Week 8 Players & Games To Watch: Catawba River

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>There are some critical region matchups that will shape who the winner will be as we only have two weeks left. Let's jump into the games and how they will make an impact:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Blythewood (3-4, 1-1 region) at Clover (5-2, 2-0 region)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Jaylon Hoover </strong>| QB | Clover</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hoover (pictured above) went a perfect 8-for-8 passing for 101 yards and a touchdown in the Blue Eagles' 48-0 blowout win over Spring Valley. He will make the plays in the passing game when needed. He also ran 4 times for 63 yards and a touchdown. He can spread it out to different receivers like <strong>TJ McCluney, [player_tooltip player_id='1743683' first='Carson' last='Pinti'] </strong>and <strong>Brayden Woolbright.</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='440461' first='Harrison' last='Collins'] </strong>| QB | Blythewood</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Collins can sling it around, but once you get inside the 10-yard line, he can also keep it himself and get it in on the ground, which makes him that much more difficult to defend. Keep an eye on <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='804333' first='Kaleb' last='Kelly'] </strong>as he caught a 90-yard touchdown pass from Collins last week in the heartbreaking 34-28 loss to Nation Ford.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1012627' first='Landon' last='Stone'] </strong>| RB | Clover</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The X-factor for the Blue Eagles is in the backfield. Stone came ten yards short of 200 yards last week against Spring Valley, finishing with 190 yards. He ran for 2 touchdowns. His season total so far? 1280 for 9 touchdowns.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>South Pointe (5-2, 2-0 region) at Indian Land (4-3, 0-2 region)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Mason Pickett-Hicks </strong>| RB | South Pointe</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Pickett-Hicks ran wild to the tune of 244 yards and 3 touchdowns in a tight 29-26 win over Lancaster to move to 2-0 in region play last week. His counterpart, <strong>Aiden Turner </strong>ran for 101 yards and 1 touchdown in the win as well. You can expect the Stallions to keep it on the ground if these two can keep it going. But don't forget about <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='771038' first='Malachi' last='Marshall'] </strong>at quarterback, who also has the athletic ability to make plays in the run and pass game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='340396' first='Jaxon' last='Scheidt'] </strong>| QB | Indian Land</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Scheidt will not put the ball in danger and will take what the defense gives him. He finished 14-of-30 for 127 yards passing while running 33 yards and 1 touchdown. The Warriors have two receivers who you will want to keep your eye on in <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1042719' first='Hayden' last='Morris'] </strong>and freshman <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1036748' first='Sequel' last='Patterson']</strong>.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='212416' first='J'Zavien' last='Currence'] </strong>| DB | South Pointe</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The young defensive back continues to turn heads as region play continues. He had 5 solo tackles with 1 TFL while the star of the defensive line continues to be <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='139304' first='Chris' last='Dixon']. </strong>Dixon had 4 solo tackles and 4 TFLs in last week's win over Lancaster.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Northwestern (6-1, 2-0 region) at York (6-1, 2-0 region)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='241044' first='Finley' last='Polk'] </strong>| QB | Northwestern</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Polk played in limited action in a 45-14 rout of Indian Land. He went 12-for-16 passing, 99 yards and 3 touchdowns. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='753896' first='Jayden' last='Nichols'], Jaylen Burris </strong>and <strong>Jonathan Spuregon </strong>all caught scores. Multiple receivers catching touchdowns has been a trend for the Trojans offense during their 5-game winning streak.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='605531' first='Will' last='Massey'] </strong>| DL | Northwestern</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Massey continues to have a strong year as he had 7.5 tackles and 2 TFLs in the win over Indian Land. Keep an eye on <strong>Tomarion Watkins </strong>and <strong>Jayce Joseph </strong>who each had 3 solo tackles.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='208367' first='Ayden' last='Davis'] </strong>| QB | York</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Whether it's at quarterback or wide receiver, Davis is a difference maker for the Cougars. <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2023/10/what-we-saw-york-39-catawba-ridge-20/">He had four touchdowns in last week's win over Catawba Ridge.</a> He can make you miss in space and once he gets into the open field, it could be a house call. His counterpart, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='771226' first='Javarus' last='Guthrie'] </strong>is a strong runner who will be a guy to watch as the Cougars will run the ball early and often.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Trey Wagner </strong>| LB | York</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>York will lean on Wagner to make plays on defense, and there's no reason to believe he won't be up to the challenge. Wagner keeps catching our eye every time we see him. <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2023/10/week-7-game-balls-catawba-river/">He had tackles galore last week against Catawba Ridge.</a> Keep an eye on <strong>Bryson Steele </strong>and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='998716' first='Dalton' last='Russell']</strong> as well.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Nation Ford (3-4, 1-1 region) at Rock Hill (4-3 overall, 2-0 region) </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>Game will be played on Thursday night at 7pm</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Kaden Barnette</strong> | QB | Nation Ford</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Barnette found a connection between him and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1575429' first='Josh' last='Ameo'], </strong>one of his favorite targets. Ameo had 138 yards as they hooked up for two passing touchdowns last week in a thriller on the road at Blythewood last week. Keep an eye on <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1253939' first='Kaleb' last='White'] </strong>in the running game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Zay Neely </strong>| DB | Nation Ford</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Neely was a tackling machine last week against Blythewood, tallying 5 tackles while <strong>Braydon Flores </strong>had 3 tackles for loss against the Bengals. Keep an eye on these two along with <strong>Rylee Cook </strong>who had 16 total tackles last week.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1012834' first='Malik' last='Clark'] </strong>| WR | Rock Hill</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Clark and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='139293' first='Matthew' last='Wilson'] </strong>have a great connection and we expect that to continue as region play progresses. Clark had 5 catches for 93 yards and a touchdown in last week's win over Fort Mill.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Daniel Range </strong>| LB | Rock Hill</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Rock Hill defensive front will be fun to watch with <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='649189' first='Justice' last='Foster'] </strong>and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='997363' first='Landon' last='Armstrong']</strong> of course, but there is an emerging linebacker who has caught our eye the last few weeks. Range can take great angles to the ball and makes sure tackles.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->