Northwestern's 2024 Team????

[DFOLDMAN]

I think we all know you would rather play DF early rather than late- last season is a perfect example. TK will work out the bugs and jamborees don’t count for a reason. He ain’t gonna show his cards that early- counting jamboree wins and 5A titles are a little different. SCHSL had to scheme another route to the title game in 5A because every path until now had to go through Dutch Fork.
And for crying out loud don’t listen to Injun faithful poor mouthing (Mikey!) -they sound like farmers…”oh I’m about to starve to death farming “ then buys a $200k new tractor. Injuns thrive in the playoffs. Gaffney and Irmo in the title came. That’s my final answer.

Fear The Fox…

[NKOTB]

I think people feel last year NW was hands down the best team in the state and basically choked! So nobody don't think they are not a 5a div 2 contender ,but just have doubts when it comes to a Gaffney , Hanna or Irmo will the Trojans be able to get it done? I for one have no doubt they have the coach and team that can!

[trojangrad78]

I think people feel last year NW was hands down the best team in the state and basically choked! So nobody don't think they are not a 5a div 2 contender ,but just have doubts when it comes to a Gaffney , Hanna or Irmo will the Trojans be able to get it done? I for one have no doubt they have the coach and team that can!

NW best team last year?? Maybe....maybe not.

Since I was at the NW vs Greenville game last year, I can assure you NW did not "choke".

Essentially, last year's Greenville team was very senior heavy and had a lot of non-homegrown players. Their entire team, down to the ball boys, all decided to have a career game at the same time.....and it was against NW. We had a number of defensive lapses on broken plays by the Greenville quarterback scrambling. Also, as I have heard, the NW quarterback played the entire 2nd half injured, but nobody knew it.

Still, we had a chance at the end, but missed a 2 point conversion with about 1:20 left in the game.

I feel NW is a better all around team this year and has a solid chance to get to Orangeburg. Most likely, we will have to go through Gaffney or Hanna. Either way, it will be a home game for NW.

Assuming the state game is the NW vs Irmo game so many are wanting, I will be there cheering on the Trojans!

[Victory6]

Northwestern will definitely win the 5A Division 2 State Championship this year. I've watched their games and they basically blew out most of their opponents.

[NHSTrojan]

The green Homer glasses are sure in view. So, here is how it works. DF doesn’t win a jamboree, but it’s early and TK doesn’t show his cards. Obviously, you have never met Page Wofford. He and TK May be clones in both the competitive and card dealing departments. Gaffney gets a pass on anything that happens before November. Northwestern however, must not be very good because they allowed a few scores in Week 1 vs Ridgeview while scoring 45. Why did DF only score 38 while giving up zero. You are welcome for pain inflicted week 1 set Ridgeview up for the slide they went on to follow. Irmo of course is the second best team in the state, but survived OT vs the 30 seed in North Carolina. I’m sure there are excuses for that too. I watched it and the only excuse is that Butler dropped a winning pass that should never have been dropped allowing Irmo to survive.

Being a DF fan is pretty easy right now. You will cruise to another title. We could argue the HSL greased your path by creating D2. You will play Summerville again and we all know what will happen then. By the way, part of this fact is that DF is talented, well coached and expects to win. Their opponents expect them to win too.

Northwestern may or may not win the title, with the toughest road to the title in 5A, maybe any division but I’m no expert. Greenwood/Hillcrest aren’t as bad as the teams we have played the last couple years - it’s been Greenwood. Then Gaffney/TL Hanna winner, Gaffney better do a better job against Riverside than last time. Hanna is always a problem with their ball control offense - Gaffney isn’t out of the woods either. That upper state matchup will be a good one in Rock Hill. Then Irmo, as long as they stay awake they will be playing in Orangeburg. If they begin the read their own headlines they could be in trouble. Experience is a big help in big games. A coach and QB who have played for a state championship has an edge on those that haven’t. It will be a heck of a game I believe.

I agree with Dfold on one thing. Keep counting the Trojans out. Gaffney is great and nobody can beat DF ever and Irmo of course is the second coming of DF this year.

Let’s cheer on our teams and see what happens when the dust settles December 14.

[DFOLDMAN]

NW must need some cheese for all that whine. Give’em a tug and sort yourself out. Don’t be so awkward and don’t confuse facts with opinions- 7 out of the 8 titles in 5A. I don’t think I’m the only one on here that thinks DFs success recently didn’t play a part in splitting 5A. Nothing was wrong with the 5 class system before except DF almost always winning. This season for DF is a pleasant surprise- fans were looking to next season and the season after for something special- but we will take this run. Come on, placing the NW HC in the same remotely close category as a TK is a stretch- not to mention, pretentious. His track record is the best the Carolinas has ever seen. Everyone thinks this season is the best chance for NW…. So if they don’t I look forward to the excuses… I mean the “reasons” why, Keep doubting Gaffney and Irmo if that helps NW feel better. And as always…

Fear The Fox…

[GreenDragon]

I think people don’t give the Trojans the respect they deserve because Rock Hill is kind of tucked away. Yes it’s a hot bed of football, but isn’t not a “media market” like some other places. Guys that cover games are always at Irmo, Dutch Fork, Gaffney. I rarely see any of them at any Rock Hill schools.

Sometimes it’s good to be the under the radar team. Let people over look you, then make them pay for it when the time comes. Should be some exciting playoffs in every class but 1A.

Respectfully, I disagree with your assessment of Rock Hill being 'tucked away' and not having a media market. I admit Rock Hill/Football City, USA lives in the shadow of Charlotte, NC which has an NFL, NBA, MSL and Minor League baseball professional teams. But as the 5th largest city in SC, Rock Hill has gained national status due to the caliber of football players it produces annually which does make it a 'hot bed' for high school football in this state.
Several times over the past decade the good citizens of Rock Hill aka Football City, USA could brag that they had anywhere from 6 to 8 active players on NFL rosters. I don't believe you could point me to any other city in the United States the size of Rock Hill (pop. 75,000) with that many active players on NFL rosters. I would refer you to articles about Football City, USA by Bill Bender of The Sporting News and Chris Low of ESPN documenting the number of NFL players produced in Rock Hill. Both Bill and Chris covered high school football in the Rock Hill area. Chris Low is an alumnus of Rock Hill High and now covers the SEC for ESPN. Former Northwestern, Georgia and NFL tight end Ben Watson is a co-host of SEC Final each week on the SEC cable channel which is based in the Ballantyne area of Charlotte. My point is Rock Hill is known nationally for high school football by many people across this region and nation because of these men.
Regarding the 'media market' statement, obviously you aren't aware of the extensive high school football coverage WRHI/OTS Sports Network provides for fans in York and Lancaster counties. Well let me enlighten you: Every Friday night The OTS Sports Network(which consists of 4 radio stations and 1 cable TV station) has 5 or 6 games available via local radio, cable TV or their FREE App (listhttps://www.wrhi.com/) for listeners all over the world. The app allows listeners to switch from one game to another by simply selecting that game. OTS Media has reported they have had military personnel on the North/South Korean border listening to the Northwestern/Rock Hill rival game via this app. Possibly even 'Rocket Man' heard these broadcasts! I honestly don't know of any other 'media market' that has that many high school games available on ONE single network platform EVERY Friday night during football season in the state or for that matter in this nation. The OTS Sports Network concludes each Friday night with The End Zone which is a scoreboard show that covers all of the games in the area along with select games in the upper and lower state.
There have been several times where WRHI/OTS Sports Network has broadcast 2 state title games in the same day. Specifically when South Pointe was playing at the 3 A level and York and Northwestern were playing at the 4A level. OTS's Chris Miller, is the voice of the Northwestern Trojans, along with being the Pre-Game, Halftime and Post-Game host of the USC Gamecock football radio network broadcasts heard on 24 stations in SC along with Chet Tucker who is the USC radio sideline reporter. Chet is a play by play and color analyst with the OTS network as well. Oh yeah, Chris is the 13 time winner of Sportscaster of the year in SC awarded by the SC Broadcasters Association. Another member of the OTS Network's high school announcers is Tyler Cupp. Cupp is the play by play TV announcer for ESPN+'s coverage of SC State University's home football games and works as a play by play announcer for the NFHS TV coverage of state championship basketball games.
I honestly don't know who the "Guys" are that you refer to that aren't at any of the Rock Hill area teams games. Could it be that the OTS Sports Network's "Guys" are so talented and the network is so unique that your "Guys" don't need to come to the games in the Football City, USA area? Because they are aware of the depth and breadth of the OTS Sports Networks coverage of high school football.
Regarding the question about Northwestern, the road to the state titles in 5A Div 2 and 4A goes through Football City, USA. Northwestern and South Pointe are very good football teams.
The OTS Sports Network will have 6 games available to it's listeners on the radio stations and app this Friday evening. Maybe you should try the app, who knows you might like it.

[Deputy]

All of that coverage by WRHI is great. They do a wonderful job. But it is what it is. Local coverage. And that is why sometimes a team like NW, which everybody knows is good, will fly under the radar in other parts of the state.

[bigdog2003]

Articles written about the past have nothing to do with coverage about this year’s team.
You act like games on the radio are some huge special thing, most schools have their games on the radio. Every Newberry game for as long as I can remember has been on the radio, and since the invention of the internet broadcast link, broadcasted worldwide. Newberry’s had 2 games shown worldwide this year, one by WachFox57 and one by the Chapin Sports Network. They’ve played on TV several times in recent years.

Heck, a lot of schools have their games live on YouTube these days with great productions. I’ve watched many games from around the state on there. Broome has every game on there, I’ve seen many others like Clinton and Liberty play.

I was stating that none of the prep reporters I see posting updates every week from games with video and stats are at any of the Rock Hill area schools. To say that because so grads from schools up there are on national tv, they are giving the schools exposure is just untrue. Producing college and nfl talent doesn’t change the fact that the word isn’t getting out every Friday about what the teams do in real time.

I can follow play by play what some schools do on social media. I hear about their players. I couldn’t tell you 1 player from a Rock Hill area team that is having a standout season because no reporters are posting about it during games.

I didn’t knock any of the schools up there, Northwestern is really a threat to win state, but they are under the radar due to coverage. It’s the last quarter of 2024, people look to social media for their updates. When they don’t see a school popping up in the normal feeds, they don’t care.

An example, a few weeks back, Keenan came to Newberry and played a game. There were no less than 4 state wide reporters at the game filming and updating twitter all night. There was a YouTube vlogger that does different games around the state there doing highlights. Times have changed man, being on the radio is nothing when everybody is doing that and more.