Class 4A Upper State Third Round Preview

It's time for the Class 4A Upper State semifinals aka the Region III-4A Invitational with special guest, Westside. The top three teams in that region have steamrolled their way into the final four of the Upper State as have the Rams, the champions of Region I.   After surviving upset scares from Region III's fifth- and sixth-place teams in the opening round, fourth-seeded Seneca and second-seeded Daniel weren't as fortunate against the second- and third-place teams from Region III in round two. Fifth-seeded AC Flora eliminated the Bobcats, while seventh-seeded Camden seemingly took out years of postseason frustration against Daniel last Friday.   Meanwhile, top-seeded South Pointe and third-seeded Westside each extended their winning streaks in dominant fashion.   Here's a look at this week's matchups.   No. 5. AC FLORA (11-1) AT No. 1 SOUTH POINTE (11-1)   This will be a rematch of the region opener on Sept. 19 in which South Pointe handed Flora its only loss this season by a score of 35-12. After South Pointe allowed its most points in a game in two months in a 63-13 win in round one, its defense “got back on track” last Friday while its offense kept rolling. The Stallions piled up 15 tackles-for-loss and 532 yards of total offense in a 49-0 win over Emerald. The game actually ended with 10:38 left into the fourth quarter after a Vikings player suffered an injury. It's the 11th consecutive victory for South Pointe and its fourth shutout over the past six games.   Standout quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='1819627' first='J'Zavien' last='Currence'] got the Stallions off to a hot start with a 52-yard touchdown run on their first offensive snap. Currence finished with 108 rushing yards on three carries and 302 yards on 20-of-29 passing with three touchdowns and no interceptions. As if Currence needed any more weapons on offense, junior [player_tooltip player_id='1476906' first='Kadin' last='Vassel'] returned to action in a big way after missing nearly all season with an injury. He caught four passes for 114 yards and two touchdowns. [player_tooltip player_id='513067' first='Malik' last='Ratliff'] had four catches for 69 yards and a score, while [player_tooltip player_id='930586' first='Dailan' last='Duncan'] caught four passes for 65 yards. [player_tooltip player_id='1165128' first='RJ' last='Brown'] rushed for 40 yards and two touchdowns, while [player_tooltip player_id='1603697' first='Zymier' last='Gordon-Miles'] ran for a touchdown and had an interception on defense. South Pointe rushed for 166 yards as a team on just 12 attempts. Senior [player_tooltip player_id='1165103' first='Anthony' last='Baxter'] helped pave the way up front with 10 pancake blocks giving him 128 this season. The Stallions' shutout effort was led by [player_tooltip player_id='1271263' first='KJ' last='Burg'] with a team-high 11 tackles, including three tackles-for-loss. [player_tooltip player_id='284136' first='Miles' last='Wilson'] had eight tackles including three tackles-for-loss and a sack, while freshman Hayzon Lumpkin also had three tackles-for-loss.   A career-high rushing night of 161 yards against York in round one left AC Flora's Jaylin Simmons 99 yards shy of 1,000 for the season. Last Friday against Seneca, Simmons raced past the 1,000-yard plateau and destroyed that previous career-high just seven days later. Simmons ran for 334 yards and three touchdowns to power the Falcons to a 34-21 victory. The junior has 1,235 yards rushing this season, including 760 over the past four games, along with 17 touchdowns. Flora's defense held a Seneca team that was averaging more than 45 points per game to just two offensive touchdowns as one of the Bobcats' scores came on a blocked field goal return.   Simmons got things going for Flora just 77 seconds into the game Friday with a 39-yard score. On its ensuing possession, Seneca drove inside the Falcons' five before [player_tooltip player_id='1422589' first='Peyton' last='Bishop'] had a big tackle-for-loss on third-and-goal that led to a missed field goal. After the Bobcats tied the game later in the first, Flora answered with a long drive that Simmons capped with a two-yard touchdown. Seneca again followed with a possession that reached the Falcons' two-yard line. On this third-and-goal, it was [player_tooltip player_id='591391' first='Blake' last='Betette'] who came up huge for Flora. Betette snagged the Bobcats' pass with his right hand, tucked it in and raced 99 yards for his second pick-six in as many weeks. After the 99-yard score on defense in the second quarter, Betette had a one-yard touchdown on offense in the third quarter after taking a direct snap out of the Wildcat formation. He scored again out of the Wildcat on the two-point conversion. Early in the fourth quarter, Simmons provided the dagger with a 59-yard touchdown run to help push the lead to 34-14.   Lineman to Watch: An offensive line anchored by [player_tooltip player_id='1301043' first='Jeremiah' last='McGowan'] has paved the way for Simmons and provided big protection - literally and figuratively - for Flora's all-time leading passer, [player_tooltip player_id='1025784' first='Roper' last='Wentzky']. McGowan is a 6-foot-4, 325-pound sophomore with an 83-inch wingspan and a 3.6 GPA. He's received three Division I offers thus far. His work has helped Wentzky pass for more than 2,800 yards with 29 touchdowns and five interceptions this season.    No. 7 CAMDEN (9-3) AT No. 3 WESTSIDE (8-4)   As a result of winning at Wren, 21-7, for the Region I championship in the regular season finale, Westside hosted the rematch in round two last Friday. [player_tooltip player_id='1208787' first='Jacob' last='Lewis'] looked like a senior who's bound and determined to lead the Rams to a third consecutive state title appearance. Lewis caught eight passes for 211 yards and four touchdowns on offense and had a key interception on defense to lead Westside to a 55-20 win. It's the eighth consecutive win for the Rams.   Wren drove to Westside's 15-yard line on the opening drive of Friday's game, but the Rams came up with a fourth-down stop. On 4th-and-10 from its own 46-yard line, Westside went for it and [player_tooltip player_id='1881741' first='Bear' last='Woods'] connected with [player_tooltip player_id='1817438' first='Jae' last='White'] on a 48-yard pass. That set up a [player_tooltip player_id='1822335' first='Keylan' last='Powell'] touchdown from three yards out. Wren's next drive ended on a 28-yard interception return by Lewis into Wren territory. That led to another three-yard touchdown run by Powell. Westside's next possession resulted in Woods finding Lewis for a 90-yard touchdown. Lewis caught two more touchdowns in the second quarter, while Powell ran for his third score to stake the Rams to a 41-0 lead at the half. Powell (pictured) finished with 130 yards rushing on 17 carries and the three scores, while White had 50 yards on his lone carry. [player_tooltip player_id='1817436' first='Nehemiah' last='Brown'] had three catches for 66 yards also for Westside. Woods finished with 322 yards on 16-of-27 passing with the four touchdowns. In addition to Lewis' pick, [player_tooltip player_id='1822345' first='Kwon' last='Simpkins'] had an interception also for the Rams' defense.   After having its heart broken by Daniel in three Class 3A state championship games over a four-year span from 2020-23, Camden got a little bit of revenge in a big way last week. The Bulldogs made the 160-mile road trip to Daniel and left with a 52-14 win. That marked the Lions earliest playoff exit since a first round loss in 2017 and the most points anyone has scored at Daniel since Gaffney beat the Lions, 53-28, on Sept. 16, 1996.   Junior quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='1354590' first='Greyson' last='Rimpf'] got things going for Camden with a pair of touchdown passes in the first quarter. Rimpf hit [player_tooltip player_id='1165092' first='Tylin' last='Drakeford'] for a 17-yard score and later connected with Isiah Smith for a 67-yard touchdown. After Daniel cut the lead to 17-7 in the second quarter, the Bulldogs answered with a scoring drive that [player_tooltip player_id='1513514' first='Navier' last='Boykin'] capped with a 17-yard touchdown run. With six seconds left in the half, Camden pulled off a double-pass trick play as Drakeford threw to [player_tooltip player_id='1772703' first='Bernard' last='Green'] for a 78-yard score to push the lead to 31-7. The Bulldogs removed any lingering doubt with a three-touchdown third quarter. Rimpf and Smith ran for touchdowns sandwiched around [player_tooltip player_id='1825202' first='Lavay' last='Penny'] returning a fumble off a strip sack 30 yards for a score. Rimpf completed 9-of-16 passes for 162 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions, while Boykin had 105 yards on 15 carries and the touchdown. Drakeford finished with 83 yards receiving on six catches, while Smith caught two passes for 72 yards and ran five times for 57 yards.   Specialist to Watch: While Camden senior Zy'Marcus Stover has caught a couple of touchdowns this season, where he's a real threat for the Bulldogs is in the return game. In addition to 141 yards receiving this season, Stover has 210 yards on kickoff returns and 214 on punt returns. He's averaging 15.3 yards per punt return, a figure that was boosted with a pair of returns for 70 yards in the win over Daniel.

It's time for the Class 4A Upper State semifinals aka the Region III-4A Invitational with special guest, Westside. The top three teams in that region have steamrolled their way into the final four of the Upper State as have the Rams, the champions of Region I.