Class 3A Playoffs 2nd Round: Tailbacks Ready to Shine
The second round of South Carolina’s Class 3A playoffs might just be the most contentious of all five divisions. We’ve got two match-ups of unbeaten teams in Chapman-Daniel and Gilbert-Dillon and another perfect team in 7-0 Camden. In total, the…
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Continue ReadingThe second round of South Carolina’s Class 3A playoffs might just be the most contentious of all five divisions.
We’ve got two match-ups of unbeaten teams in Chapman-Daniel and Gilbert-Dillon and another perfect team in 7-0 Camden. In total, the eight remaining teams have just four combined losses.
All eight of them made it to their respective quarterfinals a year ago – with Daniel and Wren doing it in Class 4A before dropping down – and all of them can score points with the best of them.
But if there is another common link, it is their mostly shared contribution to an impressive conglomerate of tailbacks. It’s not if the following five players will be mentioned in coverage of these games.
Rather, it will be how much.
SHAMARE DENDY, WOODRUFF
You remember the old adage about poking the bear? Yeah, after Dendy struggled in the team’s first two games of the year, he started poking back. These are his game-by-game rushing yardage figures since: 175, 186, 195, 126, 255. He also had at least one score in all but one of those games.
MALACHI HILL, WREN
A year after Wren went about as pass-happy as any team in recent memory behind record-setting quarterback Joe Owens, the Hurricanes are now a run-first team. Hill is a big part of that, as he averages better than seven yards a carry and shows some explosiveness – such as his 171-yard, four-touchdown game against Seneca in Week 2.
COLTON MASON, GILBERT
At 6-feet and 208 pounds, Mason is an absolute load and one of the most impactful running backs in the state, regardless of classification. He’s gone for 1,426 yards and 18 touchdowns this year, highlighted by four 200-yard games and even a 314-yard mind-bender back in October.
Nemo Squire Nemo Squire 5'9" | 195 lbs | RB Dillon | 2022 State SC , DILLON
Just to make Dillon-Gilbert that much better, Squire’s 20 touchdowns (to go along with 913 rushing yards in just six games) are frequently what makes Dillon go. He’s just 5-foot-8, but he’s definitely got a bit of a bowling-ball feel to his interior running and mixes in more than his share of bounce-outs that give him opportunities to break open-field tackles.
WILLIS LANE, CAMDEN
Lane easily would have eclipsed the 1,000-yard rushing plateau in advance of this game had the regular season and playoffs not been shortened. As it stands, he’s going into the second round with 964 yards and 12 touchdowns. If his 248-yard performance against Class 5A Byrnes two weeks ago didn’t raise your eyebrows, nothing will.
CLASS 3A SCHEDULE
(Home team listed second)
Upper State
Woodruff-Wren
Daniel-Chapman
Lower State
Camden-Oceanside Collegiate
Dillon-Gilbert