The playoffs start statewide on Friday night. This article looks at all of the 1st round playoff games involving the 2A and 1A teams, we have covered this season on the Saturday Morning Scramble. In 2A, the question will be can anybody Defending State Champs Gray Collegiate? Another traditional power, Abbeville was knocked out of the postseason by them last year, is on the opposite side of the bracket. The two would only meet in the Upper State Title game. In 1A, the focus will be on if Southside Christian can successfully defend their State Title and make it a Three-Peat? Below is the playoff games for teams from Region 1-2A and Region 1-1A.
Class 2A
Abbeville hosts Columbia High- Abbeville won the Region 1 Title and would be a heavy favorite in this game, Columbia finished 6th out of 7 teams in Region 4. The group from the Metro will find out that in Abbeville they do two things, 1. Play Football 2. Deer Hunt and they are good at both. The road to the State Finals runs through the "Ville" , as they would have homefield all through the Upper State bracket.
Ninety Six At Fairfield Central- Ninety Six finished 3rd in region 1 and was blown out by Region Champs Abbeville. They also lost at Landrum in region. Fairfield Central finished 2nd in Region 4 behind powerhouse Gray Collegiate.
Chesnee at Strom Thurmond- Chesnee is the 5th place finisher in Region 1, Thurmond won the Region 3 Title. While Region 3 isn't perceived to be as strong as region 4, Thurmond looks likely to make a pretty deep run, they would have homefield through the 1st 3 rounds. If they win the 1st two games a 3rd round match up with Gray is most likely scenario.
Landrum hosts Keenan- The Cardinals finished 2nd in region 1 with their only region loss coming to Abbeville. However, Landrum's other losses are all to the best teams on their schedule. They have beaten the teams they should have, but don't have a major signature win, at least not yet. Keenan was the 4th place finisher in Region 4. They are traditionally a basketball school, but this year's football squad is solid. They went 6-4 and 4-2 in region. They lost non-region games to larger schools and fell to Gray and Fairfield Central. Keenan lost a close game to FC falling by a TD. This is probably the best 1st round matchup involving any of the teams we cover in 2A.
Liberty at Saluda- The Red Devils are the 4 seed and will travel to take on Region 3's 3rd place squad in Saluda. It's a long road trip for the boys from Pickens County. However, with 2A only having 3 regions in the Upper State Bracket, Liberty gets a better draw than usual. Traditionally and in most regions this year, the 4th place finisher travels to a Region Champion to play in the 1st round.
1A is in the same boat as 2A, in terms of there being only 3 regions in the Upper State bracket. Therefore, to make 16 teams Region 1 and Region 3 are getting 6 teams from each region in the playoffs. Region 1 has 7 members, region 4 has 8. Region 3 is getting 4 of their 5 teams.
'1A
Christ Church hosts McBee- CCES has been rolling along after a non-region loss to Holy Innocents in Georgia early this season. The Cavs did struggle some but managed to win 14-13 over Southside Christian to take the Region 1 Title. Christ Church RB Dashun Reeder , is likely the most valuable player in 1A statewide. Reeder has well over a 1,000 yards rushing and seems to score multiple rushing TD's every game. McBee is the 4th place finisher out of Region 3's 5 teams. CCES would have homefield all the way to the State Finals.
Dixie is at Calhoun County- Dixie got a hard fought win in a close game over Ware Shoals, ultimately put them in 5th spot in Region 1. Calhoun County is the #2 finisher in Region 4. Another basketball power having a standout season in football, this year.
McCormick at Denmark-Olar - This will be about a 2 hour bus ride for the guys from McCormick. Homefield especially in 1A matters, because the school's are spread out geographically. There are not very many 1A schools in the Upstate geographically, Denmark is in Bamberg County, yet in the Upper State bracket. The Chiefs finished 4th in a loaded Region 1. D-O took in Region 4.
Ware Shoals at Wagener-Salley- Another long road trip for a Region 1 team. It's about an 80 mile drive for Ware Shoals, but there's no interstate between the two towns. Therefore, the drive takes about 90 minutes in a car and longer in a bus. Wagener-Salley has had a tremendous year, winning Region 4. Them and Lewisville look like the most viable threats outside of the top teams in Region 1.
Southside Christian hosts Blackville Hilda- The Sabres open their State Title defense and are looking for a three-peat. They have 4 losses, they started the season 0-3 against a really tough non-region slate. That slate included Abbeville, Charlotte Christian and Jefferson, Georgia. The question was posed when Christ Church and St. Joe's were realigned from 2A to 1A going into this year, if the Sabres could still three-peat? We will find out. SC finished 2nd in Region 1 dropping a 1 point heartbreaker to Christ Church that costed them the Region Title. BH finished 5th in Region 4.
St. Joe's at Whitmire- St. Joseph's went 8-2 this season and got a road win over Region 1 3A's 2nd best team Seneca. Their 2 losses were to a good Southside Christian team who had two bye weeks prior to that game and Christ Church. The loss to the Cavs was a bad loss by a huge margin at home. Because of those losses, the Knights are on the road in round 1. Whitmire finished 3rd in Region 3. They got the benefit of their not being 4 regions in the Upper State 1A bracket and get to host as a 3rd place finisher in their region.
St. Joe's at Whitmire is probably the most intriguing and likely to be the most competitive game on this 1A slate. I know in talking to St. Joe's Coach Chris Goodman, his guys would like another crack at Southside Christian. They will get that chance in the 2nd round, if they both win on Friday.
