Week 1 2A/3A Preview

The nine month wait for high school football is over and this Friday night the stands in schools all over the state will once again be packed out. Let’s take a look at the matchups from the 2A/3A classification in our local listening area.

Union @ Newberry 

Union County is coming off a another lack luster season as they finished the year at 1-10 with their only win coming against Blacksburg. Newberry is coming off an impressive season where they went 12-1 overall and finished first inside their region. They would go on to the third round of playoffs before they were finally beaten by Loris.

For Union this year they will be led by a new Head Coach Bryan Robinson. Robinson is no stranger to Union County and the community is hoping he can be the guy to help turn around the program.

Last years meeting with Newberry, it was a one sided game it was 21-6 after the first quarter but the game got away from Union by the second quarter as they were outscored 34-8. They would go on to lose the game 62-14.

I am hoping Union can start turning their woes around but right now I am going with Newberry to win this game.

Woodruff @ Broome

This normally makes for an entertaining region matchup that we have seen over the years but with the new realignment Woodruff is now in the 2A region. The Wolverines are coming off a strong year as they went 11-2 and finished first in their region. They fell short in the playoffs in the quarterfinals against BHP.

Broome finished the year at 5-6 and lost in the first round of the playoffs in a hard-fought matchup against Pendeleton. a year ago it was the Wolverines who cruised a victory over the Centurions 49-14. Quarterback Connor Davis had a field day completing 18-24 passes for 298 yards and 5 touchdowns in the win.

The Wolverines will look different this season as star running back Aiden Gibson decided to graduate early as he was a huge part of their offense and it will be curious to see who steps up and fills that void. Broome will be returning QB Brayden Simpson and their running’s backs. I am leaning towards Woodruff getting the win in this one.

Eastside @ Chapman 

The Chapman Panthers are coming off a down season as they finished the year at 1-10 with their only win was in a close game against Union. The Panthers will look to put last year behind them and get back on the winning track this year. Their first matchup will be playing out of classification taking on the Eastside Eagles.

Eastside was 4-7 overall last year and 1-6 in their region, but to fair they were in a difficult region last year. Their star player was Lucas Tankersley who racked up a lot yards on the ground but he graduated so Eastside will need some guys to step up and perhaps that is Kelyn Durham, who is a senior running back and did solid job with the touches that he got last year.

On thing about Chapman last year is they were really young and that means they are going to have a tons of guys returning and with another year on there belt perhaps that will lead to more success.

I am leaning towards the Eastside Eagles getting a win in this game, but I have some questions marks about both teams and I am hoping to see some answers during this week 1 matchup.

Walhalla @ Landrum

It was not a great season for either program last year Walhalla was only 2-9 and finished fourth in their division. Landrum finished 3-7 last year and didn’t win a game in their region.

Last year these two teams opened the season and it was a win for the Landrum Cardinals 20-13 who had success on the ground and that was one of the differences of the game.

I do not know a whole lot about what Walhalla other than they have a lot of returning guys from their roster a year ago and Landrum is replacing a couple key guys like their Quarterback and Running back. Ian Patterson is the man behind center now this season and JP Brayon is the leading back. Landrum does have seven returning players on the defensive side of the ball.

I am leaning towards Landrum in this game winning a close one. I know there are some question marks with the Cardinals but they have fared very well the last couple of years in their non-region schedule.

Ambassador Christ @ MVP 

MVP is coming off another strong year as they went 10-2 overall and finished second in their region before being eliminated in the second round of the playoffs to Powdersville.

Ambassador Christ was in their first ever season a year ago and they finished with a record 5-4-1 according to max preps, I didn’t know a game could end in a tie. I don’t like it but whatever. What they have personal wise I am not sure for their program in year 2.

But for MVP we know they are replacing their QB and RB, it will be Jacoby Kelly getting his first shot at playing at the varsity level. Good thing for him and MVP they have all five offensive lineman and playmakers around him to help him out. I think MVP rolls to a victory here and begins another season off at 1-0