Upper/Lower State games.....all classes

[trojangrad78]

It is the next to last week of the 2024 high school football season and state championship game berths are on the line. Most of this week's games are the games people have either expected or hoped for. Also, let's see how the SCHSL seedings worked out.

CLASS 5-A DIVISION 1
Upper State: SPARTANBURG #2 at DUTCH FORK #1
Lower State: SUMTER #2 at SUMMERVILLE #1

CLASS 5-A DIVISION 2
Upper State: GAFFNEY #2 at NORTHWESTERN #1
Lower State: WHITE KNOLL #7 at IRMO #1

CLASS 4-A
Upper State: SOUTH POINTE #3 at WESTSIDE #1
Lower State: SOUTH FLORENCE #4 at NORTH AUGUSTA #2

CLASS 3-A
Upper State: BELTON-HONEA PATH #2 at MOUNTAIN VIEW PREP #1
Lower State: OCEANSIDE COLLEGIATE #2 at LORIS #1

CLASS 2-A
Upper State: FAIRFIELD CENTRAL Region 3 Champion at CLINTON Region 1 Champion
Lower State: MANNING Region 7 Champion at BARNWELL Region 5 Champion

CLASS 1-A
Upper State: LEWISVILLE Region 2 Champion at ABBEVILLE Region 1 Champion
Lower State: LAKE VIEW Region 6 Champion at CROSS Region 5 Champion

Kudos to White Knoll for advancing by defeating Lugoff-Elgin #10, Myrtle Beach #2, and Berkeley #3 (sorry, Slick)

Just a few comments before anyone else throws their 2 cents in.

5A-D1
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Upper State: Dutch Fork is the standard everyone else is striving to achieve. Many believe the DF/Spartanburg game is really the state championship game as neither Summerville or Sumter would appear to match up well against against either of the upper state teams. Spartanburg will have to bring a complete game for 4 quarters, meaning absolutely minimal penalties and no turnovers. They played at the beginning of the season is a weather shortened game (lightning). Both teams are much improved since that game. This should be an outstanding game. I would expect a 7-10 point game.

Lower State: Sumter and Summerville bring 12-0 records into this game. Common opponents are James Island, Ashley Ridge, and Ridge View.
Results were:
Summerville 26 James Island 0 vs Sumter 34 James Island 17
Summerville 49 Ashley Ridge 48 vs Sumter 55 Ashley Ridge 24
Summerville 49 Ridge View 20 vs Sumter 49 Ridge View 6
I don't see anything of note from those comparisons. This looks to be the making of a good game. Can the winner match up to DF/Spartanburg?? We shall see in Orangeburg.

5A-D2
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Upper State: Northwestern vs Gaffney is the game people have been look forward to since early in the season. Normally this is a regular season non-region game, but with the realignments, we have had to wait for the playoffs for this one. Northwestern has pretty much cruised through their region schedule while Gaffney would appear to have had a tougher region schedule. Has that made Gaffney more battle toughened? Will Northwestern be prepared to step it up a huge level to play against Gaffney? Can Gaffney's defense limit Northwestern's possessions and keep their potent offense off the field and limit their scoring? Can Northwestern's defense pressure Gaffney's quarterback and force Gaffney into a one-dimensional offense....rushing? Can Northwestern's defensive speed and aggressiveness be controlled to keep the Gaffney quarterback contained in the pocket and not be able to run quarterback draws or scramble on busted plays? This has all the makings of a "classic".

Lower State: Irmo has only 1 loss....to Dutch Fork by 10 (DF 24 Irmo 14). I don't see Irmo having any problems with White Knoll. I don't think this will be a close game. Another big point spread won by Irmo.

4A
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Upper State: South Pointe has greatly improved on offense since they played Northwestern and their starting quarterback returned from injury. Both teams had demonstrated the ability to put lots of points on the board. I think the key to this game is simply which defense will be able to slow down / stop the other team's offense. Also, as is so often, a bad penalty at a bad moment or a turnover could change the entire game. If neither defense shows up, this could be a 64-61 final score.

Lower State: I think South Florence has played a tougher season schedule. They lost early in the season to Summerville (20-46) and Northwestern (7-48). Late in the season, they were defeated by Hartsville (35-54) with their option offense, which is hard to prepare for. Only 3 weeks later, they play again (both games were at Hartsville) and South Florence prevails (49-21). North Augusta brings a 12-1 record with their only loss to Lexington by 1 point (19-20) in game 2 of the season. Offense put fans in the stands, but defense wins championships. Whose defense will prevail in this one? I think South Florence may be a little more seasoned and prevails in a close one.

3A
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Upper State: Mountain View Prep is the team everyone loves to hate this year. This is not the thread to get into all the "stuff" about the program. The team exists within the rules as established by the SCHSL. The real question is how Belton-Honea Path matches up on the football field...team vs team.

Common opponents are Broome, Chapman, Crescent, Southside Christian, and Walhalla.
MVP 49 Broome 20 vs BHP 45 Broome 14
MVP 27 Chapman 9 vs BHP 42 Chapman 7
MVP 48 Crescent 21 (regular season) MVP 30 Crescent 14 (playoff) vs BHP 48 Crescent 21
MVP 49 Southside Christian 7 vs BHP 63 Southside Christian 20
MVP 42 Walhalla 19 vs BHP 49 Walhalla 0
In these match ups, I don't think there is anything that stands out.

Bottom line on this game is two-fold.
1: Pretty much everyone but MVP fans wants MVP to lose based on how the team was put together.
2. Typical football speak - who wins in the trenches, penalties, turnovers, mistakes, defense.

On paper, looks like the makings of a close game. Can the public school of home grown talent prevail??

Lower State: I only know about these teams from what I have seen online.

Common opponents are Hanahan, Waccamaw, and Dillon.
Loris 28 Hanahan 21 vs OCA 49 Hanahan 7
Loris 40 Waccamaw 14 vs OCA 36 Waccamaw 6
Loris 30 Dillon 27 vs OCA 28 Dillon 21
Again, hard to get much from those comparisons.

OCA defeated Ashley Ridge (42-29) and lost to Dutch Fork (0-51). Will these two games give OCA a slight advantage? Loris has only 1 loss....to Socastee (13-14). Should be an interesting game.

2A
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Upper State: Fairfield Central (12-1) vs Clinton (10-2). These are two programs with storied pasts.

Common opponents are Newberry and Chester.
FC 49 Newberry 42 vs Clinton 23 Newberry 14
FC 22 Chester 6 vs Clinton 48 Chester 20

Other games of note: FC lost to Ridge View (18-42) in the first game of the season. FC defeated a quality 1A Upper State finalist Lewisville (33-8). Clinton lost to Woodruff (36-40) in the first game of the season. Clinton lost to Daniel (12-37) mid season. Clinton advance in the playoffs by defeated previously undefeated, and 2A Region 2 champion Batesburg-Leesville (31-14). Season stats show both teams capable of lots of scoring. Clinton appears to give up a few more points per game that FC, but that could be the opponents. Final score prediction? If you are a fan, go to the game and enjoy it. Support your team. One team's defense will need to shut down the other team's running game.

Lower State: Manning (11-1) vs Barnwell (12-1)

One common opponent, Hampton County.
Manning 28 Hampton County 27 (OT) vs Barnwell 27 Hampton County 14.

Honestly, I do not know anything about the teams, so no additional comments.

1A
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Upper State: Abbeville (11-1) is the South Carolina small school powerhouse. In the 1A/2A past, to be the best, you had to be able to defeat Abbeville. Lewisville (12-1) is the recent contender trying to toe up to Abbeville.

Abbeville's only loss is to 2A Region 2 champion Batesburg-Leesville and Lewisville's only loss is to 2A Region 3 champion Fairfield Central (2A upper state finalist by defeating Batesburg-Leesville).

This is the 1A game in the upper state that people have been wanting to see.

Abbeville is still the team to beat. Could this be Lewisville's year? Should be a slobberknocker.

Lower State: Lake View (11-1) vs Cross (11-2)

Common opponents are Scott's Branch, Green Sea Floyd's, and Hannah-Pamplico.
Lake View 41 Scott's Branch 14 vs Cross 54 Scott's Branch 12
Lake View 51 Green Sea Floyd's 8 vs Cross 48 Green Sea Floyd's 0
Lake View 30 Hannah-Pamplico 7 vs Cross 12 Hanna-Pamplico 7

Cross has 7 shutout victories. Lake View has 3 shutout victories.

Does Cross have the better defense or is it just the opponents??

No predictions at all. I don't know enough about the teams.

I am hoping LOTS of comments will come through from LOTS of folks.

Be true to your school!!!

tg78

[Greerfan1]

It is the next to last week of the 2024 high school football season and state championship game berths are on the line. Most of this week's games are the games people have either expected or hoped for. Also, let's see how the SCHSL seedings worked out.

CLASS 5-A DIVISION 1
Upper State: SPARTANBURG #2 at DUTCH FORK #1
Lower State: SUMTER #2 at SUMMERVILLE #1

CLASS 5-A DIVISION 2
Upper State: GAFFNEY #2 at NORTHWESTERN #1
Lower State: WHITE KNOLL #7 at IRMO #1

CLASS 4-A
Upper State: SOUTH POINTE #3 at WESTSIDE #1
Lower State: SOUTH FLORENCE #4 at NORTH AUGUSTA #2

CLASS 3-A
Upper State: BELTON-HONEA PATH #2 at MOUNTAIN VIEW PREP #1
Lower State: OCEANSIDE COLLEGIATE #2 at LORIS #1

CLASS 2-A
Upper State: FAIRFIELD CENTRAL Region 3 Champion at CLINTON Region 1 Champion
Lower State: MANNING Region 7 Champion at BARNWELL Region 5 Champion

CLASS 1-A
Upper State: LEWISVILLE Region 2 Champion at ABBEVILLE Region 1 Champion
Lower State: LAKE VIEW Region 6 Champion at CROSS Region 5 Champion

Kudos to White Knoll for advancing by defeating Lugoff-Elgin #10, Myrtle Beach #2, and Berkeley #3 (sorry, Slick)

Just a few comments before anyone else throws their 2 cents in.

5A-D1
----------
Upper State: Dutch Fork is the standard everyone else is striving to achieve. Many believe the DF/Spartanburg game is really the state championship game as neither Summerville or Sumter would appear to match up well against against either of the upper state teams. Spartanburg will have to bring a complete game for 4 quarters, meaning absolutely minimal penalties and no turnovers. They played at the beginning of the season is a weather shortened game (lightning). Both teams are much improved since that game. This should be an outstanding game. I would expect a 7-10 point game.

Lower State: Sumter and Summerville bring 12-0 records into this game. Common opponents are James Island, Ashley Ridge, and Ridge View.
Results were:
Summerville 26 James Island 0 vs Sumter 34 James Island 17
Summerville 49 Ashley Ridge 48 vs Sumter 55 Ashley Ridge 24
Summerville 49 Ridge View 20 vs Sumter 49 Ridge View 6
I don't see anything of note from those comparisons. This looks to be the making of a good game. Can the winner match up to DF/Spartanburg?? We shall see in Orangeburg.

5A-D2
----------
Upper State: Northwestern vs Gaffney is the game people have been look forward to since early in the season. Normally this is a regular season non-region game, but with the realignments, we have had to wait for the playoffs for this one. Northwestern has pretty much cruised through their region schedule while Gaffney would appear to have had a tougher region schedule. Has that made Gaffney more battle toughened? Will Northwestern be prepared to step it up a huge level to play against Gaffney? Can Gaffney's defense limit Northwestern's possessions and keep their potent offense off the field and limit their scoring? Can Northwestern's defense pressure Gaffney's quarterback and force Gaffney into a one-dimensional offense....rushing? Can Northwestern's defensive speed and aggressiveness be controlled to keep the Gaffney quarterback contained in the pocket and not be able to run quarterback draws or scramble on busted plays? This has all the makings of a "classic".

Lower State: Irmo has only 1 loss....to Dutch Fork by 10 (DF 24 Irmo 14). I don't see Irmo having any problems with White Knoll. I don't think this will be a close game. Another big point spread won by Irmo.

4A
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Upper State: South Pointe has greatly improved on offense since they played Northwestern and their starting quarterback returned from injury. Both teams had demonstrated the ability to put lots of points on the board. I think the key to this game is simply which defense will be able to slow down / stop the other team's offense. Also, as is so often, a bad penalty at a bad moment or a turnover could change the entire game. If neither defense shows up, this could be a 64-61 final score.

Lower State: I think South Florence has played a tougher season schedule. They lost early in the season to Summerville (20-46) and Northwestern (7-48). Late in the season, they were defeated by Hartsville (35-54) with their option offense, which is hard to prepare for. Only 3 weeks later, they play again (both games were at Hartsville) and South Florence prevails (49-21). North Augusta brings a 12-1 record with their only loss to Lexington by 1 point (19-20) in game 2 of the season. Offense put fans in the stands, but defense wins championships. Whose defense will prevail in this one? I think South Florence may be a little more seasoned and prevails in a close one.

3A
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Upper State: Mountain View Prep is the team everyone loves to hate this year. This is not the thread to get into all the "stuff" about the program. The team exists within the rules as established by the SCHSL. The real question is how Belton-Honea Path matches up on the football field...team vs team.

Common opponents are Broome, Chapman, Crescent, Southside Christian, and Walhalla.
MVP 49 Broome 20 vs BHP 45 Broome 14
MVP 27 Chapman 9 vs BHP 42 Chapman 7
MVP 48 Crescent 21 (regular season) MVP 30 Crescent 14 (playoff) vs BHP 48 Crescent 21
MVP 49 Southside Christian 7 vs BHP 63 Southside Christian 20
MVP 42 Walhalla 19 vs BHP 49 Walhalla 0
In these match ups, I don't think there is anything that stands out.

Bottom line on this game is two-fold.
1: Pretty much everyone but MVP fans wants MVP to lose based on how the team was put together.
2. Typical football speak - who wins in the trenches, penalties, turnovers, mistakes, defense.

On paper, looks like the makings of a close game. Can the public school of home grown talent prevail??

Lower State: I only know about these teams from what I have seen online.

Common opponents are Hanahan, Waccamaw, and Dillon.
Loris 28 Hanahan 21 vs OCA 49 Hanahan 7
Loris 40 Waccamaw 14 vs OCA 36 Waccamaw 6
Loris 30 Dillon 27 vs OCA 28 Dillon 21
Again, hard to get much from those comparisons.

OCA defeated Ashley Ridge (42-29) and lost to Dutch Fork (0-51). Will these two games give OCA a slight advantage? Loris has only 1 loss....to Socastee (13-14). Should be an interesting game.

2A
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Upper State: Fairfield Central (12-1) vs Clinton (10-2). These are two programs with storied pasts.

Common opponents are Newberry and Chester.
FC 49 Newberry 42 vs Clinton 23 Newberry 14
FC 22 Chester 6 vs Clinton 48 Chester 20

Other games of note: FC lost to Ridge View (18-42) in the first game of the season. FC defeated a quality 1A Upper State finalist Lewisville (33-8). Clinton lost to Woodruff (36-40) in the first game of the season. Clinton lost to Daniel (12-37) mid season. Clinton advance in the playoffs by defeated previously undefeated, and 2A Region 2 champion Batesburg-Leesville (31-14). Season stats show both teams capable of lots of scoring. Clinton appears to give up a few more points per game that FC, but that could be the opponents. Final score prediction? If you are a fan, go to the game and enjoy it. Support your team. One team's defense will need to shut down the other team's running game.

Lower State: Manning (11-1) vs Barnwell (12-1)

One common opponent, Hampton County.
Manning 28 Hampton County 27 (OT) vs Barnwell 27 Hampton County 14.

Honestly, I do not know anything about the teams, so no additional comments.

1A
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Upper State: Abbeville (11-1) is the South Carolina small school powerhouse. In the 1A/2A past, to be the best, you had to be able to defeat Abbeville. Lewisville (12-1) is the recent contender trying to toe up to Abbeville.

Abbeville's only loss is to 2A Region 2 champion Batesburg-Leesville and Lewisville's only loss is to 2A Region 3 champion Fairfield Central (2A upper state finalist by defeating Batesburg-Leesville).

This is the 1A game in the upper state that people have been wanting to see.

Abbeville is still the team to beat. Could this be Lewisville's year? Should be a slobberknocker.

Lower State: Lake View (11-1) vs Cross (11-2)

Common opponents are Scott's Branch, Green Sea Floyd's, and Hannah-Pamplico.
Lake View 41 Scott's Branch 14 vs Cross 54 Scott's Branch 12
Lake View 51 Green Sea Floyd's 8 vs Cross 48 Green Sea Floyd's 0
Lake View 30 Hannah-Pamplico 7 vs Cross 12 Hanna-Pamplico 7

Cross has 7 shutout victories. Lake View has 3 shutout victories.

Does Cross have the better defense or is it just the opponents??

No predictions at all. I don't know enough about the teams.

I am hoping LOTS of comments will come through from LOTS of folks.

Be true to your school!!!

tg78

What an absolutely amazing slate of games we have this week! ( except for MVP and Oceanside being included of coarse )

I for one am most excited for the Gaffney vs Northwestern game, I think it has all the makings of one we will remember for a long time, excited to see how Gilmore and the offense do against a really good Trojan defense.

Some initial thoughts on Dutch Fork vs Spartanburg, get your popcorn ready.

[DFOLDMAN]

TK and the Foxes are 11-0 in semi final games. TK said after the RB game this team was as good as he has had in a while- which is strong talk from him. DF is healthy.

First meeting with Spartanburg had 6 or 7 starters just finishing up a long baseball season and rusty. Also almost 200 yards in penalties in that game against DF. DF plays stingy defense and efficient offense. Playing TK twice in a season is tough- him getting to see what a team likes to do on both sides of the ball. Have to wait and see what happens.

Fear The Fox…

[bringthewood]

One of, if not, the best posts of the year @trojangrad78

Additions/fun facts from https://ghsfha.org/w/Special:SCHSFHS/school/index
AAAAA
Gaffney 18 rings, last 2021
Summerville 12 rings, last 1998
Spartanburg 7 rings, last 2014
Sumter 3 rings, last 1990
total - 40

Summerville wins 845 #1
Gaffney wins 836 #2
Sumter wins 769 #3
Spartanburg wins 713 #10
Combined wins - 3153

AAAA
South Point has won 7 rings in 19 years and only has 1 losing season (1st)
Westside won it 1st ring last year in it's 72 years of football
South Florence took almost 40 years to win a region championship, then won their 1st ring less than 10 years later
North Augusta, THE team to live the dream. 1989 Coach Utsey took a losing team into the playoffs. Lost their first 6 games. Won 4 region games to finish 5th, made the playoffs. Region champ Greenwood got beat by NWest in the 2nd round. Beat Laurens in Rd 1, region runnerup. NA beat Airport the 2nd time in Rd 2. Beat another Chinderlla in Union in Rd 3 by 1. Then shut out the 3rd place finishers in RNE to finally climb over .500 and claim the big ring.

AAA
MVP.... their 1st year
BHP won their only ring in 2004 with Greenville County legend Wayne Green. A team that has been very good since the calendar clicked over to begin with 2 and is lead by another well respected HC in Russel Blackston... so glad he has recovered from his heart attack a few years ago.
Oceanside is looking for it's 3rd straight finals appearance and looking to go back to back.
Loris has been around for 95 years and only in the last 50 started to see the playoffs. Interesting note, Loris was lead by the infamous Mike Martin for several years back in the 80's.

AA
Fairfield Central's Buddy Plough used his ring to jump to the college ranks, and his successor also went 15-0 to win the school a back to back ring. And while FC has been very good, those are the only 2 rings in the school's history.
While 'Clinnon' is in the top 10 for rings (publics) they fired their last ring coach after their most recent title. They are still in the top 12 of all time wins.
Manning has 1 ring in 1988 and has been playing for 102 years.They have been good, very good, and well okay over the years. The very definition of Low State team.
Barnwell went back to back in 87/88 for their 3rd ring, but recently have seen really good seasons end deep in the playoffs.

A
Lewisville Big Bennie McMurray dominated 1A in his time their then ran off to to a payday and the Lions fell on harder times... a lot schools would love to have those 'hard times'. The Lions are back, but can Usher turn Lewisville into what he couldn't do back home?
Abbeville is an enigma. They are top 5 all time wins and have been around for over a century, and won their 1st ring after over 50 years of football - 1971 in AAA. The won the 2nd 10 years later in 1981 AA. Then won their 3rd 10 years later in 1991 AA, 5 years later in 1996 AA, then 14 years later in AD1 and back to back 2010/2011, then back to a 4 in row 2015/16/17/18 for some AA rings, and AA again in 2020 and 2022. NOW back to A. They are tied for 3rd all time in total rings, but have manage to do it in 4 different divisions.
Lake View is top 6 is all time wins and has won over 700 games (739). Since 1970 LV has only had THREE head coaches; Bill Pate, Jewell McLaurin, and Daryl King.
Cross has been strong the last few years and looking for it's second ring since 2012.

[Mbfootballfan]

I knew Loris was going to be good after seeing them in early scrimmage games. I’m happy to see them have this kind of success. The Lions will need to play their best football to win. OCA might be just a tad too strong the way I see it but still hope that Loris can somehow find a way to win. And BHP.

[Belvedere]

One of, if not, the best posts of the year @trojangrad78 (AGREED!!)

North Augusta, THE team to live the dream. 1989 Coach Utsey took a losing team into the playoffs. Lost their first 6 games. Won 4 region games to finish 5th, made the playoffs. Region champ Greenwood got beat by NWest in the 2nd round. Beat Laurens in Rd 1, region runnerup. NA beat Airport the 2nd time in Rd 2. Beat another Cinderella in Union in Rd 3 by 1. Then shut out the 3rd place finishers in RNE to finally climb over .500 and claim the big ring.

Beat Lower Richland, not RNE, 14-0. I still remember the sleet clanging off the bleachers at W-B that night, as well as the post-game hot yeast rolls at Quincy's in West Columbia.

That was a weird season - 12-3 state runner-up the prior year, returned everyone, had so, so many injuries, something like 4 losses by 1-3 points, went 0-for-Aiken Co. somehow - but flipped it and went 8-1 to close.