Week 6 Recap - GCS High School Football
It was a big week for high school football as every team in the county took part in region play. And what a week it was in Region II-AAAA which featured Berea-Blue Ridge, Greer-Greenville and our featured Game of the Week Eastside at Travelers Rest. After Eastside fell last week at Chapman, Travelers Rest entered the week as the lone unbeaten in GCS. The Eagles struck first, Dawson Conrad to Kodi Jones for a 21-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead. The Devildogs responded with a quick screen to speedster Esias Tucker, who scurried 37 yards to tie the game at seven. Max Louris out Eastside back on top with a 12-yd touchdown, but it was matched by Wilson Hendricks 24-yd scramble to tie things at 14 late in the first quarter. On the final play of the quarter, Conrad found Payton Mangrum for 15-yd score and 21-14 Eagles lead after one. The Devildogs dominated the second quarter of play as the built up a 42-28 lead at the half. Jake Hall turned a near disaster into a 32-yd TD for the Devildogs to tie things at 21, but Eastside answered with a 93-yd kickoff return by Mangrum. Tucker hauled in his second TD from Hendricks, a 60-yd bomb that made it 28-27 Eastside after a missed point after. The Devildogs held Eastside on a pair of 4th down tries and WR Derrick Fields launched a 57-yd strike to Hall to give TR a 35-28 lead. With 3:50 to play, Hall added his third TD, a 13-yd strike from Hendricks and TR went to half with the lead. Max Louris tied things up in the 3rd with a pair of TD runs (1, 7) and after three the game was knotted at 42. TR struck first in the final frame when Hendricks hit Fields for a 25-yd TD early in the quarter. Louris, who dominated the 2nd half, tied the game at 49 with 3:39 to play and the Eagles and Devildogs headed to overtime. Eastside got the ball first and Conrad hit Mangrum from 8-yds out for the 56-49 lead. It took only one lay for TR to tie things up, Hendricks to Fields from 10-yds out. The Devildogs rolled the dice and went for two, but Hendricks was picked off on the try and Eastside held on for a remarkable 56-55 victory. The Eagles (5-1, 1-0) will travel to Berea (1-5, 0-1) next week. TR (5-1, 0-1) will host region favorite Greer (5-1, 1-0) in another huge region showdown.
Eastside-TR wasn't the only huge game that came down to the final minutes. Greer traveled to longtime rival Greenville in battle of 4A powers at Sirrine Stadium. The Jackets starting QB Trey Houston was injured and would not play, placing Senior Matthew Huff square in the spotlight as he made his first career start. After the Greer defense picked off Greenville QB Davis Beville on the opening drive, Huff marched the Jackets right down the field and connected with Cam Martin for a 9-yd TD and a 7-0 lead. Aziz Huff answered immediately with a 97-yd kickoff return and a 7-7 tie. Both defenses would settle in and things were tied at seven after one. The Jackets defense forced another turnover deep in Raiders territory as Garrett Dill recovered a fumble and set up an 11-yd TD run by Dre Williams. With under a minute remaining, Huff struck again, finding Miller DeArmond for a 36-yd score and a 21-7 lead at the half. The Jackets defense forced four turnovers in the half as they continue their dominant play. Dre Williams, who had 230 yards rushing on the night, opened the 3rd quarter with a big 35-yd run, but the Raiders defense would hold and Davis Beville connected with Jacob Johnson for a 56-yd score as Greenville cut the lead to seven. Late in the 4th, Dre Williams beat a Greenville blitz and pushed the lead to 28-14 on an 8-yd run. Beville would answer with a short TD run with only 1:25 left to make it 28-20. Greer recovered the onside kick and held on for the big region victory. The Jackets (5-1,1-0) will travel to Travelers Rest (5-1,0-1) next Friday. Greenville (3-3, 0-1) will be on the road at Blue Ridge (1-5, 1-0).
Blue Ridge entered region play winless, but the young Tigers have been showing improvement and after a long road trip down to Florida, the team had a chance to bond and come together. Friday night patience paid off as the Tigers raced out to an 18-0 lead after the first quarter and defeated Berea 26-0 to move to 1-0 in region play. Big test for Blue Ridge (1-5, 1-0) as they host region power Greenville (3-3, 1-0). Berea (1-5, 0-1) will host high powered Eastside (5-1, 1-0).
Woodmont opened the season 0-4, but each week the Wildcats showed improvement and their defense showed signs of being really good down the stretch. Patience paid off as Woodmont defeated Wade Hampton a week ago and traveled to JL Mann with some momentum in Region I-AAAAA play. After an early turnover by the Wildcats offense, the Woodmont defense got the ball right back and Woodmont capitalized for a 7-0 lead. Mann would cut the lead to 7-6 at the half. The Wildcats pushed the lead to eight midway through the 3rd quarter and added another TD late to make it 21-6 after three. Woodmont's defense and patient running game wore down JL Mann and the Wildcats improved to 2-1 in region play with a 35-6 victory. Woodmont (2-4, 2-1) looks to keep things rolling as they travel to Laurens (2-4, 1-2). The Patriots (0-6, 0-3) will have a tough road trip to Westside (2-4, 2-1) as they seek their first victory.
From 1970 to 1991, Easley vs Wade Hampton was a regular occurrence with the Greenwave holding a 16-6 advantage over the Generals, but the two schools have not met since that '91 season. Now foes in Region I-5A, the Greenwave and Generals met again at Wade Hampton. The Greenwave jumped out to an early lead and improved their series record to 17-6 as they knocked off the Generals 34-13. Wade Hampton (0-6, 0-3) will travel to Greenwood (4-2, 2-1) as they look for their first win of the season.
In Region II-AAA, Southside is looking to build off its early season success as it enters region play. The Tigers have built a dynamic running game, powered by RB Brayden Bennett and versatile QB Jalon Calhoun. Friday night the Tigers relied on that ground attack to knock off Chesnee 59-7. Bennett put the Tigers on the board with a 7-yd run off a direct snap that fooled the Eagles. Chesnee tied it at seven late in the 1st. After that, it was all Tigers. Calhoun added a pair of TD runs and Bennett added another TD run as Southside pushed the lead to 27-7 at the half. In the 3rd, Calhoun used his arm to find Quintarius Jefferies for a 32-yd TD. Tray Oglesby, Marc Smith and Zion Kelly added TD runs late as Southside cruised to the region victory. Southside (5-2, 1-0) will be on a bye next Friday and will travel to Broome on the 11th.
Hillcrest got off to a hot 3-0 start, but play in the very difficult Region II-AAAAA has not been good to them thus far. The Rams have dropped two straight and have been outscored 52-3 in the first half. Hillcrest was hoping for a faster start on the road at Gaffney. No such luck as starting QB Will Watts went down early with an injury and would not return. The Rams defense played well early and after one it was 0-0. Hillcrest tried to get on the scoreboard first with a 28-yd FG, but Gaffney blocked the kick and the game remained scoreless. Gaffney finally broke through late in the first half, grabbing a 7-0 lead on an 80 yards quick catch and run up the seam. On the ensuing possession, back up QB Ethan Beamish was picked off and Gaffney grabbed a 14-0 lead after a 77-yd interception return. The Rams held Gaffney to only 127 yards on 18 plays and outgained them 186-127, yet found themselves down fourteen at the half. Beamish found Quen Jefferson down the middle to cut the Indians lead in half midway through 3rd quarter. That is as close as the Rams would get as Gaffney's defense scored its second TD of the day on a 24-yd interception return. Gaffney would tack on a late TD run as Hillcrest fell 27-7. The Rams (3-3, 0-3) face a must win as they host Riverside (0-6, 0-3) on Friday.
The Warriors struggles continue as they try and navigate their difficult region schedule with a very young squad. Riverside fell to region power Byrnes 45-20. The Warriors will travel to Hillcrest, while Byrnes (5-1, 3-0) will host Mauldin (2-4, 1-2). The Mavericks offense has struggled earl this season, but a big week against Riverside gave Mauldin some hope on the road at Boiling Springs. It was a defensive battle early on as both offenses struggled to mount any serious scoring drive. The Bulldogs finally got some momentum and drove deep into Mauldin territory, but the Mavs defense held and forced a fumble which defensive end Elias Garza scooped up and rumbled 95 yards to the house to give Mauldin a 6-0 lead which they carried to the half. Boiling Springs grabbed the lead in the 3rd 7-6 as Mauldin's offensive woes continued. The Mavs were unable to answer and fell 16-6 to the Bulldogs.
Carolina (0-6) was on a bye and will open region play at 3A power Chapman (6-0, 1-0).
Posted: 10/1/2018 | Author: Jeff Hoffman
