Class 4A Upper State Third Round Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Most teams in the 4A Upper State bracket have been tested in the first two rounds, but the competition is about to pick up beginning this Friday night. One team has only allowed a touchdown and&nbsp; all of them have been scoring points in bunches. Let's jump into the final two games remaining as we head into the third round:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>No. 6 Westside (10-2) at No. 2 Northwestern (11-1)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Northwestern has been rolling so far in the playoffs and they shut out Greenwood 54-0 last week to advance. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='241044' first='Finley' last='Polk'] </strong>threw for five touchdowns and is growing with his confidence. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='146372' first='Elijah' last='Caldwell'] </strong>and <strong>Greer Hopkins </strong>were his two main targets and will figure to be a huge part of the equation again this week. <strong>Will Massey </strong>and <strong>DJ Jackson </strong>were all around the football making tackles in the shutout win.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='336117' first='Hunter' last='Puckett'] </strong>recorded four touchdowns, including the game winning score to lift the Rams over Indian Land in a nailbiter last week. Keep an eye on <strong>Jameson Williams, </strong>who was a <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2022/11/round-2-game-balls-anderson-pickens-top-performers/">contributor on both sides of the ball</a> last week in their win over the Warriors.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Edge: Northwestern</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>No. 5 Catawba Ridge (11-1) at No. 1 Greenville (9-3)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Greenville won a tight one over South Pointe last week and the play of sophomore quarterback <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='349806' first='Bryson' last='Drummond'] </strong>was a big reason why. He threw touchdowns to the duo of <strong>Mazeo Bennett </strong>and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='91149' first='Tyler' last='Brown'] </strong>in the win and they will be tough to defend. <strong>Thomas Edmondson </strong>was tough to block as he was all around the football and figures to be a factor again this week.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>If the game gets tight in the fourth quarter, can the Copperheads pull it out?</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Tyler Fikis </strong>led the Copperheads to a hard fought win over North Augusta last week, and they'll be looking to start a little stronger on the road again this week. <strong>Ira Mister </strong>and <strong>Sheldon Crawford </strong>have been impact players on both sides of the ball, like with Crawford's pick six that aided them on defense last week. Keep an eye on <strong>Brady Ambrose </strong>at linebacker as he'll look to get after Drummond.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Edge:</em> <em>Greenville</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->