Game of the Week 4A/5A Week 1
Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2017 12:34 pm
The TOP TEN in my most humble opinion:
Not in real order except for the Game Of The Week.
Berkeley @ Stratford is game number 2,984,898 for Slicker
Spartanburg @ T.L. Hanna Vikings without 8 players how does that hurt them?
Union County @ Gaffney No one can say Union County doesn't have a tough pre-region schedule
Dorman @ Northwestern One of these two will be the best 0-2 team in the state after Friday Night
Clinton @ Laurens So much love on the field between these two....
Hillcrest @ Mauldin Golden strip rivalry, they love each other so much they play twice many years.
Daniel @ Easley Another early rivalry match up, EHSMeanGreen may be there now waiting, not sure??
Battery Creek @ Beaufort Cross Creek Rivals, BEF can tell us more about this one
Eastside @ Riverside Can Riverside start 2-0? Been a while since that happened I bet...
But the GAME OF THE WEEK - Byrnes @ Greer
Both started out better than expected last week, the Rebels 51-0 win over Myrtle Beach was not what I was expecting at all.... I mean, I thought the Rebels had it in them for maybe a 31-21 win but I never saw them hanging 51 on MB. Greer beating Westside would have been an upset at 24-23, but to hang 41 on Westside, never saw that one. I picked Westside and I think if we went back and check it closely, I was in the majority group with that pick. So just looking at that week alone makes this a GAME OF THE WEEK candidate.
Now, add in the fact that Greer beat the Rebels in a 7 on 7 match up this summer.
Add in the fact that Greer dropped Byrnes a few years ago, or if you listen to some of the crazier folks, Byrnes dropped Greer from the schedule because of the ... trying to find a PC way to say, Greer was not liking the way the scores ended up in a few games... but PC is not my strong hold.
Sprinkle in the fact that there are many families where church members from the same youth group, cousins, best friends even play against each other in this game. I've even seen where a guy was a Greer player and his girlfriend is a cheerleader at Byrnes or vice versa... even know of a DEVOTED Rebel fan married to a great young lady, even though she is a Yellow Jacket grad.
Then add in the fact that this rivalry goes back to even before RF74 was in elementary school, heck it predates RF74 completely. There are players on both teams who may have had great-grandfather's that played against each other.
I remember being at Greer stadium doing video for the Rebels in 2000 or 2001?? and the band played Rebel Rouser and I hear the Greer video team member say "I hate that song! Always have, always will" I laughed and he said "You know why?" I said, "well I have a good idea" and he said "I played back on the old field and when that song played, you knew to get ready for a fight. Games between Greer and Byrnes were always tough!" I laughed and said, "yeah, and there were at least one or two times when the fight wasn't just a struggle, it turned into a real FIGHT!"
So history, recent and from decades back will add to what is already a great match up. So even without the Red, Blue and Gray glasses, this is my game of the week.
Not in real order except for the Game Of The Week.
Berkeley @ Stratford is game number 2,984,898 for Slicker
Spartanburg @ T.L. Hanna Vikings without 8 players how does that hurt them?
Union County @ Gaffney No one can say Union County doesn't have a tough pre-region schedule
Dorman @ Northwestern One of these two will be the best 0-2 team in the state after Friday Night
Clinton @ Laurens So much love on the field between these two....
Hillcrest @ Mauldin Golden strip rivalry, they love each other so much they play twice many years.
Daniel @ Easley Another early rivalry match up, EHSMeanGreen may be there now waiting, not sure??
Battery Creek @ Beaufort Cross Creek Rivals, BEF can tell us more about this one
Eastside @ Riverside Can Riverside start 2-0? Been a while since that happened I bet...
But the GAME OF THE WEEK - Byrnes @ Greer
Both started out better than expected last week, the Rebels 51-0 win over Myrtle Beach was not what I was expecting at all.... I mean, I thought the Rebels had it in them for maybe a 31-21 win but I never saw them hanging 51 on MB. Greer beating Westside would have been an upset at 24-23, but to hang 41 on Westside, never saw that one. I picked Westside and I think if we went back and check it closely, I was in the majority group with that pick. So just looking at that week alone makes this a GAME OF THE WEEK candidate.
Now, add in the fact that Greer beat the Rebels in a 7 on 7 match up this summer.
Add in the fact that Greer dropped Byrnes a few years ago, or if you listen to some of the crazier folks, Byrnes dropped Greer from the schedule because of the ... trying to find a PC way to say, Greer was not liking the way the scores ended up in a few games... but PC is not my strong hold.
Sprinkle in the fact that there are many families where church members from the same youth group, cousins, best friends even play against each other in this game. I've even seen where a guy was a Greer player and his girlfriend is a cheerleader at Byrnes or vice versa... even know of a DEVOTED Rebel fan married to a great young lady, even though she is a Yellow Jacket grad.
Then add in the fact that this rivalry goes back to even before RF74 was in elementary school, heck it predates RF74 completely. There are players on both teams who may have had great-grandfather's that played against each other.
I remember being at Greer stadium doing video for the Rebels in 2000 or 2001?? and the band played Rebel Rouser and I hear the Greer video team member say "I hate that song! Always have, always will" I laughed and he said "You know why?" I said, "well I have a good idea" and he said "I played back on the old field and when that song played, you knew to get ready for a fight. Games between Greer and Byrnes were always tough!" I laughed and said, "yeah, and there were at least one or two times when the fight wasn't just a struggle, it turned into a real FIGHT!"
So history, recent and from decades back will add to what is already a great match up. So even without the Red, Blue and Gray glasses, this is my game of the week.