Class 2A Upper State Second Round Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>There wasn't a whole lot of drama in the opening round of the Class 2A Upper State playoffs last week. All seven higher seeds won and all eight games were decided by anywhere from 19 to 49 points.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The action should be much tighter this Friday with quite a few traditional powers still in the mix, including a postseason rematch nearly a century in the making.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>All eight of the programs left in the Upper State have played for at least one state championship with a total of 62 state title appearances combined. Those include 16 for Clinton, 15 for Batesburg-Leesville and 12 for Chester.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Here's a look at the round two matchups in the Upper State.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>SALUDA (6-5) AT CLINTON (8-3)</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Last Friday, Clinton was in the unusual position of being a No. 1 seed facing a team with the exact same record as North Central also went 7-3 in the regular season. The game was business as usual for the Red Devils though. They raced out to a 42-0 halftime lead, outgaining the Knights 304-27 in the first half, and rolled to a 56-7 victory. It's Clinton's sixth consecutive win - all by at least 21 points. On the third play of Friday's game, quarterback <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='630150' first='Owen' last='Glenn']</strong> kept for a 51-yard touchdown for the Red Devils. Sacks by <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1855193' first='Kynius' last='Williams']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1821225' first='Noah' last='Garrett']</strong> helped quickly end North Central's first possession. Each of Clinton's next three possessions ended with <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1161156' first='Javen' last='Cook']</strong> running for a touchdown. Cook finished with nine carries for 115 yards pushing his season total to 1,541 yards and 31 touchdowns. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1670457' first='Maison' last='Tinsley']</strong> had a 30-yard interception return for a touchdown also for the Red Devils, who've won 20 straight games against 2A foes.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Saluda's 33-13 win at Mid-Carolina last week was actually a little bit closer than the score indicated. The Tigers got on the board first when <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1822966' first='Brayden' last='Williams']</strong> hit <strong>CJ Springs</strong> on a 21-yard touchdown in the first quarter. Williams ran for a touchdown in the second quarter and another early in the fourth to give Saluda a 20-6 lead. After Mid-Carolina cut the lead to seven with 5:22 left, Williams answered with an 87-yard touchdown run. Less than 90 seconds later, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1823625' first='Tristan' last='Daniels']</strong> broke off an 83-yard touchdown run to help the Tigers eliminate the Rebels in the first round for the second year in a row. Daniels finished with 195 yards on 21 carries, while Williams ran 13 times for 171 yards. Williams also completed 5-of-9 passes for 98 yards.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>X-Factor:</em></strong> After missing the entire regular season with an injury, Clinton junior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1603772' first='Rhett' last='Gilliam']</strong> made a successful return to the field last Friday. He had six carries for 41 yards and a touchdown. Gilliam helped the Red Devils win the state title last season by rushing for 635 yards and 10 scores.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>FAIRFIELD CENTRAL (8-3) AT ANDREW JACKSON (7-4)</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Senior quarterback <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1822649' first='Logan' last='Neal']</strong> was nearly perfect in Andrew Jackson's 34-15 win over Ninety Six last week. Neal completed 15-of-17 passes for 212 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions as the Volunteers won their opening round game for the fourth season in a row - the longest streak in school history. Despite only having 33 offensive plays, Andrew Jackson made the most of them. <strong>J'Von Kelly</strong> ran nine times for 108 yards and a touchdown, and also had 74 yards receiving on three catches. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1394996' first='Damias' last='Seegars']</strong> caught four passes for 57 yards, ran for two touchdowns and made six tackles on defense. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1395004' first='Jase' last='Fair']</strong> (16), <strong>Braylon Harley</strong> (15) and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1395000' first='Kamron' last='McGill']</strong> (13) had double-digit tackles for the Volunteers.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>After Chesnee drew first blood last Friday, Fairfield Central drew a lot more. The Griffins rolled out to a 30-7 halftime lead and went on to a 50-21 win, eliminating the Eagles for the second consecutive season. Quarterback <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1820348' first='Kaden' last='Diggs']</strong> (pictured) led the way as he had 117 yards passing, 114 rushing and three touchdowns. <strong>Derek Cammon</strong> had 84 yards rushing and a touchdown on nine carries, while <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1816746' first='Kenyan' last='Douglas']</strong> ran four times for 48 yards and a score and hauled in a 43-yard touchdown catch. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1351189' first='Dre' last='Walker']</strong> ran three times for 27 yards, caught three passes for 28 yards and accounted for Fairfield Central's other offensive score. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1522453' first='Kaylin' last='Culp']</strong> had a 65-yard kickoff return for a touchdown also for the Griffins.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>X-Factor:</em></strong> Andrew Jackson senior lineman <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1816298' first='Nick' last='Carter']</strong> was a force on both sides of the ball last Friday. He had two pancake blocks on offense and a pair of sacks on defense. For the season, Carter has 20 pancake blocks, 78 tackles and a team-high seven sacks.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/hudl {"name":"acf/hudl","data":{"embed_code":"u003ciframe src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/26163248/68e81aea77022f665b8c2bfc' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreenu003eu003c/iframeu003e","_embed_code":"field_62daf7995fd8c"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6914344d7972a"} /--> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>BATESBURG-LEESVILLE (8-3) AT CHESTER (7-4)</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It's taken 97 years for these two programs to meet in the playoffs again. In the 1928 Class B state championship, Batesburg-Leesville defeated Chester by a score of 7-6. While these two teams can play stingy defense, you'd expect a few more points in this week's rematch. Chester advanced here by knocking off Blacksburg, 50-6, last week. Seven different Cyclones combined to carry the ball 32 times for 332 yards and six of them scored touchdowns. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1165099' first='Darriyarn' last='Baxley']</strong> led the way with 88 yards on two carries and a score, while <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1603999' first='Caleb' last='Feaster']</strong> had 79 yards and a touchdown on six attempts. Quarterback <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1822439' first='Jakobe' last='Starks']</strong> completed 2-of-3 passes for 44 yards, ran six times for 66 yards and a touchdown, and had seven tackles and an interception on defense. Shrine Bowler <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='816734' first='Terry' last='Radford']</strong> had 11 tackles, including five tackles-for-loss, also for Chester.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1592414' first='KD' last='Whitt']</strong> scored four touchdowns in the first half as Batesburg-Leesville raced out to a 35-0 halftime lead and went on to a 42-0 win over Eau Claire last Friday. Whitt caught an eight-yard touchdown pass from <strong>Reese Boehnke</strong> midway through the first quarter, then took his only carry of the night 70 yards to the end zone later in the first. In the second quarter, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1820480' first='Jack' last='Bouknight']</strong> had a 20-yard pick-six for the Panthers before Boehnke and Whitt connected on scoring passes of 16 and 15 yards, respectively. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1267286' first='Amadre' last='Wooden']</strong> capped B-L's opening drive of the second half with a four-yard touchdown run for the lone score after halftime. Wooden finished with 13 carries for 92 yards, leaving him just 67 shy of 2,000 for the season. Whitt had 40 yards on four receptions, while Boehnke completed 6-of-8 passes for 70 yards.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>X-Factor:</em></strong> Sophomore defensive end <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1819110' first='Var' last='Thompson']</strong> had a solid regular season for Chester, but evidently was saving his best for the postseason. Thompson did not have a double-digit tackle game before piling up 14 last Friday. That included five tackles-for-loss and a sack. For the season, Thompson has 68 tackles, 17 tackles-for-loss and three sacks.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/hudl {"name":"acf/hudl","data":{"embed_code":"u003ciframe src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/26541968/68d9726da02fc28d2aaab263' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreenu003eu003c/iframeu003e","_embed_code":"field_62daf7995fd8c"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6914344d79771"} /--> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>LIBERTY (8-3) AT STROM THURMOND (9-2)</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Strom Thurmond will be shooting for its third 10-win season in the past four years when the Rebels and Liberty square off for the first time ever Friday. Thurmond held Chesterfield to 101 yards of total offense in a 49-0 win last week. No Rebel had more than six carries, but four of them combined for 209 yards rushing and five touchdowns. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1820530' first='Deonte' last='Phillips']</strong> had 65 yards and a touchdown, while <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1818416' first='Zy' last='Rouse']</strong> went for 51 yards and two scores. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1820528' first='Bri'Shaun' last='Lee']</strong> completed 8-of-10 passes for 158 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. His top target was <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1823102' first='Shaheed' last='Williams']</strong> with four receptions for 84 yards. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1820529' first='Bryston' last='Coleman']</strong> had six solo tackles to lead a total of 21 different Rebels who had at least one stop.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Liberty won a first-round playoff game for the first time since 2016 with a 34-15 victory over Pelion. The Red Devils were clinging to a 20-14 lead in the fourth quarter before <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1823937' first='Tanner' last='Elrod']</strong> and freshman <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1825182' first='Cullen' last='Spence']</strong> had touchdowns runs sandwiched around an interception by <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1821817' first='Chris' last='Mable']</strong> to seal the win. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1303770' first='Jamijae' last='Karim']</strong> led Liberty's strong rushing attack with 90 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries, while Elrod finished with 85 yards and two scores. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1820093' first='Caleb' last='Pilgrim']</strong> had just one pass completion, but it went for a 29-yard touchdown to <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1824911' first='Zane' last='Smith']</strong>. Smith also rushed for 61 yards and a two-point run, and had eight tackles on defense. Spence piled up a game-high 13 tackles.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>X-Factor:</em></strong> Thurmond senior receiver <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='617663' first='Kaleb' last='Simpkins']</strong> increased his eye-popping yards per catch average to 22.3 this season as he caught three passes for 71 yards last Friday. He hauled in both of Lee's touchdowns, including a fantastic over-the-shoulder catch in the back of the end zone on one. Simpkins has 584 yards receiving and six touchdowns this season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/hudl {"name":"acf/hudl","data":{"embed_code":"u003ciframe src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/17946840/690ebfd8830ef3f2d1a99be5' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreenu003eu003c/iframeu003e","_embed_code":"field_62daf7995fd8c"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6914344d797af"} /-->