Week 1 Preview: Midlands Area

Chris Dearing August 26, 2021 @ 01:38 PM

The high school football schedule continues to change daily but that has not stopped some early season marquee matchups from happening. We start our Week 1 preview for the Midlands with a game that came about in the last week. Defending Class AAAA champion A.C. Flora will open the season against Class AAAAA power Sumter. The Falcons were slated to begin the season last week but their game with Airport was canceled one hour before kickoff. Junior running back Markel Townsend hopes to start his junior campaign with a bang. A.C. Flora’s quarterback is still unsettled with Trey McCardle and Phillips Daniels vying for the top spot. That should open the door for Townsend to be leaned on heavily. Upfront, the Falcons will turn to Thomas Papadakis, Alexander Koutrakos and Kendarious Kinard. Defensively, the Falcons have added defensive lineman [player_tooltip player_id="89325" first="Micaiah" last="Settles"] to a group that includes linebacker Tyrell Green, secondary players Jacob Croffie and Boyce Bankhead. Sumter opened the season with a 55-18 win over Lakewood. Defensive lineman [player_tooltip player_id="59473" first="Davin" last="Jackson"], linebacker [player_tooltip player_id="91202" first="Malik" last="McKinzie"] and defensive back [player_tooltip player_id="89303" first="Jabari" last="Tiller"] lead a stout Gamecocks defense. Jeremiah Horace ran for three touchdowns, Keion Brown and Zveir Gamble added two each as Sumter ran for 331 yards on just 31 attempts. [player_tooltip player_id="92207" first="Ryan" last="McCants"] was 4-of-5 for 36 yards but will be counted on more against A.C. Flora. Abbeville at Newberry – Defending Class AA champion Abbeville travels to Newberry for between perennial powers. One matchup to focus on will be Newberry wide receiver [player_tooltip player_id="59467" first="Zack" last="Chalmers"] facing off against Abbeville safety [player_tooltip player_id="91180" first="Jeremiah" last="Lomax"]. Both teams recorded shutouts a week ago – Abbeville 46-0 over McCormick and Newberry 25-0 over Mid-Carolina. North Augusta at Ridge View – [player_tooltip player_id="153263" first="Andre" last="Washington"] threw for 234 yards and four touchdowns – two to [player_tooltip player_id="92205" first="Chase" last="Smith"] - and ran for another in Ridge View’s 40-20 win over Westwood last week. The Blazers are led by linebackers [player_tooltip player_id="91193" first="Miquel" last="Mason"] and [player_tooltip player_id="91229" first="Sterling" last="Goodwin"] on defense. North Augusta pitched a 17-0 shutout over Lakeside (Ga) last week. The Yellow Jackets defense is led by defensive lineman [player_tooltip player_id="59500" first="Chase" last="Tillman"]. DJ Curry ran for 160 yards and one touchdown. Spring Valley at River Bluff – [player_tooltip player_id="59480" first="DeQuandre" last="Smith"] threw for two scores and ran for another in a 23-0 win over White Knoll. The Vikings defense – led by [player_tooltip player_id="153274" first="Ky" last="Tayo"] and Jameer Toney – held the Timberwolves to around 100 yards of total offense until the final drive of the game. Apollos Cook caught two touchdowns and added a special teams score in the Gators 28-7 win over Lugoff-Elgin. Other key games include Oceanside Collegiate at Gray Collegiate, Goose Creek at Blythewood, and White Knoll at Lower Richland.