Week 1 4A/5A Preview

​Week 0 saw several of our area teams come out on top, plenty of big stat days, and some very interesting questions going into this week’s action. Seven teams in our coverage area are 1-0, and look to keep the positive momentum moving forward into the last Friday of August.

Spartanburg @ Dutch Fork

​The Spartanburg Vikings will play their second of back to back games to open 2025 against a defending 5A state champion. The matchup last Friday with the 5A Division 2 champion Northwestern Vikings went sour, a 39-7 loss at home. Tomorrow the Vikings take on a regular opponent, one they more often than not end up meeting in the playoffs as well in the Dutch Fork Silver Foxes.

Head Coach Tom Knotts led a perfect 13-0 season that ended in a 35-21 win over Summerville to win the school’s ninth state championship, third title in a row, and eighth in nine seasons. Dutch Fork is behind the wheel of the best current dynasty in South Carolina high school football and hasn’t lost a game since October 6, 2023. 19 starters off of last year’s title winning team depart, and the Silver Foxes are now led by Michigan-bound DE Julian Walker and a first year starter at QB in Jaxon Knotts (Tom’s son).

Spartanburg would love to have experienced signal-caller Trey Burke back at QB for this game, but his status is still unclear after a pre-season injury. In his absence sophomore QB Chris Colin showed flashes of talent but also rawness in the opener against the Trojans, completing 11 of 24 passes for 116 yards. RB Trenton Lynch racked up 220 (138 rushing and 82 recieving) of the Spartans 336 total yards offensively. Friday will be another major test for Spartanburg, and will hope to get out of Dutch Fork with minimal injuries and a few bright spots to build on against the perennial power.

Boiling Springs @ Mauldin

​The Boiling Springs Bulldogs went to Dooley Field to take on Greer last Friday night, and never trailed even in a dicey finish to a 23-18 win. All the points were scored consecutively, the Bulldogs went up 23-0 before allowing 18 unanswered from the Yellow Jackets.

​Boiling Springs split the quarterback snaps between Josh Kahl and Imri Logan, with Kahl leading the team with 103 passing yards and a touchdown. The Bulldogs took their foot off the gas in the second half and were shutout by the Greer defense, but still have plenty of firepower especially on its own defense to have a strong season.

​Mauldin is coming off of a 2-8 regular season and a first round playoff exit at the hands of River Bluff, the program’s third straight season of two victories or less. The Mavericks lost against Riverside 41-27 in their opener and are trying to replace 2024’s starting quarterback and running back. Look for the Bulldogs to light up the scoreboard and get better answers about their passing game after Mauldin allowed 349 passing yards to Riverside last game.

Irmo @ Byrnes

​The Byrnes Rebels opened the new Nixon Field in style last Friday, after a slow start exploding out to a 30-10 win against TL Hanna. 20 of those points were scored in the second quarter.

The highlight of the night was a 91 yard scoring run by Tre Segarra, who finished with 126 in the game on 12 carries. Returning QB Caine Rogers picked apart the Yellow Jacket defense through the air with 13 completions in his 19 attempts for 248 yards and a touchdown. The Rebel defense also showed its teeth with 8 TFLs and three turnovers forced, two fumble recoveries and an interception.

​Irmo in 2024 put together a memorable season that ended in heartbreak, taking a 9-1 regular season into the playoffs as a top seed in Division 2, scoring 123 points in its first three playoff games, but losing to Northwestern in the title game as a Trojan field goal soared through the uprights as time expired leaving Irmo short of overtime, 34-31. The Yellow Jackets lost tons of talent and roll out a much younger squad with some of the best junior talent in the state, specifically its two class of 2027 four-stars DE Jaiden Bryant and OT Nate Carson.

Coming off of a tight win against Oceanside Collegiate, Irmo and Byrnes should be another entertaining battle in Duncan.

Catawba Ridge @ Dorman

​The Dorman Cavaliers open up the home slate in 2025 with a very interesting matchup against the Catawba Ridge Copperheads. Catawba Ridge is coming off of a 7-3 regular season, but a second round playoff exit against TL Hanna.

​Dorman is 1-0 after a 34-0 win at Greenville last week, and were led by junior RB Nick Means who rushed for 151 yards and three touchdowns in not much more than one half of action. The Cavaliers only put the ball in the air ten times last week, so one of the bigger questions going into this week’s game will be how much Head Coach Jake Morris decides to turn new QB Meek Slydell loose.

​The Copperheads smoked Chapin last week in a 30-0 win, and the defense limited Chapin to just 90 total yards and only 7 (!!!) passing yards while forcing three turnovers. It’s understandable because Catawba Ridge is led on defense by one of the best juniors in America, CB Joshua Dobson. Dobson is currently the seventh-best player in the junior class, second-ranked cornerback, and top player in the state.

JL Mann @ Gaffney

​The Gaffney Indians lost a back and forth battle with Independence (NC) last week at the Reservation, 27-21. Coming out of the game Gaffney took maybe a bigger loss, as RB/WR Jaiden McDowell suffered a season-ending knee injury. This week, Gaffney looks towards JL Mann.

​Last season the Indians and Patriots played a classic, with Gaffney winning a shootout in overtime on the road. This year’s JL Mann team is nothing like last year’s team that lost to Spartanburg in the second round after its coach left for Greenville. The Patriots first game of the year came on Saturday on the road, instead of Friday at home, because JL Mann’s home field was deemed unplayable. It didn’t end up mattering much, because the Patriots trailed by as many as 39 points in a 46-21 loss.

​Gaffney didn’t get much out of its two quarterbacks, senior Jayvon Gilmore was 5-13 for 57 yards and senior Banks Bouton was 2-5 for 43 yards and a touchdown. In total it was barely over 150 yards for the Indians offense, and now being shorthanded with McDowell out there will have to be some improvements as well as new names stepping up to get Gaffney where it wants to go this season. Luckily, JL Mann won’t be nearly as strong a test as last year and Gaffney should be able to address its issues.

Greer @ BHP

​The Greer Yellow Jackets non-region gauntlet continues this week, with a road trip to take on the BHP Bears on the docket. Greer dropped its home opener by just 5 points after a second-half comeback attempt fell short against Boiling Springs 23-18.

​Greer struggled with turnovers in the game, but saw glimpses of what is possible in the future with sophomore QB Dawson Fowler as he helped spark the second half comeback. Another sophomore in RB Calvin McCoy is also taking significantly more snaps than he did last year, and there will have to be a learning curve that has to take place throughout the year.

​BHP rolled to a 49-9 win over Broome last week as QB Noah Thomas threw for 217 yards and three touchdowns, and the Bears added three rushing scores as well. KJ Miles Jr. led the defense with 10 tackles in the win.