Week 1 Recap

It never fails for Mother Nature to have some impact on the early weeks of the high school football season, and unfortunately, the excitement for week one was quite literally dampened with a massive thunderstorm that blanketed most of the area. But, there were still some great matchups.

Gaffney 24 Spartanburg 20

Another chapter in a rivalry that has been intense over the last few years took place at the Reservation — and it did not disappoint. The new realignment took away the region game aspect of what contributed to that, with Gaffney moving down to the 4A classification. But, that did not stop the Indians and Vikings from showing that they don’t care about classifications. They just plain don’t like each other.

Strangely enough, this was also the one game in the area that was not affected by severe weather. What it was affected by was a ton of laundry. There were 38 combined penalties adding up to 327 yards between the two.

After a scoreless first quarter, the Indians drew the first blood at the 7:17 mark of the second period when Amire White punched the ball in from three yards out to cap a 10 play, 47 yard drive. It took a while, but Trenton Lynch — the undeniable star of the night for the Vikings who entered 1,034 yards shy of the all time rushing yard record in Spartanburg High School history, ended an eight-play, 80 yard push with a nine yard touchdown run, tying the game at 7 at the half.

The second half was an epic tennis match. Gaffney marched 80 yards in six plays, claiming the lead on a one-yard run from Kendaris Bailey with 3:02 to go in the third quarter. Twenty four ticks later, Lynch struck again with an explosive 73 yard run to equalize. The Indians jumped back in front on a 26-yard field goal from Gerardo “GuGu” Segura with 7:24 to play in the game, but once again it was a short-lived lead as Lynch busted loose for a 70-yard TD dash about a minute later to put a bow on a three-play 80-yard drive and give the Vikings a 20-17 edge.

The game would come down to three key moments. Gaffney went on a nine-play, 71-yard drive on which tight end Hank Davidson may have saved the game with a huge reception to convert a fourth down and set the Indians up in the red zone. In the end, the drive was capped by a 17-yard touchdown rush by Bailey, making it 24-20 with two minutes to play. The game was sealed when Spartanburg failed to convert a fourth and twenty on their ensuing drive, turning it over for Gaffney to bleed the clock out to earn their 10th straight victory over the Vikings.

Gaffney QB Corry Taylor went 12 for 19 with 96 yards. Four receivers notched over 20 yards — Marquis Young and Quentis Hines both had 25 yards on a combined five catches. Hank Davidson’s clutch snag on fourth down was a 21 yarder, and Dylan McKey added 20 yards on five catches. White led the ground game with 22 carries for 172 yards and a TD while Bailey tallied 70 on nine touches to go with two scores.

Trenton Lynch shaved himself to within 750 of the record, tallying 290 yards on 22 carries. Quarterback Chris Colin completed 13 of 23 passes for 162 yards with an interception. Former Dorman Cavalier Tre’Gan Mickler was the leading receiver with 10 snags for 77 yards. Jay Anderson hauled in two passes for 62 yards and BJ Dawkins had one catch for 23.

Gaffney will hit the road for week two to take on JL Mann while Spartanburg will look to rebound at Greenwood.

Dorman 40 Hillcrest 30

The Cavaliers had a couple of glaring question marks coming into the season that showed in their opener. They lost a ton along the offensive line — particularly in the interior. To go with all that youth, Dorman also had to break in a new quarterback. The one area where we knew they were going to be set is that they still have the Cerberus — the three-headed dog that was Hades’ pet in Greek mythology, in the backfield.

The running back duo of Nick Means and Carter Nash as well as linebacker/wildcat QB Ja’Bez Thomas all returned and they were keys to the Cavs hanging on in a long Friday night.

Unlike the other weather-impacted contests, this one did get out of the first quarter before the lightning alarm started screaming, with stoppage coming at the 9:36 mark of the second period. But, there was plenty of action before that.

The Cavaliers drew first blood thanks to a sack fumble by Emavian Gibson that set up a five yard TD run by Means with 7:36 to play in the opening period. The extra point was missed, but thankfully for Dorman, they would not be chasing that point in the end. Nearly four minutes later, Cavalier QB Cooper Patterson showed off his arm, hitting Means wide open down the sideline for a 65 yard strike on a third down that was about as far from manageable as one can get. That gave Dorman a 13-0 edge.

Hillcrest ended the first quarter on a positive note, breaking the goose egg thanks to a 50 yard run by their super elusive QB Jackson Free. That scamper set up a thirty yard field goal, shaving the deficit to 10 with 40 ticks to go.

Out of the delay, Dorman struck right away when Thomas essentially walked into the end zone untouched for an 11-yard score with 9:31 to go in the first half to go up 20-3. But, then the Cavs got sloppy. A bobbled snap on a punt deep in their own red zone sent the punter scrambling back into the end zone, and rather than take a safety, he ran back out, tackled at the three yard line. Jackson Free took advantage with a 10 yard TD rush on third down, making it 20-10 with just 15 seconds to go in the half.

Out of the break, Hillcrest took another bite, scoring on a quick 24-yard pass across the middle to Kamdyn Stevenson, who shed a would-be tackler to break free for the easy touchdown, making it 20-17 with 9:24 to play in the third quarter. Dorman answered when Thomas took a direct snap to the left and scored from 21 yards out thanks to a fantastic block on the edge by Nash. That made for a 27-17 lead with 5:29 to play in the period.

The next drive for the Rams looked as if the Cavs got a bit conservative as Free was able to dink and dunk into the flat and get by with very little pressure. When Dorman did get near him, Free somehow would Houdini his way out of it. The long drive was  capped by a 15 yard touchdown pass from Free to Luke McCourry with just over a minute until the quarter break.

Cooper Patterson found Anthony Peaks wide open down the sideline for a 35 yard score to stretch Dorman’s lead back to 10 with 10:15 to play in the game and after Jayvion Long picked off Free in the end zone on the ensuing drive, Means added what was basically the dagger with a 41 yard TD run, breaking loose up the gut after slipping through a defender. Despite the Rams’ Elijah Jackson 89 yard kickoff return, Dorman was able to hang on for a 40-30 win.

Patterson ended the night 9 of 17 passing for 82 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Both Peaks and Means had 35 receiving yards and a TD on one reception while Dai’shion Watkins-Hymes hauled in four passes for 23 yards. On the ground, Means logged 145 yards and a pair of scores on 15 carries while Thomas had 72 rushing yards and two TDs on 5 touches. Nash also grinded his way to 114 yards on 19 attempts.

Dorman will have a big one this coming week as they host an old rival, albeit in what is no longer a region game, in the Byrnes Rebels.

Speaking of Byrnes, they were one of two 5A games to get nixed on Friday night. The Rebels, taking on the Independence Patriots out of Charlotte at Nixon Field, went up 7-0 early in the contest thanks to a 53 yard touchdown run by the lightning-quick Tre Segarra. Unfortunately, it was lightning that shortly thereafter brought the game to a halt at the 6:42 mark of the first quarter.

After a while waiting it out, per protocols the coaches from both sides and the athletic director from Byrnes met to weigh all options for resuming. But in the end, Independence declined them, citing it was late and they needed to get their kids back home. Thus the game was tabbed as a no contest and Segarra’s TD now no longer happened.

A similar situation occurred in Boiling Springs’ road tilt at Southside Christian. The Dogs held a 7-0 lead at the 1:55 mark of the first period before the game was suspended. Per conversations with BSHS head coach Matt Reel, after weighing options, the Sabres were not looking to continue. With nearly a quarter in the books, refusal to finish should constitute a forfeiture, and so the matter was going to be taken to the SCHSL. But, ultimately, the schools decided to go with option three — which was that in the event of schedule conflicts that prevent the continuation of the contest, to call it official at the moment play was suspended. Thus, the Bulldogs start 1-0 with a 7-0 victory.

Again, the Rebels will take on Dorman next week while the Bulldogs will have their home opener against the Riverside Warriors.

Greer 45 Woodmont 31

This season marks the 40th anniversary of the grand opening of Dooley Field — which took place on October 3rd, 1986. The Jackets honored that by opening the season with the same opponent they faced that night in a 21-0 shutout victory — the Woodmont Wildcats.

Greer was able to duplicate the end result Friday night into Saturday morning with a win. But, it was a high-scoring affair. The Wildcats started things off with a 24-yard TD pass with 8:40 to play in the opening quarter they missed the extra point. Then the storm hit, stopping play until 9:40 PM.

Much like Dorman, the Jackets resumed the game with a bang on a 1-yard TD run by Calvin McCoy — who was the MVP for Greer in the end. That score made it 7-6 in favor of the Jackets by the end of the first quarter. About fifteen seconds into the second stanza, Greer QB Xavier Sammet hit Terrell Jackson on an out route for a six-yard strike to push the lead to 14-6.

After the Wildcats responded via a 6-play, 43-yard drive capped by a a 1-yard touchdown run, the Yellow Jackets added a 26 yard field goal from Parker Burns with 6:40 to play in the first half, but Woodmont returned the serve with a 26-yarder of their own with 3:47 on the clock.

Greer went on to pull away, scoring 21 unanswered to out pace the Wildcats 28-15 the rest of the way. McCoy added two more rushing scores while Sammet threw for a pair in the same span.

Xavier Sammet threw the ball 17 times, completing 14 of his passes for 173 yards and three TDs. He also ran the ball 12 times for 130 yards. McCoy tallied an impressive 207 yards on 28 rushing attempts with three touchdowns while Zay Moseley led the aerial attack with 93 yards on six catches. Terrell Jackson hauled in two passes for 25 yards and a score while Cooper Trauger had a 20 yard TD catch and Tyler Hanson pulled in a 6-yard TD for his lone snag.

Greer will head to Union for the next edition of the “Jacket Bowl” this coming week.

Speaking of Union, they were shutout 27-0 by Newberry Friday night. Quarterback Shiro Crosby tallied just 14 passing yards, going three for nine through the air. He also accounted for 48 rushing yards on 13 attempts. Running back Kam Fincher toted the rock six times for 41 yards.

On defense, the numbers look a bit bigger. Fincher had six total tackles, a pass break up, and a blocked punt. Jamyri Rice also notched six tackles, three of them for a loss. Levi Gentry had seven tackles while Jemarius Smith led the way with eight.

Chapman 26 Eastside 6

Had it not been for Byrnes and Boiling Springs’ situations, no doubt this game would be the one drawing a lot of conversation. The Panthers attempted to beat the threat of severe weather by playing on Thursday night only to get to the 3:47 mark of the opening quarter and have the lightning alarm sing the song of its people.

The wait took to about 9:30 before the meeting was held and determined to resume at 6:00 Friday night. Now, of note, when the alarm sounded, Chapman was struggling at the line. The center was struggling to make accurate snaps and the interior line was getting dominated. Panther QB Ashton Moore practically had no time to even make one read before having to run for his life.

Something about that changed drastically on Friday, as what was a scoreless tie when play was stopped turned into Chapman scoring 26 unanswered points to win. But the game still did not make it the full 48 minutes. Lightning struck again one play into the fourth quarter, which thankfully for the faithful that had waited enough, meant the game was official. Both parties agreed to cut it there.

Chapman will face Walhalla on the road this coming week.

Woodruff 51 Broome 25

This game was suspended at the 6:16 mark of the 2nd quarter with the Wolverines leading 14-7. The action resumed on Saturday night at 6:00 and in the end, Woodruff showed to be the much better team. There were some interesting moments — such as the Wolverines going for two twice with a double digit lead, as well as kicking an onside kick when they were up 29-7.

Two of those backfired as the Centurions were able to go down field and cut the margin. But, in the end, the deficit was just too much.

Broome was led by dual threat quarterback Brayden Simpson, who rushed 12 times for 10 yards and a touchdown while completing eight of 14 passes for 98 yards and a score. Cam McGill tallied 66 yards on 16 carries and Devo Brown scored a pair of TDs to go with 12 rushes for 54 yards. Wideout Corley Turner made some impressive plays in his 7 reception, 93 yard, one touchdown night.

In total, Broome had 358 yards of total offense — 260 of which came on the ground. In the half of the game I saw, Woodruff wide receiver Curtis Bell hauled in two touchdown passes while Jaylen Lyles and Julian Sullivan both scored a touchdown on the ground.

Woodruff hosts Fountain Inn while Broome makes the short trip from Cowpens to Chesnee.

Ambassador Christian 21 MVP 14

The Stars, still playing their home games at North Greenville University, opened their first campaign in 2A with a long wait. The storm delayed them until around 9:30 before the game could even kick off. Due to the late start, it was agreed upon to do a running clock in the second half — which begs the question of how much higher scoring this one could have been had they not had a running clock.

Of note — Ambassador Christian (NC) is a private school, founded by Joe Gibbs and the Gibbs family (yes, the Coach/NASCAR owner). They have eight players with D1 offers playing for them and they outmatched MVP.

While stats are not available as of my writing this, in the words of MVP head coach Grey Ramsey, “It was a good night for us to get better.”

The Stars will face another North Carolina opponent this week, going to Charlotte Country Day School.

Landrum 32 Walhalla 21

The Cardinals offense had a field day on the Razorbacks. Quarterback Ian Patterson completed all but one pass, accumulating 8 yards. He also ran the ball 22 times for 150 yards and three touchdowns. Running back JP Branyon joined the 200+ yard club with 232 on 28 carries, scoring a TD. Receiver Trey Nesbitt led the passing attack with five catches for 75 yards.

Landrum, celebrating their 100th anniversary as a school this year, will have a long road trip this week as they head down to face the Ninety Six Wildcats.

Chesnee was on a bye this week, but as mentioned earlier, will open at home with the Broome Centurions.