Midlands Teams Getting Into Thick of Region Play

Midlands Top 10

1.    Dutch Fork                 (5-0, 1-0 Region 4-5A)         

2.    Irmo                           (6-0, 1-0 Region 4-5A)                     

3.    River Bluff                 (6-0, 1-0 Region 4-5A)

4.    Blythewood               (7-1, 3-1 Region 5-5A)

5.    Richland Northeast    (7-1, 3-1 Region 3-4A)

6.    White Knoll               (4-2, 0-1 Region 4-5A)

7.    Lexington                   (4-2, 0-1 Region 4-5A)

8.    Chapin                       (4-2, 0-1 Region 4-5A)

9.    Hammond                  (6-0, 3-0 SCISA Region 4A)

10. Swansea                     (6-1, 1-0 Region 4-3A)

Midlands teams get into the thick of region play

By WORTHY EVANS

Contributing Writer

Columbia - High school football in the Midlands has heated up in spite of the delays and postponements across the state because of the weather associated with Hurricane Helene late last month.

Nowhere is that more evident than the kickoff of Region 4-5A competition, where defending state 5A champion Dutch Fork will battle with defending region champion and state 5A runner-up White Knoll, as well as with Irmo, River Bluff, Lexington, and Chapin.

With Friday’s games, the hotly contested battle for region crowns has begun, while in other regions up and down comes a separation of truly good teams from those that are battling for lower seeds in the playoff picture.

4-5A: ‘The Region of Doom’

For the first five weeks of the season, the Region 4 contenders have been showing their offensive strength against nonregion opponents.

Dutch Fork (5-0) has left last year’s nonregion struggles far behind as they’ve dominated opponents, outscoring Spartanburg, Ridge View, Gray Collegiate and Oceanside Collegiate 246-7. After the first quarter of Friday night’s 63-10 win at Chapin, the Silver Foxes had not allowed a score in 15 quarters.

Dutch Fork’s Maurice Anderson had just eight carries and 65 yards on the night, but he led all scorers with five touchdowns. Ethan Offing passed for 201 yards, including a 70-yard TD pass to K.J. Smith.

Elgin Sessions had a 40-yard interception return for a touchdown, and Kyle Henry and Isaac Shines each had a touchdown run.

Before the Dutch Fork game, the Eagles outscored their opponents 232-164, which included a 55-32 loss at 5-0 Summerville.

White Knoll, which came from behind to beat Class 3A state runner-up Camden 21-14 in the season opener Aug. 24 and lost to Sumter 43-40 in overtime a week later, whipped Brookland-Cayce and Cane Bay, then shut out Fort Dorchester 38-0 Sept. 25.

The Timberwolves battled River Bluff into overtime Friday, but the game came down to Georgia Southern commit Tripp Bryant’s 27-yard field goal in the first overtime, giving the Gators a 24-21 victory and keeping River Bluff unbeaten at 6-0, the team’s best start since 2019.

The Gators led 21-7 going into the fourth quarter, but White Knoll quarterback Landon Sharpe ran for a 6-yard touchdown. Then the Timberwolves recovered the onside kick and Sharpe ran in from five yards to tie the game at 21 with 2:14 left.

The Gators have been on a role since a season-opening 48-34 win over Rock Hill, a nail-biting 14-13 win over Gilbert Sept. 13, and a 44-0 shutout against Cheraw Sept. 20.

Irmo moved up from Class 4A this year and is right at home with its area rivals. The Yellow Jackets have reeled off five straight victories, including a 35-27 win over Byrnes Aug. 30 and a 35-34 overtime win over Butler (N.C.) Sept. 13. They’ve scored no less than 35 points per game going into their 34-8 victory over Lexington.

In snapping a six-game losing streak to the Wildcats, the Yellow Jackets got an early score when Matthew Blocker returned an interception for a touchdown.

“How about our captain Matt Blocker taking one to the house to really set the tone in the first half?” head coach Aaron Brand said. “Then we kind of got rolling from there.”

It was one of three picks the Irmo defense made on Lexington (4-2).

Before Blocker’s pick-six, the Yellow Jackets had gotten on the scoreboard with quarterback A.J. Brand’s 11-yard touchdown run. With Tucker Williams’ field goal, Irmo led 16-0 at the half.

Brand had 145 yards passing and a third-quarter touchdown pass that gave Irmo a 23-0 lead. He also 12 carries for 125 yards. Amire White had 116 yards rushing and a TD.

Lexington’s only score came in the fourth quarter on Brennan Carter’s 39-yard touchdown pass to Zareth Owens, which cut the lead to 23-8.

The Wildcats came into region play 4-1, which included two shutouts over 4A area rival Gilbert Aug. 23, and Laurens Sept. 25. Their only bump on the nonregion road was a 14-0 loss to Greenwood Sept. 13.

The next round of region action on Oct. 11 features Lexington at Chapin, River Bluff at Irmo in a battle of undefeateds, and Dutch Fork facing down White Knoll at home.

The Return of Swansea

The Swansea Tigers have been quiet for a long time, until this year. Winless in 2023, Swansea is now 6-1 and 1-0 in Region 4-3A, and experiencing a rejuvenation under first-year coach Willie Fox, who came to the Tigers from Pelion and Wagener-Salley.

Swansea has six state championships, but the most recent was 30 years ago. The Tigers haven’t had a winning season since 2014’s 7-5 run.

“Historically, Swansea’s been a very good program,” Fox said. “I've always felt like if a place was once good, that it could be good again if the right things are there.” 

Getting over last season—and snapping a 16-game losing streak dating back to Sept. 23, 2022—was the first order of business.

Swansea took a 14-0 lead on Mid-Carolina in the first quarter of their season-opening game Aug. 23 and held on for a 27-20 victory over the Rebels. Next came blowouts of Denmark-Olar (38-6) and Wagener-Salley (39-15), and a 28-18 win over Pelion Sept. 12.

Those last two wins over his former teams were hard for Fox.

“I'll be honest, I'm glad that's over,” Fox said. “I've got people that I consider family in both places. It's just weird to be on the other side of the field.”

The Tigers fell 14-7 in a hard-fought game against Barnwell Sept. 20, but bounced back with a 20-6 win over Columbia Sept. 28.

“They're the best team we've played. I don't think that's a secret,” Fox said about the Barnwell game. “They're big, they're physical. I feel like they're a lot like us. They want to come right at you.” 

Noting the Warhorses game and Fox’s description of his team, it’s obvious that the new coach has his players tough and aggressive, ready to get physical with opponents. Beyond that fact, Fox said the turnaround pivots on the players buying into his message and working hard in the offseason toward goals he and his coaching staff set.

On that note, he said buying in was the easy part.

“It was harder sometimes to motivate the kids after we had success for five or six years than it is to motivate a group of kids that's been losing,” Fox said. “They wanted to win. They were hungry for success, and they worked.”

And since the opening kickoff, the Tigers have made the most of their newfound hunger.

“They've played as a team. They've held each other and themselves accountable. They've competed really hard. They showed a lot of toughness early on,” Fox said. “Our kids have just done a really good job of buying into what we're selling, and the success has been really a product of that.”

With its 44-38 win over Keenan Saturday, Swansea is on its way to posting its first winning season in 11 years.

Batesburg-Leesville returns

Batesburg-Leesville (just outside of the Midlands Top Ten at No.11) has had several down years since winning its last state championship in 2013. Under head coach Greg Lawson, the Panthers have gotten off to a 5-0 start. Their game at Strom Thurmond was postponed.

It is the best start for the Panthers since 2015 when they started the season 7-0. 

“We got a good group of kids right now that have two years of experience,” Panthers’ head coach Greg Lawson told the Lexington Chronicle. “They played as younger kids. As ninth and 10th graders, and now, they're juniors and seniors and just gotten better every year, and they bought into this.” 

Both offense and defense are clicking. In Batesburg-Leesville’s 48-0 domination of Mid-Carolina Sept. 25, The offense put up over 450 total yards, while the defense held the Rebels below 50 yards.

The win was the third shutout for the Panthers, having beaten Wagener-Salley 50-0 Aug. 30 and Calhoun County 60-0 Sept. 20.

With the postponement of the Strom Thurmond game, Batesburg-Leesville opens Region 2-2A with a home game against Ninety Six Friday. The region championship is likely to come down to the Panthers and 4-0 Saluda, provided Batesburg-Leesville can stay focused.

“That's the hardest thing,” Lawson said. “This is the first time they've had a little experience in success, so sometimes that's the hardest thing to do is keep them grounded. We're trying to do that each week.”