Upper State Second Round Game Balls

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The second round of the playoffs saw the stars begin to separate themselves and lead their team to victory as the action continued to heat up heading into the third round next week.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Here's a look at 28 players in the Upper State that garnered Game Balls in round two:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1267334' first='Kameron' last='Vance'] </strong>| WR | Northwestern</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The senior gave the Trojans the spark they needed in the second half, returning the kickoff back 96 yards for a touchdown in their 42-7 second round win over Catawba Ridge. Vance found the end zone on a 4-yard run as well.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='232624' first='Xavier' last='Means']</strong> |<strong> </strong>QB | Northwestern</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Means went 18-of-27 for 189 yards and two touchdowns, one to <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1817848' first='David' last='Flood'] </strong>(43 yards) and the other to <strong>Peyton Vining</strong> (39 yards). He also found the end zone on the ground as well.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1467825' first='Matt' last='Kucia']</strong> (pictured above) | QB | Indian Land</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Kucia found <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1042719' first='Hayden' last='Morris']</strong> for two big touchdown catches through the air. The first was on a 20-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter, and the other came on a 75-yard reception on the Warriors' opening drive of the second half.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1819627' first='J'Zavien' last='Currence'] </strong>| ATH | South Pointe</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It was another week and another touchdown on the opening play from Currence – this time from 52 yards out in their second round 49-0 win over Emerald. The passing game for the Stallions operated smoothly as well. Currence found <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='513067' first='Malik' last='Ratliff'] </strong>for touchdown catches of 9 and 22 yards as well. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1476906' first='Kadin' last='Vassel'] </strong>also got in on the scoring action on a 38 yard catch. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1603697' first='Zymier' last='Gordon-Miles'] </strong>capped the scoring with a 12-yard run.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1820013' first='Tyler' last='Clark'] </strong>(pictured above) | LB | Byrnes</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Clark was active throughout the evening with multiple tackles, and made some critical plays <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2025/11/byrnes-defense-shines-in-second-round-win-over-rock-hill/">in their second round win over Rock Hill</a>. The first was an interception that set up a field goal and he also came up with a sack.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1820530' first='Deonte' last='Phillips'] </strong>| RB | Strom Thurmond</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Phillips ran for 89 yards on 6 carries, averaging 14.8 yards per carry and he found the end zone once as the Rebels routed Liberty 48-21. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1615095' first='Kaden' last='Wigfall'] </strong>ran for 62 yards and one touchdown. As a team, the Rebels ran for 257 yards and five touchdowns.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1267330' first='Jacorreun' last='Howze'] </strong>| ATH | Lewisville</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Howze had 113 total yards, a crucial pass deflection, and scored three times in the <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2025/11/howze-lewisville-stun-defending-class-a-champ-abbeville/">Lions' win at Abbeville</a>. He also provided the game-winning two-point conversion in the 29-28 victory.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1824184' first='Terrell' last='Golson']</strong> | RB | CA Johnson</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Golson ran for 3 touchdowns to help power the Green Hornets to a 28-0 win over Blackville-Hilda. He's close to the 1,000 yard mark for the season now.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Jaylin Simmons</strong> RB and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='591391' first='Blake' last='Betette']</strong> ATH | AC Flora&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Simmons ran for 334 yards and three touchdowns and Betette added a 99 yard pick six and rushed for a touchdown in their 34-21 win over Seneca.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1161156' first='Javen' last='Cook'] </strong>| RB | Clinton</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Cook rushed for 236 yards and four touchdowns as the Red Devils mounted a fourth-quarter comeback to defeat Saluda 35-25.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1823705' first='Jaxon' last='Knotts'] </strong>| QB | Dutch Fork</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Knotts went 22-of-29 for 311 yards and three touchdowns in the Silver Foxes 42-7 rout of Boiling Springs. His leading receiver was <strong>Kyle Fulton</strong>, who had five receptions for 119 yards and one touchdown.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1592529' first='Julian' last='Walker'] </strong>| DL | Dutch Fork</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Michigan commit had six tackles, including 3.5 tackles for loss in the win. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1734522' first='Mario' last='Anderson'] </strong>also had an interception for 29 yards in the win. <strong>Luicano Cesario </strong>(video below)<strong> </strong>had three tackles and 0.5 tackles for a loss.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/10Luciano22/status/1989778805720743968","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"twitter","responsive":true} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/10Luciano22/status/1989778805720743968 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1036755' first='Kendaris' last='Bailey']</strong> | LB | Gaffney&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Bailey channeled his alter-ego as a short-yardage back for the Indians and turned it into a bunch more. He led the team with seven carries for 108 yards and two touchdowns in a 38-31 win over Greenwood. He added four total tackles and an interception on defense.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1664350' first='Nick' last='Means']</strong> | RB | Dorman&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Means rushed for 101 yards and two scores in Dorman's win over Blythewood, averaging 12.6 yards per carry and running his season rushing touchdown total to 19.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1730056' first='Noah' last='Thomas']</strong> | QB | Belton-Honea Path&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Thomas accounted for four touchdowns in a 52-6 win over Southside Christian. He ran for 198 yards and three scores on 26 carries, and completed 9 of 11 passes for 64 yards and a touchdown.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='816751' first='Jude' last='Hall']</strong> WR and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1199124' first='Judd' last='Windham']</strong> QB, Christ Church&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Despite falling to Woodruff, Hall and Windham had a monster night. Hall caught nine balls for 241 yards and three touchdowns for the Cavaliers. Windham threw for 418 yards, and the three touchdowns to Hall.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1791455' first='Brock' last='Cole']</strong> | RB | T.L. Hanna&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Cole rushed for 135 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries as the Yellow Jackets beat Greenville 38-14.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->