The Upstate Top 10 has been a staple on the Saturday Morning Scramble. Each week, I give a brand new edition ranking the top 10 teams and others under consideration. It's South Carolina's only poll that ranks teams from all class sizes, there has been 1A teams in the poll, all the way through 5A.
There's movement this week as teams that were ranked last week lost and another got a win in a struggle. Last week's 6th ranked team Byrnes and 7th ranked BHP lost this week and last week's #10 Easley had to have a late rally to beat an average Pickens squad. We also have one team who jumped from "Under Consideration" last week to Top 10 this with a win over a ranked opponent. Below is the audio version of the latest Upstate Top 10 which aired lived on the Scramble's Oct. 1st episode. Below that is the written version.
"Under Consideration" This Week (In No particular order)
Easley- The Green Wave was at #10 last week, they won this week but were jumped. The movement on the back end and Spartanburg's big region 2 5A opener win against Byrnes factored to that. As did Easley's struggles against rival Pickens. Easley got a 21-0 rally in the 4th to come back and beat Pickens 35-28. No disrespect to Pickens, but they are a pretty average team and I don't think teams in the poll would struggle with them, as much. Therefore, Easley got moved down out of the 10 spot. Easley is 5-1 , their signature win is a 7 point W over JL Mann. Their loss came in blowout fashion to Daniel.
TL Hanna - they had a closer than expected win over Mauldin this week. Hanna has just one loss , but it was a blowout loss to cross town rival Westside. Hanna's best win this season was over Greenville High early on.
Christ Church- The Cavs have one loss, it was to Holy Innocents of Georgia in blowout fashion. They still have region rivals and tough outs in Southside Christian and St. Joe's left. Signature win came against 4A Riverside Sept. 9th.
Greenville High- After a slow start from a tough schedule that included tilts with 5A teams Dorman, Byrnes and Hanna, Greenville has started to turn the corner. The Red Raiders have won their last two games by a combined score of 119-13, that includes a 43 point blowout of JL Mann. Greenville has a huge test Monday night at Westside in the Region 1 4A opener for both teams.
St. Joe's - The Knights were in the Top 10 two weeks ago, prior to falling to Southside Christian last week. In fairness to St. Joe's , Southside Christian had bye weeks and nearly three full weeks to prep for that game, St. Joe's signature win came on the road over 3A Seneca, who will be a playoff team.
Now For The Top 10
10. Westside- The Rams play on Monday hosting Greenville High in a huge Region 1 4A match up. They slid one spot due to the domino effect of Spartanburg's win over Byrnes and Powdersville's win over BHP. Westside has a loss to BHP and their best wins is a blowout victory over Hanna.
9. BHP- The Bears suffered their 1st loss this season at Powdersville 47-32 on Thursday night. BHP owns a signature win over Westside to open the season. The Bears are Palmetto this coming week. The Bears are two spots down from #7 last week.
8. Byrnes- The Rebels fall two spots after their 36-23 loss at Spartanburg on Thursday night. Byrnes has now fallen four spots in 2 weeks after road losses, the first coming last week at West Florence on the game's final play. The Rebs have a "must win" hosting Boiling Springs this week. Byrnes has been banged up on defense especially lately. RB RJ Livingston who has been their primary offensive weapon lately, left the Spartanburg game with an injury and didn't return. I don't have any update on the severity of the injury, at this time. Byrnes is down two spots from #6 last week.
7. Spartanburg - The Vikings are the best three loss team in the Upstate, by a long way. Their 3 losses came to Georgia power programs Grayson and Langston Hughes, and perennial in-state 5A power Dutch Fork. They proved they were better than their record with a 13 point win over region foe Byrnes. Spartanburg is at Gaffney this coming week in a huge Region 2 5A matchup of ranked teams. The Vikings move up from "Under Consideration" to #7 with the win.
6. Gaffney- The Indians moved up two spots after the dust settled from #8 last week, and didn't have to do anything. Gaffney had a bye this week after two quality wins in a row. They won on the road at Northwestern Rock Hill and at home over Fort Dorchester. They host Spartanburg , in this week's marquee game around the 864. Gaffney has two losses coming to 4A Power South Pointe Rock Hill and a solid Mallard Creek-Charlotte squad.
5. Powdersville- The Patriots are still holding in this spot from last week. Powdersville got a huge Region opening win over BHP , 47-32 on Thursday. Their one loss came in a 2 point heart breaker at home vs unbeaten Hillcrest. The Pats have 1st year varsity program Fountain Inn this week.
4. Clinton- The Red Devils remain unbeaten and have been blowing opponents out. They cruised to a 61-7 win over Union County to open region play. Clinton is holding at #4 after winning every game by 14 or more.
3. Dorman- The Cavs are still holding here in the 3rd spot. They routed Boiling Springs in their Region 2 5A opener, 52-14. That comes after a solid double digit win at home over previously unbeaten River Bluff-Lexington. Dorman remains unbeaten and hasn't been played within 10 points yet. They have Mauldin in non-region play this week.
2. Hillcrest- The Rams were off this week. They remain unbeaten and own a road win over a really good Powdersville team. Hillcrest has a high flying offense with playmakers all over and a quality leader and gun slinger in QB Bennett Judy. They are back in action this week hosting Woodmont in Region 1 5A action.
1. Daniel- The Lions remain in the top spot, they just keep rolling along. Daniel has now won 30 games in a row, which is a program record. They are looking for a three-peat as 3A State Champs, which would be a new school record. They are currently two-time defending State Champs and the program accomplished that in 91 and 92. Daniel started a touch slow on Thursday night and led just 21-14 over Walhalla at the break. They then rattled off 35 unanswered in the 2nd half to win 56-14 on the road. They play West Oak this week and then are at Seneca Oct. 14th.
Tune into the Saturday Morning Scramble each week, as I unveil a brand new edition of the Upstate Top 10.
