Greer 21 Seneca 13
Why am I starting this recap with a 4A game? Simply put, it was a huge upset. Seneca entered the night undefeated while Greer, as has been pointed out every week to date, has a deceiving record. The Yellow Jackets played a brutal non-region schedule. Turns out doing that can pay dividends in the games that matter down the stretch. Of course, if you’re the Jackets, you already knew that, seeing as that is their annual approach to scheduling.
Summarized in simplest terms, it is the score that is most deceptive about this game. Greer dominated, especially on the defensive side of the football. The Bobcats’ offense is simplistic as can be –read option, option pitch, play action rollout. Wash, rinse, repeat. That offense, simple as it is, did manage 278 yards of total offense on 71 plays, subsisting on long sustained drives and running the ball. Of those 278 yards, only 76 came from the passing game. The Bobcats mustered 4 trips to the red zone on the night, where the story of the game was written.
Greer’s defense held strong inside their own 20 yardline on 3 of the 4 Seneca threats, twice holding them to a fieldgoal and forcing one turnover on downs. Where the Yellow Jackets’ defense was not at the forefront, senior running back Nick Holmes was a storyline. He accumulated 125 yards on 22 rushing attempts, scoring all three of Greer’s touchdows.
Despite the dominant effort from the GHS defense, their offense nearly cost them late as they got super conservative, leaning on Nick Holmes to try and melt the clock with little effectiveness. Seneca, having made it a 1 score game when they finally managed to break through with a redzone TD on their previous possession, stuffed Holmes a couple of times to force a three and out. Following the punt, they got the ball back near midfield with about 2 minutes to play.
The Bobcats proceeded to show how not to run a two minute drill, showing little urgency despite getting the ball to the Yellow Jacket 40 yardline. Eventually, it came down to a 4th down play where Seneca’s QB took his lone deep shot of the game after being flushed from the pocket. He threw into double coverage and overthrew his man on top of it. The pass was picked off by Greer’s Chase Free, sealing the upset win and putting the Jackets in position to make a push at Daniel for the region title – a matchup that we will have to wait a couple of weeks for as it is set for November 1st.
In the victory, Greer put up 264 yards of total offense – 108 through the air (Kaden Rowland was 12 for 18 passing) with Brock Diggins serving as their leading receiver, hauling in 3 catches for 38 yards.
MVP 40 Greer 38
The most anticipated matchup in region 3-3A this season lived up to its hype and then some. Both teams came into Newberry College’s Setzler Field on Friday night unbeaten, putting up some crooked numbers on the scoreboard.
The offensive fireworks continued for both sides with this game being an absolute shootout. But, as is usually the case in these types of games, one team just cannot get their defense off the field. Mountain View’s punt team never saw the field and the lone stop the Wolverines got was a pick 6. Otherwise, the trio of QB Bryson Drummond, RB Jaylen McGill, and WR KD Hainsworth was responsible for 6 touchdowns – McGill with 3 TD rushes and Hainsworth with a pair of TD catches that included a one-handed highlight grab and scamper for an 81 yard score.
Bryson Drummond went 11 for 13 passing with 221 yards and the 2 touchdowns. Jaylen McGill did his thing with 29 rushing attempts for 256 yards and 3 TDs. Hainsworth hauled in 5 passes for 144 yards in the 524-yard total offense effort.
On the Woodruff side of things, TJ Morris completed 21 of 39 passes for 409 yards and 3 scores. Aiden Gibson was both the leading rusher and receiver, running the ball 13 times for 38 yards and a TD and snagging 3 balls for 120 yards and a touchdown.
The Wolverines are back at it on the road next week as they go to Inman to take on Chapman while MVP will wrap up their inaugural home regular season slate against Broome.
Spartanburg 27 Boiling Springs 7
Many expected this game to be a battle. Understandable given the recent history between these 2 rivals. Even more understandable when the stakes were that the winner may very well get a first round bye regardless of what happens to Gaffney (since the Indians are 5A division II).
Unfortunately for the folks up highway 9, the trip to Viking Stadium fared no better than their first 2 visits there since the stadium opened. The Bulldogs’ offensive front struggled to contain the Vikings’ front 7 – in particular their linebacking corps that has shown itself to be among the best (if not THE best) in the state. Boiling Springs quarterback Lincoln Huskey was sacked several times while his favorite target, Kyle Patterson, was limited to 4 receptions for 52 yards and the Bulldogs’ lone touchdown. Eli Mobley was their leading receiver with 60 yards on 6 snags. Huskey ended the night 15 for 25 with 137 yards. In the ground game, Javen Chhim was held to just 38 yards on 9 carries.
The Viking defense was definitely the story of the game, but their offense tallied 246 yards of total offense on the Bulldogs’ highly-touted defensive unit. Trey Burke wasn’t particularly flashy either, completing 10 of 15 passes for 77 yards and a TD to Calvin Choice — the leading receiver with 3 catches for 31 yards. Trenton Lynch ran the ball 12 times for 128 yards and a touchdown. Spartanburg also scored a TD on special teams with a blocked punt by Zeke Bell-Boyd that was recovered by Calvin Choice in the endzone. Will Love was also 2-2 on fieldgoals in the dominant Viking victory.
Boiling Springs will look to bounce back in similar fashion to how they did following their loss to Gaffney with a convincing win next week as they host the Riverside Warriors while Spartanburg has a date with the Byrnes Rebels.
Gaffney 28 Riverside 21
Many who are not as attuned to the fact would look at that score and think Gaffney has some issues. But, pump the brakes. For certain, the Indians have not been lighting up the scoreboards with flashy offensive fireworks. For 4 of the last 8 quarters they’ve played, Jamarcus Smith has been used as their QB with Jayvon Gilmore serving a suspension. But, they still have found ways to win games with big plays when it matters the most – something that matters a lot when it comes to playing a team that everyone says is a potential spoiler.
Simply put, if you don’t know by now, this is not your historical/typical Riverside. That’s a good football team that truly is capable of giving the favored teams fits. That is an accurate description for how this one went, as the 2 sides exchanged blows all game long. At the half, it was tied at 7. Riverside took a 21-14 lead late in the 3rd quarter, but it was short-lived as the Indians answered with just under 30 seconds to go in the period to tie it at 21. Gaffney put the game away on a Jamarcus Smith TD run with 9 and a half minutes on the clock coupled with a defensive stop and a clock draining possession.
In the win, the Indians held the Warriors to just 134 yards of total offense – just 23 on the ground. On the other side of the coin, Gaffney amassed 300 yards. But, the shocking part of that is that they only had 7 – yes, SEVEN, passing yards between Jamarcus Smith (1-1, 8 yards) and Jayvon Gilmore (1-7-2 INT-negative 1 yard). Jamarcus Smith ran the ball 14 times for 203 yards. Andrew Ruppe logged a rushing TD, Viante Robbs had a pick 6, Treason Smith added a rushing score, and it was Jamarcus Smith that finished it off for the Indians with a TD run.
The Indians will now turn their sights on hosting the Dorman Cavaliers next week.
Speaking of the Cavs…
Dorman 58 Wade Hampton 0
With all due respect to Wade Hampton, this was a glorified scrimmage for the Cavaliers. Dorman went on a 9-0 run to start the game and never had to think about looking back. The most noteworthy thing from this is that Dorman’s offense got back to normal as Brice O’Neal started at quarterback. He completed all 8 of his passes for 128 yards and a TD, and also ran for 3 more scores as the top rusher with 9 carries for 81 yards. Makorean Anderson, who had started the last few games in his stead, was 3 for 4 with 51 yards. Keenan Arcega-Whiteside hauled in 3 passes for 56 yards to lead the aerial attack.
Elsewhere in 5A, the Byrnes Rebels got back on track with a 28-9 win over Eastside, which honestly adds to the concerns about them, as this is a game that they hand a chance to hang a crooked number, and they did not. They are like Gaffney. Winning some games, but not in an impressive fashion. Sure, winning is all that matters. But when your offense struggles, it is hard to win in the bigger games down the road. Anyway, the ‘Road Rebels’ next stop will be at Viking Stadium Friday night to battle Spartanburg.
One other game of note in 3A that I don’t have much info on but had a significance for the winner– Chapman went on the road and picked up a 35-13 victory for a much-needed first region win of the season. The Panthers will need every bit of the confidence and reps they got in this game next week as they host Woodruff Friday night.
Chesnee 22 Liberty 16
It took until the 2:40 mark of the second quarter for either team to scratch the scoreboard. It was the Red Devils that struck first on an 11 yard TD pass. But, Chesnee answered about 3 minutes later on the first of three rushing touchdowns on the game for KJ Proctor. The game continued to be a back and forth until late in the 4th quarter when Proctor put Chesnee ahead for good with a 5 yard TD rush to make for the final tally of 22-16.
KJay had 11 touches for 57 yards, but it was fullback Bradley Meyers that led the ground game with 6 rushing attempts for 66 yards. Evan Lawter was also over 50 rushing yards with 54 on 5 carries. Proctor led the way through the air, completing four of 7 passes for 59 yards. Lawter was 3-4 with 27 yards. Braylon Blanton led the way receiving with 4 catches for 73 yards.
The Eagles will go down to Iva to tilt with the Crescent Tigers next week.
Clinton 56 Landrum 22
Things started off strong for the Cardinals, who converted four 3rd downs and one 4th en route to an Aiden Kelly 5 yard TD run for an early 7-0 lead. But, that was short-lived as could be, as Clinton returned the ensuing kickoff 70 yards. The Cards answered with another long drive capped by a 26 yard fieldgoal, and the back and forth appeared to be on.
Clinton finally created some separation by scoring 14 unanswered to go up 28-10 and that’s all the cushion they needed, outscoring Landrum 14-6 the rest of the way to issue the Cardinals their 2nd loss of the season.
Landrum will look to bounce back on the road next week at Liberty.
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