Spartanburg @ Gaffney
Gaffney picked up a major win on the road last week at Boiling Springs in overtime, battling through the tough environment, strong Bulldogs defense, and loss of their starting quarterback to a gritty 28-22 win to stay undefeated this season. The 4-0 Indians host Spartanburg, who are entering off of a win themselves at home against Eastside.
The biggest storyline of this game will be the status of Gaffney QB Jayvon Gilmore, who was ejected in last week’s game after a sideline scuffle that also resulted in the ejection of a Boiling Springs assistant coach. Gilmore faces a two game suspension that is still under appeal as of this writing. Should Gilmore be unable to suit up, Gaffney would have to turn to a backup quarterback or potentially use WR Jamarcus Smith who served the emergency role, and led the Indians to last week’s win. Smith was named last week’s Broad River Electrifying Player of the Week after hauling in five passes for 199 yards and a touchdown, seven carries for 70 yards and a touchdown, as well as a 99 yard kick return for a third touchdown.
The Vikings rolled to a second consecutive blowout win last Friday night over Eastside by a final score of 49-6. The Spartanburg defense showed its teeth in the win, and RB Trenton Lynch is starting to look more and more like his usual self after running the ball 14 times for 165 yards and three touchdowns. With Spartanburg at 3-1 on the year and 1-0 in the region, a win at the Reservation would put the Vikings in the early drivers seat in Region 2-5A.
Boiling Springs @ Eastside
The Boiling Springs Bulldogs were on the receiving end of last week’s loss against Gaffney in overtime, and will look to get back off the mat against the Eastside Eagles. Even in the loss, Boiling Springs proved it had taken another major step into contention by battling with Gaffney for four quarters and overtime last Friday night.
QB Lincoln Husky and the offense were limited in its explosive plays last week, going 18-36 for 112 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. Eastside showed big weaknesses on the defensive side of the ball, and the Bulldogs will look to exploit what was put on film last week.
Boiling Springs certainly is still in play for the region even after the loss with six games remaining in the season, but now have a smaller margin of error against teams like Spartanburg, Dorman, and Riverside.
Byrnes @ Dorman
Both Byrnes and Dorman got region wins in their first opportunities last week, with the Rebels taking care of Wade Hampton 52-0 and the Cavaliers grinding out a hard fought win 24-13 against Riverside. Now they meet tonight, Wednesday, after forecasted rain later this week forced a change.
The Cavaliers were propelled by a strong defensive effort to hold the Warriors to just 13 points and 77 yards on the ground. QB Makorean Anderson was 15-23 for 180 yards and a touchdown in another start, and RBs Nick Means and Enahjay Fowler combined for 120 rushing yards between the two main backs.
Byrnes cruised to its first win of the season and now sit at 1-3, and can take a big step to put the 0-3 start in the rear view with a road win at Dorman. It was a clear blowout over Wade Hampton last week, with 42 first half points, over 500 yards of offense, and the Rebels defense holding the Generals to -27 yards on the game.
Travelers Rest @ Greer
Greer also raced their way to a win in its first region game against Berea last week, winning 63-0 and holding the Bulldogs to negative total yards. The Yellow Jackets had two 100 yard rushers in Miron’tae Harris and Ty Breeze, and nearly a third with Calvin McCoy falling just short at 98 yards on the ground.
QB Kaden Rowland was nearly perfect, going 13-14 with 165 yards and a touchdown. The Greer defense held Berea to just three first downs and -37 total yards. Brody Diggins and Samuel White each had two sacks.
Travelers Rest has gotten off to a slow start to the season at 1-3 overall and an 0-1 start to region play after last week’s loss to Seneca.
