @ Woodruff
Woodruff as mentioned above fell to Chapman in the opener 57-34. They were in the game it was 36-34 with 9 minutes left but it simply just snowballed from there, but they will look to bounce back this week at home against Fountain Inn.
Woodruff showed they certainly can put up points and I don’t expect them to have any difficulty doing that again this week against Fountain and I expect to see some big offensive numbers against them.
Fountain Inn is coming off an opening win against West-Oak 28-0 but the reality is West-Oak is not a very good team.
I simply just don’t see Fountain Inn being in this game for a long and I expect a lopsided victory for the Wolverines.
