Back in my day high school football games started on Friday and also ended on Friday. One of these days the football games will start on Friday and end on Friday. Last week had zero of those days. Nevertheless we persist. Week 5 has three heavy hitters for us to break down. Let’s dive in.
Byrnes @ Spartanburg
The Byrnes Rebels and Spartanburg Vikings meet up again, but this time earlier in the year and as a non-region game. Spartanburg had a bye last week, and the last time they took the field they suffered a 56-14 loss to Dutch Fork to fall to 1-2.. Not the first and won’t be the last team to be on the business end of a Silver Foxes blowout. Meanwhile, Byrnes easily handled Greer with a 55-17 home win to move to 2-1.
Rebels starters didn’t see the field for very long as the score got out of hand, but in limited action the running game was the highlight. Byrnes ran for 16 yards per carry, and individually was led by Jacobie Fuller (3 carries, 107 yards, 2 touchdowns) and Tre Segarra (2 carries, 87 yards, 1 touchdown). QB Gideon Merhib and Kylik Wilkie also scored on the ground in the win. Merhib, Walker Burdette, and Abram Burroughs all threw a touchdown pass each. Nas Angram led defensively with 11 tackles and Kilion Arcila had two sacks.
Spartanburg didn’t get much of anything going against Dutch Fork, and are once again expected to be led out on offense by QB Aryan Desai who is 29-45 for 316 yards and 2 touchdowns in two games. The last time RB Trenton Lynch had more than a week between games it was the opener at Gaffney and he carried for 264 yards and 3 touchdowns. Pretty good.
Irmo @ Dorman
Dorman is 3-0 after the Cavaliers hit the road for the first time in 2026 and beat Gaffney 24-16 last Friday night. This week they take on Irmo, who fell in last year’s 5A-D2 state championship game.
RB Nick Means popped a big touchdown run late to put the game away in a night where he ran for 201 yards and the lone touchdown on 15 carries. RB Carter Nash and QB Cooper Patterson also ran for touchdowns in the tight win. Means is currently the fourth leading rusher in our coverage area, with 423 yards and 5 touchdowns in the Cavaliers three wins. The Dorman defense has also lowered its points total against it every week of the season so far.
Irmo is 3-1 on the season and riding a three-game winning streak after dropping its 2026 opener at home against Rock Hill 24-14. Since then the Yellow Jackets have wins over Spring Valley (37-0), Lower Richland (55-0) and Wilson (60-13). The combined record of those teams in the win streak is 3-9. The spotlight player for the Yellow Jackets is edge rusher Jaiden Bryant, a consensus top-40 senior in the country, top-5 player at his position, and top-1 player in the state who committed to Miami in June and is expected to enroll following Irmo’s season. He has 28 tackles this year to go with 8 TFLs and 5 sacks.
Hillcrest @ Boiling Springs
The Boiling Springs Bulldogs avoided a collapse last Thursday night at Clover to stay perfect at 4-0, beating the Blue Eagles in overtime 27-26. Boiling Springs held a 20-3 lead at the break, but preserved to get a second close win in a row. This week the Bulldogs host Hillcrest.
The Bulldogs defense forced two turnovers (a Jamarcus Means fumble recovery and a Tamijay Brown interception) and only allowed one touchdown when they were on the field in regulation. Brown had a monster day with 12 tackles, the interception, 3 TFLs and a sack to wreck havoc on Clover’s offense. Offensively, QB Imri Logan added another multi-score day, going 6-13 for 94 yards through the air with 2 touchdowns and running it 5 times for 12 yards and another touchdown in the win. Sophomore RB Malik Wannamaker led in rushing with 70 yards.
Hillcrest is 1-3 this season with its lone win coming in Week 3 at Fountain Inn 38-20. The Rams have suffered losses to Dorman, Summerville and Westside, but the offense has scored 24+ points in every game so far led by QB Jackson Free (56% completions, 773 yards, 7 touchdowns, 1 interception). His top two targets are senior Luke McCourry and sophomore Kadyn Stevenson.
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