D1
1 Byrnes
9 Lexington
Byrnes has established themselves as the clear odds-on favorite to win another state championship. Their HPO (High Powered Offense) is putting up record pushing numbers and they can score very quickly from anywhere on the field. Their defense, however, is allowing many more points than expected. For Lexington to have a chance, they will have to play a perfect game. Byrnes will have to make mistakes and Lexington will have to take advantage of every opportunity. Lexington has to be ready to score a td on every possession. I don't see it happening. Byrnes's defense will make enough stops for their HPO to put the game out of reach.
4 Spring Valley
5 Dutch Fork
The Battle of the Midlands. Common opponents include Irmo, South Aiken, and White Knoll. Spring Valley is undefeated and Dutch Fork's losses are to Goose Creek, Irmo by 1, and North Augusta by 9. The Columbia area teams seem to never get any respect. Dutch Fork's stub rb is back and is supposed to be healthy. He is a real play maker. I have seen Dutch Fork play (vs Dorman) and unless their secondary has greatly improved, it is susceptible to the pass. Spring Valley, however, is a running team, so that probably does not come into play for this game.....UNLESS.....the Dutch Fork defense is able to contain Spring Valley's rushing offense forcing them to throw. This has the potential for a very good game and could possibly be over by 9:00
2 Hillcrest
7 Sumter
I would call this the Battle of the Unknowns. Hillcrest and Sumter have not been on anyone's radar much this season. They both get no respect based on being in a "weak" region. Neither has what would be considered a high quality win against a known top level team. Sumter's win against Mauldin surprised many, admittedly including me. Defense? Sumter's held down the high flying offense of Mauldin. Hillcrest held an admittedly very young and inexperienced Rock Hill to 14 points. Offense? Sumter and Hillcrest scored plenty of points against weak defenses last week. Again, this game has the potential for being a very competitive and enjoyable game to watch.
3 Summerville
11 Boiling Springs
Big John has the team to advance another week, and possibly all the way to the championship game. This is one of those bragging rights games between the Lower State and the Upper State. Are either of them truly top level? Byrnes beat Boiling Springs 63-34. Summerville has already lost to Goose Creek and Stratford. Summerville has not been putting up the big numbers on the scoreboard, but they are not giving up the big numbers, either. Boiling Springs has demonstrated the ability to score a lot, and to be scored on a lot....see Mauldin 83 Boiling Springs 70 for example. Summerville's defense is going to have to make the stops and not make mistakes on offense. Boiling Springs is going to have to find a defense so the offense does not have to score so much to even have a chance for victory. This one should be interesting and a real measure of how Summerville can compete with the upstate teams.....extrapolating from Boiling Springs and who they have played.
D2
1 Goose Creek
8 South Pointe
This is the game many people have wanted to see for years. Two programs with much success over the last few years. Both teams rush, rush, rush and love to play smashmouth defense. Both teams have outstanding defensive lines. Goose Creek probably has more offensive size and talent that may not show until the 2nd half, but South Pointe, ever since the Northwestern loss and some team chemistry disruption that week, has regained their swagger and "every one is against us" attitude. South Pointe has definitely stepped it up late in the season. South Pointe is weak in the defensive secondary against the pass. I have read that Goose Creek is also susecptible to the pass. Will either team's defense force the other's offense to have to go to the pass? The team that has to pass is the team in trouble. This is South Pointe's last year in 4A and next year should be highly feared in 3A. Goose Creek, not looking forward too much but this is just an internet football forum, has the opportunity to score major bragging rights by possibly knocking off the acknowledged two perennial powers of Region 3...South Pointe and then Northwestern. This, in my opinion, is the Round 2 Game of the Week, based on what the fans across the state want to see. This game could be over by 9:00.
4 South Florence
5 Stratford
The REMATCH. Simply put, who will make the necessary adjustments......if they can!? South Florence is riding an emotional high and has a psychological edge of knowing they have already defeated Stratford once, so they can do it again. Stratford has to overcome the mental, take care of the ball, minimize or eliminate mistakes/penalties, and find a better defense. If, and I really mean if, Stratford jumps up by a couple of td's, can the South Florence kids regroup, not panic, and stick to the game plan. Again, this game was just played a few weeks ago so everything done then is still fresh is all the kid's minds. Adjustments by coaches will probably be the difference in this one since they know each other so well.
2 Northwestern
10 York
Northwestern is the odds-on favorite to make it to Columbia from this half of the bracket. They have already defeated York by 30 just a few weeks ago. This is also a region rematch. When they played previously, Northwestern totally dominated all phases of the game. It was not nearly as close as the 30 point spread showed. Simply put, York has to find a defense that nobody else has yet to find this season (Byrnes has come the closest) and they have to find the offense that has disappeared since Northwestern shut it totally down. York's secondary could not cover the Northwestern receivers weeks ago, and probably won't be able to cover them any better now. Northwestern's qb has become a threat with his legs in addition to his arm. He is a very big and strong kid who plays very very football smart. Early this season, he got rattled very easy when he was rushed. Now he uses his legs much better in the pocket and has been able to scramble very effectively when necessary. Can this year's Northwestern Air Raid offense be stopped? It is entirely possible, but probably not this week by York.
3 North Augusta
6 Beaufort
I apologize. I really don't know enough, nor have read/kept up enough on these teams to make a very valid assessment on this game. That is a fancy way of saying I don't have a clue enough to every really make up something good
On that note, I did pick North Augusta to advance in this round.Whew. A lot of rambling again from the old man. Ain't SC Friday Night Lights awesome! I hope everyone enjoys the game of their choice this weekend and may we all remember that, no matter what happens, (1) all the players are just kids, (2) they really are doing their best and they don't like to lose any more than we, the fans, like to see them lost, (3) we are all blessed to be able to get out and see the games with friends and/or family, (4) we are privileged to see high school football played as well as anywhere in the country, and (5) in the grand scheme of life, this is just a game.
. I really don't know a whole lot on North Augusta except they love passing the football. Beaufort is primarily a rushing team but can throw the ball when need be.
. Take care.
