Class 2A Upper State Third Round Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The final four teams left in the Upper State playoffs in Class 2A include three region champions - Region I's Clinton, Region II's Strom Thurmond and Region III's Chester. Ironically, the only non-region champion left had the most lopsided victory in round two as Fairfield Central blanked Andrew Jackson for the second time this season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>That advanced the Griffins into an Upper State semifinal visit to Clinton this Friday. The Red Devils probably didn't have the game they wanted last week, but it might have been the game they needed. Clinton had to find a way to rally in the fourth quarter to defeat Saluda, extending its winning streak to seven games. In those previous six games, the tightest final margin was 21 points.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Friday will be a rematch of the Red Devils' closest game on their way to last season's state title. Clinton defeated Fairfield Central, 32-21, in the 2024 Upper State final.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In this week's other Upper State semifinal, Chester will travel to Strom Thurmond. Both teams got here by piling up the points and recording double-digit victories last week. It will only be the second meeting ever between the teams with the other coming in last year's playoffs. The Cyclones eliminated the Rebels in the opening round, 44-23, last fall.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Here's a look at this week's matchups.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>FAIRFIELD CENTRAL (9-3) AT CLINTON (9-3)</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Fairfield Central will be tasked with trying to slow down one of the best rushing offenses in the state this week. The Griffins should have a boost in confidence in that area after holding Andrew Jackson to five yards rushing as a team in a 36-0 win last Friday. Shutting down the run game opened up big-play opportunities in the secondary and the Griffins responded with four interceptions.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Defense got Fairfield Central on the board first. Andrew Jackson's defense made a goal line stand, but two plays later the Griffins recorded a safety. It was still 2-0 early in the second quarter when quarterback <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1820348' first='Kaden' last='Diggs']</strong> and receiver <strong>Ty'quarius Shannon</strong> connected on the first of their three touchdowns. Fairfield Central blew the game open in an incredible flurry to end the half. After Shannon caught his second touchdown to help push the lead to 15-0 with 5:45 left, freshman <strong>Martez Harrison</strong> had a 70-yard interception return for a score just 20 seconds later. With 1:51 left, freshman <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1522453' first='Kaylin' last='Culp']</strong> had an interception on a deep pass. Culp broke a pair of tackles inside his own 10-yard line before making three others miss on his way for a 93-yard pick-six to stake Fairfield Central to a 29-0 lead at the half. During the Griffins' 35-0 win over Andrew Jackson in the regular season, Culp returned a blocked field goal 95 yards for a touchdown.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The lone score of the second half was a 54-yard touchdown catch by Shannon, who finished with 87 yards on those three touchdown catches. Diggs completed 5-of-9 passes for 97 yards and rushed for 44. <strong>Derek Cammon</strong> led the Griffins with 93 yards rushing, while <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1816746' first='Kenyan' last='Douglas']</strong> had 59. Culp helped preserve the shutout with his second interception at the goal line. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1818055' first='Brenton' last='Mack']</strong> accounted for Fairfield Central's other touchdown.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A 19-point third quarter by Saluda put Clinton in the unusual position of trailing 25-21 going into the fourth quarter last week. No panic set in though. The Red Devils certainly didn't try to change how they operate as they finished with nine yards through the air on 2-of-4 passing. Clinton stuck with what it does best and called on the one who does it the best. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1161156' first='Javen' last='Cook']</strong> raced 53 yards to the end zone to help give the Red Devils a 28-25 lead and then sealed the 35-25 win with a six-yard score a few minutes later. With a defense keying on him all night, Cook ran 20 times for 236 yards and four touchdowns. Quarterback <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='630150' first='Owen' last='Glenn']</strong> added 57 yards on six carries, while <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1603772' first='Rhett' last='Gilliam']</strong> ran for 36 yards and the Red Devils' other touchdown. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1603990' first='Angelo' last='Cromer']</strong> had 35 yards on six carries also for Clinton. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1821225' first='Noah' last='Garrett']</strong> had eight tackles, while <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1165512' first='Chris' last='Boyd']</strong> had seven tackles and an interception, to lead the Red Devils' defense.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>Lineman to Watch:</em></strong> If you like smashmouth football, Clinton's offensive line is always one to watch. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1165753' first='Tre' last='Aiken']</strong> is quite a special part of this season's front though. Aiken is a 6-foot-4, 305-pound senior left tackle who will remain decked out in red and white next season at N.C. State. On Friday, the three-sport athlete helped the Red Devils post 400 rushing yards on 48 attempts and he also had Clinton's lone sack on defense. For the season, the Red Devils have rushed for 4,295 yards and 61 touchdowns, with an average of 9.4 yards per attempt.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/hudl {"name":"acf/hudl","data":{"embed_code":"u003ciframe src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/18235980/68fad24163213563c4305b46' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreenu003eu003c/iframeu003e","_embed_code":"field_62daf7995fd8c"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-691d5a77c8460"} /--> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>CHESTER (8-4) AT STROM THURMOND (10-2)</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>If a fan had to pick any night to be late to a Strom Thurmond football game, last Friday wasn't it. The Rebels raced out to a 34-0 lead over Liberty after one quarter and went on to a 48-21 win. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1820530' first='Deonte' last='Phillips']</strong> opened the scoring with a five-yard touchdown run. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1818416' first='Zy' last='Rouse']</strong> later ran for a six-yard touchdown before <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1615095' first='Kaden' last='Wigfall']</strong> scampered 50 yards to the end zone to help make it 20-0. After giving Liberty its first first down on an offsides penalty, Thurmond's defense made up for it on the next play when <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='617663' first='Kaleb' last='Simpkins']</strong> (pictured) returned an interception 52 yards for a touchdown. A fumble recovery for Phillips ended Liberty's next drive at the Red Devils' 41. The Rebels capped the wild opening quarter when <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1820528' first='Bri'Shaun' last='Lee']</strong> had a push pass to <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1823102' first='Shaheed' last='Williams']</strong> go for a five-yard touchdown. Despite starting one drive near midfield, two others inside Liberty territory and having a pick-six, Thurmond still had a 161-16 advantage in total yardage after one quarter.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Simpkins added an offensive touchdown to his stat line on a five-yard pass from Rouse for the lone score of the second quarter. <strong>D'Nada Morgan</strong> closed out the scoring for Thurmond with a 16-yard touchdown run in the second half. Phillips finished with 89 yards on six carries, while Wigfall had 62 on three attempts and Morgan ran for 46 on five carries. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1820529' first='Bryston' last='Coleman']</strong> had a team-high seven tackles to lead the Rebels' defense.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In a battle of traditional powers last Friday, Chester took a 21-14 lead over Batesburg-Leesville into halftime. A decisive third quarter helped the Cyclones throw the Panthers' typically balanced offense off balance and Chester went on to a 42-28 win. Midway through the third quarter, the Cyclones' <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1592278' first='Hudhaifah' last='Taylor']</strong> rushed for one of his three touchdowns. A minute later, Chester had the ball back thanks to a <strong>T'Mari Caldwell</strong> interception. That led to an eight-yard touchdown run by <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1603999' first='Caleb' last='Feaster']</strong> to give the Cyclones a 35-14 lead heading into the fourth quarter. Taylor scored from eight yards out with just over seven minutes left to push the lead to 42-14 and remove all doubt.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Feaster had 143 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries, while Taylor ran nine times for 91 yards. Caldwell carried eight times for 75 yards and a touchdown, while quarterback <strong>De'Imari Cockrell</strong> ran 13 times for 68 yards and completed all four of his passes for a season-high 68 yards. Going into Friday's game, Cockrell had not attempted more than three passes and not completed more than one in any game all season. With Chester holding a double-digit lead for much of the second half, the Panthers had to kind of abandon its running game. The Cyclones held Batesburg-Leesville standout <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1267286' first='Amadre' last='Wooden']</strong> to 62 yards on just 13 carries, leaving him five yards shy of 2,000 this season. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1165099' first='Darriyarn' last='Baxley']</strong> had 10 tackles, while <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='816734' first='Terry' last='Radford']</strong> had nine, to lead the way for Chester's defense.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>Lineman to Watch:</em></strong> <strong>Jayren Holly</strong> is a 6-foot-0, 280-pound senior guard who anchors the offensive front for Chester and is also on the school's wrestling team. The line's work last Friday allowed the Cyclones to pile up a season-high 464 yards of total offense, including 396 on the ground. That's Chester's second-highest rushing total this season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/hudl {"name":"acf/hudl","data":{"embed_code":"u003ciframe src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/18360846/68f6321ed919868e1ed339a0' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreenu003eu003c/iframeu003e","_embed_code":"field_62daf7995fd8c"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-691d5a77c84a2"} /-->