One week of region play is in the books and just a few weeks left until the playoffs begin! Some teams got off to a great start whereas others are going to try to avoid the 0-2 start. Let’s take a look at the matchups from 2A/3A in our local listening area.
Broome @ Blue Ridge
Broome began region play against Travelers Rest and they simply didn’t have any problems as they coasted to a 46-7 victory to get to 1-0, and now they are eying that 2-0 start if they can beat Blue Ridge on Friday Night.
For Blue Ridge, this is their first region game of the season and non-region play has not been kind to them as they are entering this game with a 0-6 record. Their last defeat came from Landrum, who put up 74 points against them as they lost 74-34.
Blue Ridge allowed the Cardinals to run all over them as Colton Link had over 400 yards rushing and 6 touchdowns. So now Blue Ridge has to stop the Broome Centurion-loaded offense and rushing attack…. Good luck with that! I see Broome making quick work of the Fighting Tigers and they roll to a lopsided victory.
Landrum @ 96
Landrum opened their region play against Chesnee this past Monday Night (the game moved from last Friday to Monday of this week due to what the Chesnee school district called a “terrible tragedy”. The Cardinals would fall to the Eagles by a final score of 40-21.
The Cardinals will have a tough challenge on the road this week against 96, who is coming into the game with a 5-1 record. That would include their region win last week against Blacksburg 33-20.
The Wildcats are averaging around 29 ppg this season but they have been very good defensively as they only allow 16 ppg. Landrum has shown the ability to put up points on the board, so if they can give room for Colton Link to run then they will be successful, if they can’t create holes and give him space then they can be on the wrong side of the scoreboard once again in region play.
Woodruff @ Emerald
Woodruff fell in their region opener last week to a solid Chester team losing 44-6. It was another game where they just couldn’t get anything going and they fell behind early and it just snowballed from there.
Emerald is playing in their first region game of the year and they are another team that jsut didn’t have success in their non-region matchups they are 0-6 on the season. In their last game, they fell to Eastside 35-12 and Eastside is not that great of foot ball team themselves.
I think this is a good week for Woodruff to get themselves going and get their first region game of the year. I know they have been struggling the last couple of weeks but I see them making a few plays in this one and getting the win.
Union @ Chester
Union began region play last week against a very good and frustrated Clinton after they were coming into that game with a two-game losing streak. The Yellow Jackets fell to 0-1 after they lost 51-28.
Chester is coming off a win in the region as mentioned earlier as they defeated Woodruff 44-6. Chester has not played the most impressive schedule but they have still shown they have some playmakers on both sides of the ball.
Union did get some offense going last week but the defense has to be better if they are going to give themselves a chance to win. They have to create some turnovers and force some punts. Right now I am leaning toward Chester winning comfortably in this one.
Chesnee @ Abbeville
Chesnee as mentioned earlier rallied around themselves and the community after a tragic event that happened last Friday, which moved their game against Landrum to this past Monday. They were victorious against the Cardinals 40-21 and now they will have another tough test against Abbeville this Friday night.
Abbeville is coming off a region win against Liberty 40-3 this past Friday night. They are now 5-1 on the season and are eying that 2-0 start as well as Chesnee.
Abbeville is averaging 33 ppg this season, while they give up 20 points per game on the year so they have like usual been good on both sides of the ball. I would love to see Chesnee build off their emotional win on Monday but playing two games in one week and that second game being against a good Abbeville team I see the Abbeville winning this one.
