Class 5A Division-II Lower State First Round Preview

With Irmo, Berkeley, Myrtle Beach and White Knoll biding their time for the second round, the rest Class 5A Division-II Lower State field will crank things up this week.    The remaining eight squads might not be the headliners, but they're also not interested in seeing their 2025 seasons end just the same. The other common themes is the make-up of the four match-ups in Round 1.    In each, you're going to see one of the squads from the Horry County “Beach Region” heading on the road to take on teams from the Midlands, Charleston and the western edge of the Grand Strand & Pee Dee. There's a relatively lack of familiarity between the opposing schools and it could lead to some opening-round wackiness.   Either way, let's break down the first four games of this bracket.   NO. 9 SOCASTEE (3-7) AT NO. 8 LUGOFF-ELGIN (5-5)   The Lugoff-Elgin offense has quietly been putting up really strong numbers. Senior tailback Jar'Kese Grant (729 yards, six touchdowns) has been doing his part to keep the Demons relatively balanced, but what quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='1823858' first='Zach' last='Williams'] (1,973 yards, 17 touchdowns) and receivers [player_tooltip player_id='1267277' first='Shamil' last='Saadiq'] (1,024 yards, seven touchdowns, pictured) and [player_tooltip player_id='1603854' first='Eric' last='Richardson'] (712 yards, eight touchdowns) have been able to accomplish this year means opponents better be locked in on the outside. Richardson doubles as the team's second-best ball carrier, and his 578 yard and five touchdowns on the ground further confuses defenses in the pre-snap. Socastee isn't as explosive with their offense, but freshman tailback [player_tooltip player_id='1816423' first='Elijah' last='Owens'] adds some serious size to the backfield and he and senior quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='1429140' first='Christian' last='Royals'] have led the Braves to 60 points in the last two games after scoring only 79 points in the first eight contests.   X-Factor: Socastee sophomore tailback/receiver [player_tooltip player_id='1467828' first='London' last='Wilder'] missed some time this year with nagging injuries, but if he's on the field at all he's a player Lugoff-Elgin has to account for at all times. Wilder was instrumental in the Braves' 22-21 win over rival St. James last week when he converted a two-point conversion on an end around.      NO. 12 NORTH MYRTLE BEACH (3-7) AT NO. 5 LUCY BECKHAM (6-3)   This is going to be one of those games where fans need to be in their seats on time. Much of that is because of the emphasis both teams put on their top ball carriers. North Myrtle Beach quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='1822553' first='Will' last='McNeely'] has rushed for 1,169 yards and 13 touchdowns, and he should have recorded his 200th carry of the year before the end of the first quarter. He has more rushes than the other 10 Chiefs who have notched at least one all by himself. On the flip side, the Bengals have gone heavy with bulldozer Jack Lamonica (6-foot, 215 pounds). Entering Friday's playoff game, Lamonica had already eclipsed 175 carries this fall in only nine games. He'd used those touches to put up 1,221 yards and 12 touchdowns. Do these teams throw the ball? Of course. But the Chiefs with McNeely and fellow quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='1823442' first='Mason' last='Walker'] and the Bengals with Finn Gunter aren't doing it often. Instead, they tend to lean into smash-mouth football.   X-Factor: If you're going to have that much rushing, that also means these defenses could flip the script with some well-timed stops and maybe a turnover or two. When it comes to North Myrtle Beach, linebacker [player_tooltip player_id='1639819' first='Michael' last='Cavallini'] (54 total tackles) is going to have to do just that. The Chiefs have only picked off three passes and forced five fumbles all season. But we've seen Cavallini do it before. If that's not there, he's very good at getting ball carriers on the ground.    NO. 11 CONWAY (2-8) AT NO. 6 WEST FLORENCE (5-5)   The Conway offensive line has no choice but to have its best game of the year. [player_tooltip player_id='1823562' first='Tyler' last='Fetter'] (LT), Sakai McLendon (LG), [player_tooltip player_id='1816980' first='Dakota' last='Burnette'] (C), [player_tooltip player_id='1823559' first='Gavin' last='Jones'] (RG) and Casey Eller (RT) have enough issues before we start factoring in West Florence defensive standouts [player_tooltip player_id='1025773' first='Romello' last='Patterson'] at linebacker and [player_tooltip player_id='617662' first='Jamie' last='Williamson'] on the line. The Tigers have already been without freshman tailback [player_tooltip player_id='1816981' first='Jacob' last='Johnson'] (ACL) and are still waiting on the coin flip on quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='1399640' first='Noah' last='Legg'] (broken hand). If Legg's not in a cast after his next check up, we assume he'll play. Conway will need everyone on the offense to contribute, but if those five linemen can hold their own it will dramatically improve the Tigers' chances to make it to the second round.   X-Factor: Knights senior defensive end Zacchaeus Hill has been on a tear in the last month. With so much attention being paid to his line mate (Williamson), Hill has piled up 29 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, three sacks and two forced fumbles in the last four games alone.     NO. 10 ST. JAMES (4-6) AT NO. 7 WESTWOOD (6-4)    The Sharks are going to head to Northeast Columbia knowing their quarterback has got to be the key to it all. Senior [player_tooltip player_id='1267347' first='Alex' last='Sandt'] has completed 70 percent of his passes for 1,890 yards and 13 touchdowns. He's struggled at times with interceptions (he's got 12 of them so far), but the arm strength and ability to stretch the field is undeniable. Westwood, on the other hand, is still trying to figure out what it can and can't do with a replacement quarterback. Senior [player_tooltip player_id='1819183' first='Josiah' last='Henryhand'] has been behind center since regular starter [player_tooltip player_id='1734561' first='Carrington' last='Carter'] went down with a likely season-ending injury three weeks ago. Henryhand has completed 66 percent of his passes in that span for 388 yards and three touchdowns, but the acclimation process has also included five picks. It's put more of the onus for this offense on tailbacks [player_tooltip player_id='1312448' first='Jovan' last='Howard'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1603902' first='Angelo' last='Rios'] and those two will need to take center stage to continue the new starting quarterback's development.   X-Factor: As more teams made locking down [player_tooltip player_id='1592675' first='Zack' last='Zurawski'] a priority, the Sharks had no issue turning to [player_tooltip player_id='1819547' first='Alijah' last='Ochoa'] more and more. He's still got roughly half as many receptions as Zurawski, but Ochoa is finding seams in defenses that have allowed him to snag the teams lead in yardage with 481 to go along with four scoring receptions. He added to his totals early last week with a 43-yard touchdown reception.

With Irmo, Berkeley, Myrtle Beach and White Knoll biding their time for the second round, the rest Class 5A Division-II Lower State field will crank things up this week.