Week 2 of the high school football season features a handful of exciting football games I can’t stress enough how much Friday night will be. Let’s take a look at the matchups from the 2A/3A games in our local listening area.
Chesnee @ Walhalla
The Chesnee Eagles will look to bounce back after a lopsided loss to Broome last week, where they fell by a final score of 49-20. It was a game where they were simply outmatched against the Centurions and just couldn’t match the speed that Broome has.
Walhalla lost in their season opener last week to Woodmont by a final score 48-28. Walhalla found themselves down 16-6 after the first quarter but they did respond by having a huge second quarter outscoring Woodmont 22-8 to lead at the half 28-24. But they produced nothing in the second half and Woodmont stormed away.
One thing that Walhalla did very well was running the football, their junior running back Landon Robinson carried the ball 22 times for 176 yards and their senior running back Tanner Lowery added yards on 15 carries.
For Chesnee to be successful they must stop the run first and if they can do that they will win this football game if they can’t it will be the reason why they lost.
Landrum @ St Joes
The Landrum Cardinals opened their season with a win against Berea as they dominated the game in every aspect and won by a final score of 36-7. So they will look to improve to 2-0 if they can get a win on the road against St. Joes this week.
The Cardinals relied heavily on their senior star Running back Colton Link who ran 22 times for 180 yards and 3 touchdowns. There is no secret they are going to get the ball in Link had every chance they can get and if the Cardinals give him room to run he will make it happen.
St. Joes, who is coming into the game at 2-0 and has outscored their opponents 99-7, is looking to improve to 3-0. They have a lot of experience on the roster as it’s filled with juniors and seniors.
Both teams are going to look to run the football so whoever is able to win the battle in the trenches will be able to win this football game.
Union @ York
It has been a rough start of the year for Union and things are not going to get easier for them as they play a very difficult schedule and have another challenging game against York this week.
Union faced Gaffney last week and it was simply a game where they were never in it, they were dominated in every aspect of the game as they lost by a final score of 63-7.
York is entering this game at 1-0 as they beat Nation Ford in their opener last week by a final score of 30-14. York’s two senior running backs Ayden Davis and Triston Barnett ran down the throats of Nation Ford’s defense last week rushing for a combined 181 yards.
For Union, they must stop that rushing attack and make Nation Ford throw the football, and for their offense, they have to find some sort of rhythm and identity as Union has averaged just under 14 points per game on the year. Right now, I am leaning towards York getting the win in this one.
Woodruff @ JL Mann
The Woodruff Wolverines evened up their record to 1-1 as they beat Fountain Inn last week by a final score 44-6. Can the Wolverines make it two in a row? Well, it will be a tough task against a really solid JL Mann team.
Woodruff last week was the superior team against Fountain Inn, everyone knew that coming into this game but they also showed it by taking care of business with a lopsided win. Woodruff’s QB TJ Morris threw for three touchdown passes in the win and they will need him to have that kind of production once again on Friday night.
JL Mann is coming into the game with a record of 2-0 as they have beaten Eastside to open their season 49-0 and then they followed that performance up by beating Riverside last week 42-14. JL Mann had a strong year last year and so far they are off to a great start.
Right now I am leaning towards JL Mann staying hot and winning this football game, but as mentioned if Woodruff can continue to get their passing game going they could come out on top of this one.
