Greer 18 Byrnes 10
Wednesday, former Greer quarterback Mazzie Drummond took to Facebook to make a simple statement. “Go Jackets… It ends tomorrow”.
The “it” he was referring to is the losing streak the Jackets have been on since he was the last Greer QB to notch a win against the Rebels back in 2000 – twenty-four years ago.
That statement ended up ringing true as his Jackets overcame a 7-6 deficit by scoring 12 unanswered points to secure a crucial first win of the season.
The low score confirms everything you might be thinking based on it. This game was a total rockfight. After Greer went up 6-0 early, Byrnes took the lead with their lone TD of the game. That TD did not come on offense. As a matter of fact, Byrnes’ offense was absolutely stymied all game long. For perspective, the Rebels ran the ball 24 times. For a net of just 8 – yes, EIGHT, yards. Quarterback Caine Rogers completed 19 of 26 passes for 138 yards. In total, the Rebs tallied 146 yards of offense.
Byrnes scored on an 85 yard punt return by Ta’Lik Dawkins. That and a 29 yard fieldgoal is all they could muster against a Greer team that, to be fair to the Yellow Jackets, has not been playing their best football compounded by a tough non-region schedule. The Rebels’ defense did not have a bad night against them, surrendering 354 yards of total offense, mostly on a 149 rushing yard, 1 touchdown game from Nick Holmes. Nonetheless, looking at things from a strictly Byrnes angle, this had the makings of a game that not only was ‘winnable’, but really was in the category of a “should win” – perhaps even a ‘must-win’.
To be fair to Byrnes as well, the Rebels have not played particularly bad football over their first 2 games. They have managed to chip their way back into games against solid opposition in TL Hanna and Irmo, but simply have not been able to put it all together to complete the comeback. This was their first performance that can truly be labeled as bad on the offensive side of the ball. To that regard, you have to give a tip of the cap to Greer. The Yellow Jackets earned this win and it is gonna do wonders for their confidence going forward into region play, which they open on the road at Berea Friday.
The question this leaves us with is exactly how Byrnes responds. The Rebels start region play with another game that can be labeled as both winnable and a must-win next week as they head to Wade Hampton. A win will go a long way towards righting the ship. Another loss and, though not necessarily the death nail, it will make a strong indicator that this season may be headed for the write off sheet soon.
Union County 30 Blacksburg 27
This game has to be included early in the recap for one simple reason. It is historic and it is such a good story. It marks the first win for Quinnon Isom as the Head Coach at Union. But, more impressive than that, it was a remarkable comeback for a team that most had already written off as too young and beat up to even win a game this season against a good Blacksburg team that was beginning to get some looks in the statewide media polls.
All season up to this point, recaps of Union have boiled down to a sentence that could almost have been copied and pasted with just the opponent and score updated. A lot of that has to do with lack of available details. But it also has just been that they have been in lopsided games. That is not the case this time.
After a scoreless first 12 minutes, Blacksburg landed the first blow on a 2 yard TD run 30 ticks into the 2nd quarter. In the waning minutes of the first half, Union responded with a 5 yard TD rush by Josh Rice-Brandon and converted the 2 to make for an 8-6 halftime lead.
The Wildcats went on to take what seemed like a comfortable lead with 21 unanswered points in the 2nd half before Union managed to strike back in the final minute and a half of the ballgame.
With 1:25 to play, Qa Brandon busted off an 80 yard touchdown run, unable to convert the two this time, making the deficit 27-14. But, it didn’t take long for them to cut another chunk out of the Cats’ lead, as they recovered the onside kick and scored again on a 24-yard pass from Qa Brandon to Josh Rice-Brandon. The conversion made it 27-22 with 1:16 to play.
After recovering another onside kick, the Jackets took the lead on a 35 yard pass from Qa Brandon to Micah Wallace and added 2 more on the conversion to make for what would be the final margin.
No doubt, this win is huge for Union as it silences a lot of silly chatter that has been going on since week zero and gives the young team the confidence of knowing that they can win games. Whether or not that leads to more wins in region play, who knows? They may only get just the one this season. But it is still something to build on for this young squad as they try to get to full strength.
Woodruff 36 Woodmont 13
The Wolverines offense continued to roll on Thursday night, this time paying off in an upset win over a 5A team in the Woodmont Wildcats.
TJ Morris was 16 for 22 with 202 yards and a pair of passing touchdowns. Kori Moates hauled in 6 of those for 79 yards while Aiden Gibson snagged 4 balls for 62 yards and a TD to go with his 19 carries for 173 yards and 2 rushing scores. The lone other receiving TD came from Kam Taylor, who caught just the one pass for a 2 yard score. Snoop Green also had over 50 receiving yards on 2 snags. In total, the Wolverines amassed 457 yards of offense en route to upping their overall record to 4-0.
Woodruff will go to Chesnee this coming Friday looking to make it 5-0 headed to their last non-region game against Wren in 2 weeks.
Clinton 49 Chapman 27
It feels like the same old story, same old song and dance when it comes to the Chapman Panthers. It was no secret coming into the season that this was going to be a young team and that they were not going to be the type of team we have grown accustomed to seeing in Inman. Looking at their non-region schedule, it was also a given that they were going to take their lumps early on. While this was by design to try and get them ready for region play, after seeing this team in person for the first time this season on Thursday night, the question is begged just how helpful it is really going to be for them.
Outmatched by a team like Clinton, whose bread and butter is in their run game, Chapman went with a strategy early on to try and match running with running. They tried to run the ball between the tackles and keep the Red Devils off the field – which was met with very little success. The Panthers could not move the ball at all, and when they did venture away from the run, it was clear there was not much confidence to be found in QB Bryson Cothran’s arm. They ran a lot of screens, curl flats, slants, and short passes, many of which either went nowhere, backwards, or resulted in incompletions.
It wasn’t until the game was out of hand that they finally found something on the offensive side of the ball. Chapman closed out the first half with a long drive capped by a 12 yard TD pass from Cothran to the man that would later replace him as the signal caller – Taylor Rogers.
In the 2nd half – granted against Clinton’s backups mostly, Rogers was able to help the Panthers move the ball with confidence in his short passing game. Eventually, Chapman was able to scratch across some ‘garbage time’ scores to make the scoreboard look less lopsided. But, make no mistake – they were outmatched and the game reflected it from the very first play from scrimmage when Clinton scored on a 28 yard TD run that followed a huge kickoff return.
With this one in the rearview, the Panthers have one last trial by fire ahead of region play next week as they go to Belton Honea Path before their 3-3A slate begins with MVP at home.
Gaffney 31 Freedom (NC) 0
If ever you could say that a shutout doesn’t seem like it was one, this game was it. The Indians have a trend of having one of their non-region games against a team that, on paper, they vastly outmatch, be a bit of a stinker where they seemingly go through the motions and come away with a win simply because nature ran its course and depth took over as it should. In 2021, that was Gray Collegiate. Two years ago, it was Hammond (SCISA). Last season, they opened with a loss on the road to Crest (NC).
After their originally-scheduled week zero opponent backed out, forcing the Indians to make that their bye week, they made a late addition to the schedule, hosting Freedom High out of Morganton, NC. This team did not have half the roster depth of Gaffney with just over 40 players. But don’t let that fool you. They had some moments where you could see they had plenty of talent to make up for the lack of numbers.
This game was scoreless after a quarter. Gaffney finally broke the goose egg on a 21 yard strike from Jayvon Gilmore to Chas Smith at the 11:10 mark of the 2nd quarter and added on about 3 minutes later on an 18 yard TD scamper, also by Smith.
Gaffney had 2 other chances to break the game open in the first 24 minutes, but were denied by a pair of turnovers in the redzone – one on downs at the 19 yardline, and the other on an interception in the endzone on 3rd and 10 from the 26. In total, the Indians had 3 turnovers inside Freedom’s 30, the last being a fumble by Jamarcus Smith at the 18.
Perhaps more troubling for Gaffney than the redzone miscues were the penalties. The Indians incurred 12 yellow handkerchiefs for 110 yards, many of which were holding calls. To be fair, Freedom also was penalized heavily with 12 flags of their own for 90 yards. But, nonetheless, the self-inflicted wounds did not help the Indians’ case.
Jaycon Gilmore also did not have his sharpest night passing the ball. The Indians did not take a lot of shots down the field, instead playing the short yardage game much like they did against JL Mann, and that did not always yield big results for the Tribe. Gilmore went 16-26 for 195 yards and 3 TDs, the lone blemish being the interception.
In the end, depth truly did win out as Gaffney scored 17 points in the 2nd half to pull away. Jamarcus Smith and Chas Smith led the offense – Jamarcus (Junior, as he is called) had 8 receptions for 113 yards and a TD. Chas had 10 carries for 107 yards and a TD to go with 3 catches for 36 yards and a TD. Aside from keeping up with the Smiths, the story of the game was the defense for the Indians, who held Freedom to just 68 yards of total offense in the blanking. Zyon Ratchford and Josh Corry each had 2 sacks, with Ratchford notching 5 solo tackles and 2 assists.
Gaffney may have shut out the Patriots in this game, but to state the obvious, there is a lot they need to shore up for their region 2-5A opener on the road next week against Boiling Springs, who was on bye this Friday.
Broome 28 Emerald 25
The Centurions had some late game drama unfold that led to this one being close. Broome was up by a couple of scores late, but the Vikings chipped their way back into it. In the end, they opted to try and kick a game-tying fieldgoal in the waning seconds and came up short. Broome kneed it out from there to up their record back to .500 at 2-2.
Jameson Dearybury was 21 for 29 through the air for 288 yards and 4 touchdowns.. Reece Waugerman led the aerial attack for the Centurions with 7 catches for 112 yards and 2 TDs. Brayden Simpson logged 8 catches for 106 yards and a touchdown. Tre;’Sean Suber also had a receiving score on 3 snags for 46 yards. They didn’t do much in the ground game, but Ty’Qwon Booker led the way with 15 carries for 46 yards.
MVP 48 Crescent 21
This game was the most adversity the Stars have had to face this young season as for the first time, they had to play from behind. Crescent took a 21-7 lead to the half. But, the second 24 minutes of the game were a more than ideal response for Coach Grey Ramsey’s squad. They pitched a shutout in the second half. Jaylen McGill ran the ball 17 times for 233 yards and 3 touchdowns with 4 catches for an additional 65 yards, while Bryson Drummond completed 17 passes for 238 yards with 3 TDs. KD Hainsworth was Drummond’s biggest target, completing 5 passes to him for 136 yards and 3 scores.
The Stars, sitting at 4-0, will have their last non region tune up next week as they play their first real home game (their inaugural game was a home one week zero, but was played at PC) at Limestone University, hosting American Leadership.
Chesnee 28 R-S Central 24
There is a trend of the weekly feature player having a major impact in the corresponding game that Friday. That continued this week as Chesnee’s Kjay Proctor scampered in from 12 yards out with just 8 seconds left in the game to take the lead and ultimately win it for the Eagles.
Aside from Proctor, the Eagles pounded out the win on the ground with a net of 310 yards, led by quarterback Ethan Lawter with 105 yards. Kjay scored three touchdowns on 9 carries for 43 yards. Jayden Williams had the lone other TD on 8 touches for 85 yards. Through the air, Lawter was just 3 of 8 for 17 yards.
The Eagles close out non-region next week hosting Woodruff.
Landrum 43 Polk County 6
In the latest iteration of the Border War, Landrum used a big game from Titus Poore to absolutely dominate the Wolverines on the road to go to 3-1 on the season. Next week, they will return to Cardinal Station for a date with the West Oak Warriors before wrapping up non-region on the road the following week at Blue Ridge.
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