Catawba River Region’s Top Week 1 Games

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Week Zero is behind us, and teams are looking to find their footing in the early going after the weather impacted the preseason with the ability to get out and practice and have jamborees and scrimmages.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Week 1 will be a week where teams will look to build chemistry and sharpen things up as the non-region schedule rolls on. Here's a look at the games you'll want to keep your eye on as we head into the long Labor Day Weekend on Friday night:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>ROCK HILL (1-0) AT SOUTH POINTE (0-1)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Rock Hill quarterback <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1816896' first='Jonah' last='Young']</strong> took the place of <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1734628' first='Jason' last='Horton']</strong>, who missed last week's opening game due to an illness. He performed well, finishing 13-of-21 for 209 yards and one touchdown as the Leon Boulware era began. We anticipate that Horton will return against the Stallions, but it's nice to have a nice secondary option.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Keep an eye on <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1676087' first='Kamron' last='Wilson']</strong> (pictured above) at receiver as well. He had a huge night in their season opening 31-18 win over River Bluff. Wilson caught two balls for 104 yards and one touchdown. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1823376' first='Kolben' last='Thompson'] </strong>led the Bearcats in tackles with 16 total tackles in the Bearcats' opening win. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1635381' first='Kaleb' last='Wright'] </strong>was second in tackles with six tackles and one sack.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Stallions suffered a <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2025/08/15-standouts-from-hough-vs-south-pointe-keep-pounding-classic/">tough loss to Hough in the Keep Pounding Classic in Charlotte</a>. They'll be looking for answers offensively as they only scored one touchdown. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1819627' first='J'Zavien' last='Currence'] </strong>was at quarterback, and we'll be interested to see if <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='473002' first='Cameron' last='McMillon'] </strong>makes his way into the lineup this week. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1036779' first='Kaiden' last='Watkins'], [player_tooltip player_id='513067' first='Malik' last='Ratliff'] </strong>and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1476906' first='Kadin' last='Vassel'] </strong>will be the go-to guys at receiver. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1594865' first='Brysen' last='Ginn'] </strong>and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1591712' first='Seth' last='Tillman'] </strong>were the standouts last week defensively, and we expect them to make an impact in the cross-town rivalry.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>RIDGE VIEW (1-0) AT NORTHWESTERN (1-0)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1823343' first='Malik' last='Darby'] </strong>was active for the Trojans up front in their <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2025/08/mobleys-three-tds-defense-power-trojans-past-spartanburg/">season opening 39-7 win over Spartanburg last week</a>. He led the Trojans' defensively with 7.5 total tackles and one sack. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1816776' first='Jonathan' last='Barber']</strong> was fourth on the team in tackles with five total tackles. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1267200' first='Tamarion' last='Watkins'] </strong>forced a fumble against the Vikings last week, to go along with two turnovers last week, and they'll look to continue that trend this week.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='232624' first='Xavier' last='Means']</strong> had a solid debut as the Trojans' starting quarterback last Friday. He went 19-of-25 for 162 yards, while rushing for 48 yards and one touchdown. He threw completions to <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1267334' first='Kameron' last='Vance'] </strong>(8 receptions, 89 yards), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1820777' first='Evan' last='Harrison'] </strong>(4 receptions, 23 yards) and <strong>Peyton Vining </strong>(4 receptions, 20 yards).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Blazers cruised to a 40-0 victory over Fairfield Central, as quarterback <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='840548' first='Tre' last='Howard'] </strong>got the ball to his playmakers, including <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1818714' first='Carter' last='Coleman']. [player_tooltip player_id='402489' first='Davon' last='Toney'] </strong>got the ball into the endzone on a fumble recovery as well. Friday will be a good test for both teams in the early non-region slate.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>FORT MILL (1-0) AT CHESTER (1-0)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1149056' first='Quinn' last='Kelly'] </strong>got the ball in the end zone on a 12 yard touchdown run against Ballantyne Ridge in last week's 52-6 opening win. Keep an eye on <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1266099' first='Broden' last='Mitcheson']</strong>, who also got into the end zone on a short run, and could be a huge factor in the run game. Keep an eye on <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1823025' first='Deveian' last='Southward'] </strong>in the special teams game, as he took a kickoff return back for a score.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We'll be interested to see the Yellow Jackets' defense up against the Wing-T option offense of the Cyclones, led by quarterback <strong>Jackson Wilburn </strong>along with <strong>Omari Pendagrass</strong> in the backfield after they held on to beat Lancaster, 16-14. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='816734' first='Terry' last='Radford'] </strong>and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1165099' first='Darriyarn' last='Baxley'] </strong>will be two guys that Fort Mill will have to be aware of.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>HILLCREST (1-0) AT CLOVER (0-1)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hillcrest quarterback <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1604046' first='Jackson' last='Free'] </strong>found the end zone four times in their season-opening 56-17 win over Laurens. Three of those came on long passes to <strong>J.K. Stroud </strong>(80 yards)<strong>, [player_tooltip player_id='1149053' first='Luke' last='McCourry'] </strong>(80 yards) and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1724433' first='Kadyn' last='Stevenson'] </strong>(34 yards). He also kept it on the ground for the last one. Keep an eye on <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1734605' first='Josh' last='Smith'], </strong>who ran for 174 yards and one touchdown along with <strong>Jaylen Samuels</strong>, who ran for 104 yards and one touchdown.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Clover played Chambers out of Charlotte tough, but came up short 35-34 in their season opener. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1824427' first='Grady' last='Stone'] </strong>found the end zone twice, including a 50-yard run in the second quarter. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1776870' first='Brody' last='Woolbright'] </strong>connected with <strong>Jay'Twon Croom</strong> (19-yard touchdown) and <strong>Ryan Watson </strong>(40-yard touchdown). It will be interesting to see if the Blue Eagles try to control the clock with the ground game more with the explosiveness we saw from the Rams last week.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>THIS AND THAT</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>YORK (0-1) AT NATION FORD (0-1)</strong> – The Falcons lost a heartbreaker to Blythewood last week and will look to get back on track this week. Keep an eye on <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1592521' first='Kason' last='Canupp'] </strong>and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1821733' first='Jayden' last='Scott'], </strong>who connected on two touchdowns last week. York will look to find their footing offensively with <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1592333' first='Tayshon' last='Freeman'] </strong>at quarterback.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>INDIAN LAND (1-0) AT LANCASTER (0-1) </strong>– Indian Land routed York last week, and a lot of that had to do with the play of [player_tooltip player_id='1467825' first='Matt' last='Kucia'] at quarterback, who connected with <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1819992' first='Sequel' last='Patterson']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1042719' first='Hayden' last='Morris'] </strong>for touchdowns respectively. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->