2A Final - Barnwell vs Saluda - Benedict College, 6 Dec 5PM

[Warhorse 62]

Congratulations to the Barnwell Warhorses and the Saluda Tigers on advancing to the State Championship game. Anyone have a prediction on this game ? Looks like Warhorses will face another great QB and receivers from Saluda . Hope the weather will be great also.

[northside knight]

I'd like to hear the abbeville poster AHS14's opinion about this particular match up. He had no problem chiming in when greenwood lost. I wonder where he went?

[*Topcat*]

Barnwell appears to be the overall stronger team here. Saluda is a very well coached, gritty team, has a good QB and super quick, fast receiver or two on offense...one in particular is very fast. Their defense is nothing special. They have scored a lot recently, playing well on offense, but their D gave up 42 to Southside Christian, 28 to us, should have been more. Anything can happen in one game, best team doesn't always win, proven last friday when Saluda pulled a rabbit out of the hat against us. I give them credit for winning, but we let them off the hook plain and simple. That and the incredibly bad interference call that went against us, we had intercepted too. That clown must have just been itching to throw his flag...IDK. We beat this team by 4 TDs a few weeks ago. I would be surprised if Barnwell doesn't win this game.

[96fanatic]

No rocket science to this game.
Barnwell has to put pressure on Noah Bell
and not give up many big plays.Bell can run and pass.
Saluda has to stop Barnwell from controlling the
ball and force some punts.i pull for Saluda but i know
the kids on both teams worked hard to get here.
i hope this will be a great game.
37 years ago in 1982 i was all exited about
my 96 Wildcats playing at Barnwell for the
2a state championship.My Wildcats won that
game and were 14-0 that year.i was just
a young buck of 36 back then.

[SaludaTigerFan]

Barnwell appears to be the overall stronger team here. Saluda is a very well coached, gritty team, has a good QB and super quick, fast receiver or two on offense...one in particular is very fast. Their defense is nothing special. They have scored a lot recently, playing well on offense, but their D gave up 42 to Southside Christian, 28 to us, should have been more. Anything can happen in one game, best team doesn't always win, proven last friday when Saluda pulled a rabbit out of the hat against us. I give them credit for winning, but we let them off the hook plain and simple. That and the incredibly bad interference call that went against us, we had intercepted too. That clown must have just been itching to throw his flag...IDK. We beat this team by 4 TDs a few weeks ago. I would be surprised if Barnwell doesn't win this game.

Pulled a rabbit out of the hat against you???? Quite simply we withstood your blows and when we hit y'all back we shook y'all up. I guess you forgot about the TD that they took away from us, when they threw a flag when we were already in the endzone and then the kick gets blocked the next play. Should have hung 39 on y'all. I was sitting right where the flag was thrown on that interference, and I agree it was questionable. But there was some contact. As for our defense, we spotted you 7, with the fumble on the handoff that y'all returned to the 1. You had a great play in the reverse that went for 78 yard TD. But other than that our defense flew at you and hit you in the mouth. Noah Bell ran over every single defender y'all had and there was nothing you could do to stop it. We took your game and threw it right back at you and y'all folded. I respect the hell out of you guys, but don't make excuses, you didn't do what it takes to win the game and we did. We've been creeping towards this moment. Lost by only 5 points in UpperState Title game in 2016 (21-16) and 2017 (20-15). Despite a bad performance in the regular season, we have improved as the season goes on and play our best ball in the playoffs.

[SaludaTigerFan]

This should be a heck of a game. Barnwell is one of the best programs in the state and are a model of consistency. We need to play our best game to win and we must move on from last week's win over Abbeville if we want to win this game.

I've read that Barnwell runs a variation of offenses from Wishbone to the Spread, so it will be a challenge for us to gameplan against them. Luckily, we have seen both in the last 2 weeks and should be ready. Also read that the Warhorses have a stud LB and a salty defense.

We will need to continue to get the ball out quick and to our playmakers and let Noah Bell run the rock. He has not been stopped so far this postseason as we have finally let him cut loose running the ball. He is the difference in this game. He is 3rd all time in the state in career TD and he is what makes us go. Our defense has played well despite a tough showing against SSC in the first half, but stepped up big time in the 2nd half of that game and against Abbeville. Should be a heck of a matchup. Excited for the opportunity! Go Tigers!!!

[96fanatic]

Barnwell appears to be the overall stronger team here. Saluda is a very well coached, gritty team, has a good QB and super quick, fast receiver or two on offense...one in particular is very fast. Their defense is nothing special. They have scored a lot recently, playing well on offense, but their D gave up 42 to Southside Christian, 28 to us, should have been more. Anything can happen in one game, best team doesn't always win, proven last friday when Saluda pulled a rabbit out of the hat against us. I give them credit for winning, but we let them off the hook plain and simple. That and the incredibly bad interference call that went against us, we had intercepted too. That clown must have just been itching to throw his flag...IDK. We beat this team by 4 TDs a few weeks ago. I would be surprised if Barnwell doesn't win this game.

Pulled a rabbit out of the hat against you???? Quite simply we withstood your blows and when we hit y'all back we shook y'all up. I guess you forgot about the TD that they took away from us, when they threw a flag when we were already in the endzone and then the kick gets blocked the next play. Should have hung 39 on y'all. I was sitting right where the flag was thrown on that interference, and I agree it was questionable. But there was some contact. As for our defense, we spotted you 7, with the fumble on the handoff that y'all returned to the 1. You had a great play in the reverse that went for 78 yard TD. But other than that our defense flew at you and hit you in the mouth. Noah Bell ran over every single defender y'all had and there was nothing you could do to stop it. We took your game and threw it right back at you and y'all folded. I respect the hell out of you guys, but don't make excuses, you didn't do what it takes to win the game and we did. We've been creeping towards this moment. Lost by only 5 points in UpperState Title game in 2016 (21-16) and 2017 (20-15). Despite a bad performance in the regular season, we have improved as the season goes on and play our best ball in the playoffs.

Saluda had over 400 yards of offense.the win was no fluke.

[*Topcat*]

Barnwell appears to be the overall stronger team here. Saluda is a very well coached, gritty team, has a good QB and super quick, fast receiver or two on offense...one in particular is very fast. Their defense is nothing special. They have scored a lot recently, playing well on offense, but their D gave up 42 to Southside Christian, 28 to us, should have been more. Anything can happen in one game, best team doesn't always win, proven last friday when Saluda pulled a rabbit out of the hat against us. I give them credit for winning, but we let them off the hook plain and simple. That and the incredibly bad interference call that went against us, we had intercepted too. That clown must have just been itching to throw his flag...IDK. We beat this team by 4 TDs a few weeks ago. I would be surprised if Barnwell doesn't win this game.

Pulled a rabbit out of the hat against you???? Quite simply we withstood your blows and when we hit y'all back we shook y'all up. I guess you forgot about the TD that they took away from us, when they threw a flag when we were already in the endzone and then the kick gets blocked the next play. Should have hung 39 on y'all. I was sitting right where the flag was thrown on that interference, and I agree it was questionable. But there was some contact. As for our defense, we spotted you 7, with the fumble on the handoff that y'all returned to the 1. You had a great play in the reverse that went for 78 yard TD. But other than that our defense flew at you and hit you in the mouth. Noah Bell ran over every single defender y'all had and there was nothing you could do to stop it. We took your game and threw it right back at you and y'all folded. I respect the hell out of you guys, but don't make excuses, you didn't do what it takes to win the game and we did. We've been creeping towards this moment. Lost by only 5 points in UpperState Title game in 2016 (21-16) and 2017 (20-15). Despite a bad performance in the regular season, we have improved as the season goes on and play our best ball in the playoffs.

I agree with you, Saluda made the plays to win the game, I give full credit to them for that. It was as if Saluda just wanted it more....hit us in the mouth and we just didn't respond. Saluda was also, certainly more adept at making in game adjustments than we were. Why we don't attempt to toss a few passes right over the middle, right over the top of 9 in the box is beyond me. The Saluda coach knows we won't do it and sells out against the run, which is smart. We've had close calls in playoffs the last 2 years due to this same situation, but, pulled it out due to some great athletes, not this time, it caught up with us. I would hope we would learn from it, but, I doubt it. Most of the time we just impose our will...but there comes a time when you need a hint of diversity, and that is our weakness. The penalty on that Saluda TD was a procedure penalty, they called a slew of them on us. The interference call was a game changer, like it or not. Without it, we likely win that game. Think about this for a minute...counting our 48-20 win earlier and a 21-3 lead early 3rd qtr this game...that's 69-23 through basically 6 qtrs of football this year. Then Saluda goes on a 29-7 run 2nd half to win. Kind of crazy. Look I respect Saluda very much because I know those boys will always play hard, and, are very well coached. You will never convince me the better team won..... but It really doesn't matter what I think, bottom line is Saluda did win the game. It's all about Saluda and Barnwell now. Both are equally deserving of a shot....good luck to both.

[SaludaTigerFan]

Barnwell appears to be the overall stronger team here. Saluda is a very well coached, gritty team, has a good QB and super quick, fast receiver or two on offense...one in particular is very fast. Their defense is nothing special. They have scored a lot recently, playing well on offense, but their D gave up 42 to Southside Christian, 28 to us, should have been more. Anything can happen in one game, best team doesn't always win, proven last friday when Saluda pulled a rabbit out of the hat against us. I give them credit for winning, but we let them off the hook plain and simple. That and the incredibly bad interference call that went against us, we had intercepted too. That clown must have just been itching to throw his flag...IDK. We beat this team by 4 TDs a few weeks ago. I would be surprised if Barnwell doesn't win this game.

Pulled a rabbit out of the hat against you???? Quite simply we withstood your blows and when we hit y'all back we shook y'all up. I guess you forgot about the TD that they took away from us, when they threw a flag when we were already in the endzone and then the kick gets blocked the next play. Should have hung 39 on y'all. I was sitting right where the flag was thrown on that interference, and I agree it was questionable. But there was some contact. As for our defense, we spotted you 7, with the fumble on the handoff that y'all returned to the 1. You had a great play in the reverse that went for 78 yard TD. But other than that our defense flew at you and hit you in the mouth. Noah Bell ran over every single defender y'all had and there was nothing you could do to stop it. We took your game and threw it right back at you and y'all folded. I respect the hell out of you guys, but don't make excuses, you didn't do what it takes to win the game and we did. We've been creeping towards this moment. Lost by only 5 points in UpperState Title game in 2016 (21-16) and 2017 (20-15). Despite a bad performance in the regular season, we have improved as the season goes on and play our best ball in the playoffs.

I agree with you, Saluda made the plays to win the game, I give full credit to them for that. It was as if Saluda just wanted it more....hit us in the mouth and we just didn't respond. Saluda was also, certainly more adept at making in game adjustments than we were. Why we don't attempt to toss a few passes right over the middle, right over the top of 9 in the box is beyond me. The Saluda coach knows we won't do it and sells out against the run, which is smart. We've had close calls in playoffs the last 2 years due to this same situation, but, pulled it out due to some great athletes, not this time, it caught up with us. I would hope we would learn from it, but, I doubt it. Most of the time we just impose our will...but there comes a time when you need a hint of diversity, and that is our weakness. The penalty on that Saluda TD was a procedure penalty, they called a slew of them on us. The interference call was a game changer, like it or not. Without it, we likely win that game. Think about this for a minute...counting our 48-20 win earlier and a 21-3 lead early 3rd qtr this game...that's 69-23 through basically 6 qtrs of football this year. Then Saluda goes on a 29-7 run 2nd half to win. Kind of crazy. Look I respect Saluda very much because I know those boys will always play hard, and, are very well coached. You will never convince me the better team won..... but It really doesn't matter what I think, bottom line is Saluda did win the game. It's all about Saluda and Barnwell now. Both are equally deserving of a shot....good luck to both.

Well said and I appreciate the compliments of our team. I agree that if we played y'all 10 times, you win 9. Especially at Hite Stadium. It always puzzles me that Abbeville doesn't pass 8-10 times a game. With all that speed, you would think that they could run a few routes to keep teams on their heels.

[SaludaTigerFan]

Congratulations to the Barnwell Warhorses and the Saluda Tigers on advancing to the State Championship game. Anyone have a prediction on this game ? Looks like Warhorses will face another great QB and receivers from Saluda . Hope the weather will be great also.

Congrats on winning LowerState. We look forward to playing you guys. Much respect to the program y'all have. 4 straight lowerstate appearances is quite an accomplishment. I listened to the press conference this morning and liked what your coach and players had to say. We will have our hands full stopping you guys and scheming against Watson on Defense. At the end of the day, I gotta roll with my Tigers in this one.

Saluda 35
Barnwell 28