High School Football season got underway for most teams around the Upstate this week. While we can't base too much on just a one game sample size, there are some things that we can takeaway after seeing teams on the field for the opener.
1. "Growing Pains For Gaffney".- The defending 5A State Champs are working to replace quite a bit of personnel from last year's title team. Indians Head Coach Dan Jones talked about having 7 Sophomores in his lineup following the opener. Gaffney went on the road to defending 4A State Champs South Pointe-Rock Hill and were beaten convincingly 47-26. SP led 40-6 in the 4th before Gaffney was able to get a rally back to make the final a bit more respectable. The Indians are playing an ambitious non-conference schedule , before going into Region play, in 5A Region II which is expected to be as good a region as there is in the state. Talent is still there for Gaffney and I expect that they will improve vastly as their youngsters grow up , week by week.
2. "Jeter's Return For Spartanburg"- Sports has a way of ruining otherwise incredible feel good stories, sometimes. Spartanburg QB Raheim Jeter was back on the field Saturday night for the first time since being shot in February. Just 6 months after suffering a sever injury in the road rage shooting incident and undergoing surgery, Jeter is back on the field. The Vikings lost Raheim's return game at Georgia 6A power Langston Hughes, 47-16. There's no time for Coach Mark Hodge's squad to dwell on the loss as they host 5A State Runner Ups Dutch Fork this week.
3. Southside Christian's win streak snapped unexpectedly. Coming into this season, the Sabres had not lost since the 2019 2A playoffs. They had won 23 straight and taken back to back State Titles in Class 1A. The big storyline surrounding them coming to this year, was could they get through unscathed or when would the streak in? The Sabres have Abbeville on the schedule for Sept. 2nd, many people circled that game, as the time the streak maybe snapped. Others, looked to Region play to the possible time for their 1st loss, as Christ Church and St. Joseph's have been realigned back to Region 1 1A after being moved to Class 2A for the last two seasons. Southside Christian fell at Commerce, Georgia in Week 0 and now it's time for Coach Mike Sonneborn's guys to regroup and refocus, as they take on Charlotte Christian this coming week and Abbeville the following week.
4. "Dorman's Dominant Run Game"- The Cavs have a brand new Head Coach and it was quite the debut for Coach Dustin Curtis. He replaces longtime Dorman Coach Dave Gutshall, who retired at the end of last season. Curtis was at A.C. Flora prior to Dorman and built them into a state level contender. Dorman was dominant on the ground in their season opening win over highly touted Greenville High, 53-28. The Cavs racked up nearly 400 rushing yards, as RB Demarius Foster went for 306 yards and 3 TD's on 20 carries. Dorman's run game is anchored by a couple of "road graders" on the O-line in South Carolina commit Markee Anderson and UNC commit D.J. Geth.
5. "Tradition Never Graduates"- That's the theme I took away from Daniel's decisive 51-21 win over Greer. Some media pundits were expecting Greer to really challenge Daniel in the opener and possibly pull the upset. I wasn't one of them, to me somebody has to prove it to me and knock Daniel off before I believe it. Daniel has now 25 in a row and are two time defending 3A State Champs. They graduated All-State level players like Trent Pearman at QB and Jaheim Lawson on the D-line, but didn't seem to miss a step in the opener. Blaine Simmons looked more than solid in his first start at QB and he has weapons to throw to in D-1 prospect Misun Kelly and the tremendously productive Eli Merck. The Daniel defense had a solid performance as well, as they held Greer RB Landanian Martin to under 70 yards rushing. Martin is a Sophomore who already has offers from Tennessee and Louisville.
6. "Ram-Rodding Their Way Up The Polls"- The Hillcrest Rams have high expectations this year. They opened ranked in the top 5 in the South Carolina Prep Football Media's Class 5A's Preseason Poll. They opened by cruising to a 41-7 home win over Laurens. Hillcrest returns a ton of talent on both sides of the ball. The offense should be prolific with dual threat QB Bennett Judy back and he's surrounded by playmakers, Avery McFadden, Jalen Neal and Logan Coldren. The defense returns a bunch of guys that grew up as last season went on as well. The Rams are at Greer this week.
7. "Powdersville Poised To Challenge Daniel in 3A?" - Coach Robert Mustar's squad is loaded with talented athletes and comes in with great expectations. They cruised to a Week 0 win at Broome 47-23, which that final score is closer than the game really was. The Patriots led 24-0 at half before Broome started to get anything going offensively in the 2nd half. Thomas Williams is a versatile athlete playmaker, who does a bit of everything for them. He's committed to Virginia Tech, Linebacker Jalen Rambert anchors their defense, as the 6ft 1 240 pounder has offers from Penn State, Arkansas, West Virginia and others. Many that cover HS Football in the Upstate believe Powdersville and Daniel are on a collision course to meet in the postseason. The Patriots are at Abbeville this week which may well be the biggest game in the 864 area code , Friday night.
Week 0 was a great slate of opening weekend action and did give us some answers. However, there is a lot left to be determined as the season moves along. What will this week's games tell us after Friday night? We will have to wait and see. Whatever happens Friday night, rest assured I will break it down each week on the Saturday Morning Scramble from 8-10 AM on the Fan Upstate.
