Class 4A Upper State Second Round Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We're on to Round 2 of the class 4A Upper State playoffs, and the field is beginning to shape itself up.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>With most of the favorites coming out victorious in the first round, the underdogs of the second round will look to put on a show and extend their seasons.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Here's a look at what we have for you in Round 2</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>NO. 8 AC FLORA (8-3) AT NO. 1 WESTSIDE (10-0)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The AC Flora defense pitched a shutout in the second half in its 40-20 victory over Emerald last week. <strong>Isaiah Watson</strong> led the defense (nine tackles, three tackles for loss) and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1592441' first='Charlie' last='Scott']</strong> (interception, pass deflection) was excellent in the secondary. Quarterback <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1025784' first='Roper' last='Wentzky']</strong> threw for 210 yards and three touchdowns. The Falcons ground attack totaled over 200 yards, headlined by [player_tooltip player_id='1356028' first='Solomon' last='Kelson'] (168 yards, one touchdown) and a nice addition in [player_tooltip player_id='1592244' first='Brandon' last='Mack'] (46 yards, one touchdown).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The AC Flora defense will be up against a high-powered Westside offense that scored 48 in the first half against Lakewood before tuning it down and scoring just seven in the second half. Quarterback <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='346189' first='Cutter' last='Woods']</strong> was efficient (nine-of-11, 159 yards, two touchdowns). Westside got production from <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1157819' first='Sharode' last='Richardson']</strong> (104 all-purpose yards, two touchdowns) as well as <strong>Damauri Robinson</strong> (41 rushing yards, touchdown). Star wide receiver <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='272708' first='Chamarryus' last='Bomar']</strong> had quite the game. Bomar had three catches for 57 yards and a touchdown. Along with that, he had a 47-yard interception return for a touchdown, as well as a 52-yard punt return for a touchdown.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>X-FACTOR: </em></strong>Westside receiver <strong>MJ Lee</strong> will be a player to watch. He collected a touchdown last week, and with the possibility of Scott from AC Flora shadowing Bomar throughout the game, Lee could see an increased look in targets. If he were to produce at a high level, Westside may be able to cruise to victory without its normal production from Bomar.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/hudl {"name":"acf/hudl","data":{"embed_code":"u003ciframe src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/16452882/67356f743f50993b1e0f63e9' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreenu003eu003c/iframeu003e","_embed_code":"field_62daf7995fd8c"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-673bdf166f83f"} /--> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>NO. 5 CAMDEN (8-3) AT NO. 4 WREN (8-2)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Camden beat Pickens 43-17 in the opening round. The Bulldogs used three different quarterbacks in the game, including <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1575400' first='Wyatt' last='Thompson']</strong> (65 passing yards, one touchdown) and <strong>Edward Graham</strong> (76 passing yards, one touchdown). The ground game for Camden racked up more 300 yards and was led by Thompson (185 rushing yards, one touchdown) and running back <strong>Navi Boykin</strong> (67 yards, one touchdown). Freshman tailback <strong>Bernard Greene</strong> was able to add three carries for 34 yards, an impressive 11-plus yards per carry for the freshman. Receiver [player_tooltip player_id='1165092' first='Tylin' last='Drakeford'] (109 receiving yards, two touchdowns) and [player_tooltip player_id='1302875' first='Will' last='Haunert'] (76 receiving yards, one touchdown) led the receiving game for Camden. Deion Wright (15 stops) was the leading tackler for Camden and will look to be all over the field again on Friday.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>For Wren, quarterback <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1158040' first='Colten' last='Bagwell']</strong> was the star of the game. While throwing for just 56 yards and an interception, Bagwell rushed for an absurd 236 yards and four touchdowns. Running back, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1253994' first='Reese' last='Price']</strong> added 159 yards and two touchdowns. The Hurricane run game was just shy of 400 total yards. Defensively, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1734615' first='Adin' last='Hickerson']</strong> (13 tackles) and <strong>Matthew Casey</strong> (10) were among the leading tacklers for Wren. Sophomore defensive back <strong>Preston Schilling</strong> collected an interception for Wren.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>X-FACTOR: </em>[player_tooltip player_id='1578733' first='Noah' last='Ramey']</strong> showed and ability to both come down in the box to play the run as well as defend the pass, something makes him such an important player on defense. He had 14 stops last week to lead the way. It will be intriguing to see how well he handles a Bulldog run game that racked up over 300 yards in the first round.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/hudl {"name":"acf/hudl","data":{"embed_code":"u003ciframe src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/16267733/671ef170ad50f07e852ebba4' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreenu003eu003c/iframeu003e","_embed_code":"field_62daf7995fd8c"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-673cd2927f191"} /--> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>NO. 6 GREER (7-4) AT NO. 3 SOUTH POINTE (9-2)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Greer fought back from down 21-7 at halftime to pull out a 28-21 victory over Fountain Inn in the first round. Greer running back <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1551027' first='Nick' last='Holmes']</strong> (199 yards, three touchdowns) put the team on his back in the second half. Quarterback <strong>Ty Breeze</strong> added 45 rushing yards and a touchdown on the ground. Yellow Jacket receivers <strong>Brock Diggins</strong> (four catches, 45 yards) and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1522051' first='[player_tooltip player_id='1260387' first='Mikey' last='']' last='Williams']</strong> (three catches, 38 yards). It was the defense that stepped up big time for Greer in the second half. <strong>Quamaine Dodd</strong> was the leading tackler (nine) while <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1013076' first='Kaleb' last='Nelson']</strong> added four tackles and two tackles for loss. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1254107' first='Brody' last='Diggins'] </strong>added a tackle for loss and a sack.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>South Pointe was all business in a 77-0 route of Blue Ridge. The Stallions used a heavy ground game, totaling 253 team rushing yards. That ground game was led by <strong>Mason Pickett-Hicks</strong> (117 rushing yards, three touchdowns) and sophomore running back <strong>Ty'quan Brice</strong> added 38 rushing yards and a touchdown. At receiver, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='930586' first='Dailan' last='Duncan']</strong> had four catches for 60 yards and a touchdown, as well as a 52-yard punt return for a touchdown. South Pointe got an interception returned for a touchdown from <strong>Willie Dye</strong> and a fumble returned for a touchdown from <strong>Joshua Mcclure</strong>. Other defensive standouts included <strong>Kj Burg</strong> (seven tackles, two tackles for loss), [player_tooltip player_id='1578809' first='Tamareon' last='Williams'] (seven tackles, three tackles for loss) and [player_tooltip player_id='1157988' first='Aakil' last='Brown'] (five tackles, three tackles for loss). </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>X-FACTOR: </em></strong>With Holmes from Greer rushing for 199 yards in Round 1, the defensive front of <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='379013' first='Seth' last='Tillman']</strong> and <strong>Jaquawn Neely</strong> will have quite the test ahead of them to shut down a 200-yard running back. Tillman and Neely combined for 15 tackles and 12 tackles for loss in Round 1, and similar results in Round 2 would set the tone for a South Pointe victory.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/hudl {"name":"acf/hudl","data":{"embed_code":"u003ciframe src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/20545517/6738157fd51e98451a08842e' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreenu003eu003c/iframeu003e","_embed_code":"field_62daf7995fd8c"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-673cc670dea30"} /--> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>NO. 10 RICHLAND NORTHEAST (8-3) AT NO. 2 DANIEL (10-1)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='272698' first='Will' last='Wilson']</strong> did what [player_tooltip player_id='272698' first='Will' last='Wilson'] does in RNE's first round victory over Seneca. He threw for 240 yards and one touchdown, as well as rushing for 179 yards and two touchdowns. <strong>Kamarion Willingham</strong> added 78 rushing yards, to put the team total up over 250 yards on the ground. Receivers <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='591391' first='Blake' last='Betette']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1603911' first='Isaiah' last='Small']</strong> had identical stat lines, both collecting eight catches for 113 yards.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Daniel had its way in Round 1 with a 45-14 victory over Dreher. Quarterback <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='309825' first='Grayson' last='Clary'] </strong>was exceptional through the air (16-of-21, 224 yards, three touchdowns) and added 59 more yards and two more touchdowns on the ground. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1604058' first='Kareem' last='Shaw']</strong> (117 yards, one touchdown) was the feature back, and he and Clary accounted for 176 of the teams 186 rushing yards. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1603787' first='Elijah' last='Lipsey']</strong> (48 receiving yards, one touchdown), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1157945' first='Spencer' last='Conn']</strong> (16 receiving yards, one touchdown) and [player_tooltip player_id='410912' first='Preston' last='Bivens'] (33 receiving yards, one touchdown) were the recipients of Clary's touchdown passes. Defensive back <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1289255' first='Lee' last='Turnipseed']</strong> may have been the player of the game, as he collected three interceptions. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1592019' first='Dexter' last='Johnson']</strong> (eight tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss) and <strong>Cayden Fruster</strong> (six tackles, one tackle for loss) were among the leading tackles for the Lions.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>X-FACTOR:</em></strong> Daniel middle linebacker <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1592598' first='Cade' last='Spencer']</strong> will have the challenging responsibility of trying to stop Wilson from RNE. Spencer collected 15 tackles and two tackles for loss in the first round, and his ability to contain Wilson in the ground game will be crucial for Daniel's success. If Spencer is able to limit Wilson's rushing yards and make RNE beat them in the air, Daniel improves its chances of having a successful night.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/hudl {"name":"acf/hudl","data":{"embed_code":"u003ciframe src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/14538527/670bafbe202b8296d03362fa' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreenu003eu003c/iframeu003e","_embed_code":"field_62daf7995fd8c"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-673cc670dea7d"} /-->