Week 1

Well we have the first week of football under our belt. Did we learn anything in week one? Obviously we have a long way to go and as we remind everyone every year don’t over react to the first week of games.  Let me throw one more cliche in her just for fun, teams grow the most between games one and two.  There That should be enough for this week.

Chesnee at Broome

The Eagles had a great performance last week against 3A Pendleton. They will travel across town this week to take on Broome in a friendly rivalry game. Evan Lawter was our electrifying player of the week this week leading the Eagles to the win.  Broome had a touch game last week with BHP, who again will be one of the better teams in the state.

Chesnee has an impressive offense led by Lawter and a talented senior wide receiver Braylon Blanton. If Lawter can get going on the ground this week like he did last week this Chesnee team will be hard to stop all season long. With the threat of Blanton at wide receiver if Lwater can’t get the ground game going they have the ability to open it up with a top shelf wideout.

Broome has a lot of talent especially at the skill positions. Tyqwon Booker rushed for over 1,000 yards last year, but this year they are using him in more of a receiver roll while Reece Waugerman is expected to get the carries at running back.  Hard to get a good read on these Broome offense after one game when that one game is against BHP, but they have too much talent not to put up some yards and points this season.

I visited with the Chesnee team this week and those guys are pumped and ready for a big year. I like them to pull out the win tonight in a close game.

Pick: Chesnee 

Union at Fairfield Central

Both of these teams got trounced last week by teams every expects to make deep runs in their respective classifications. The Jackets lost to Newberry 62-14 while the Griffins dropped a 40-0 decision the Ridge View.

Union County had 221 yards of total offense last week but scored only one offensive touchdown. The Jackets were only able to amass 52 rushing yards last week agains Newberry.  They will have to get the ground game going if they want to be successful this season. Newberry had a lot of size that the Jackets may not see the likes of for a while, so that may help.

I haven’t seen Fairfield Central play since the early 2000s but my guess is they still like to run the ball a little bit.  Im sure it’s not as much as the very goos Buddy Pough teams of the mid 90s but most high school teams don’t change a whole lot.

I honestly don’t know what to expect in this game tonight so my pick is going to be purely motivational.  I think the Jackets will find a way to get some running done tonight and both defenses struggle.

Pick: Union 

I like Dutch Fork to beat Spartanburg.  Spartanburg has to work on some tackling, but the main issue for the Vikings is experience and to quote Coach Mark Hodge, “The only way to get experience is to get experience.”

Boiling Springs will beat Mauldin.

I like Byrnes to stay undefeated at the new Nixon with a win over Irma tonight. However, Byrnes needs to find some more consistency in the run game or they could be in trouble.

Dorman seems to be like the Dorman of old with a potent rushing attack. I would like to see how good they are at throwing the ball, where issues have presented themselves in the past, but I think they win tonight.

Gaffney will roll JL Mann. It could be ugly.

Landrum will move to 2-0 with a win over Berea

BHP will beat Greer.

Woodruff offense will be too much for Fountain Inn.

MVP beats Southside Christian.

I like Chapman to get off the deck this week and defeat St. Joes.

Hopefully we learn a lot more about our local teams here in week one (two) of the season.  I am interested to see who improves. Hopefully whatever team you pull for takes a giant step forward this week! Good luck to all the teams and have fun at the games tonight.  Do me a favor tonight, cheer for your team as loud as possible wherever you may be and be kind to someone today. Whether it’s an opposing fan or just a random person at the store. Do something nice. This world can be a cruel place and you never know what somebody is dealing with. So even if you just offer a smile or a kind word, it can go a long way!