12 region titles on the line in SCHSL, six more in SCISA as regular season draws to a close

Sumter – Believe it or not, the final week of the regular season for South Carolina high school football is here. To me, the first couple of weeks of the season creep along, and then all of a sudden it rolls downhill fast, it’s the end of October and within five weeks the six state champions crowned by the South Carolina High School League and the five by the South Carolina Independent Schools Association will be known.

First though, the region winners need to be determined. One would think most of the region championships would still be up for grabs heading into the final weekend, but that isn’t the case this year.

Of the 35 SCHSL regions, only 12 will be determining the recipients of region championship trophies on Friday. Of the 10 SCISA regions, only six are still up in the air.

In SCISA, winning the region still means everything. You win one of the two regions in the AAAA, AAA, AA, Class A and 8-man classifications, you get to host the first-round and semifinal games in your quest to reach the respective state championship games.

With the introduction of the MaxPreps ratings percentage index (RPI) in determining the seeding for the state playoffs along with Class A being split into two divisions based on student enrollment, winning the region is not a factor. It’s just for bragging rights, though winning a region no doubt helps in building up a team’s RPI.

In AAAAA, AAA and AA, the three upper state region winners and the three lower state region winners will be the top three seeds based on RPI in each half of the bracket. Since there are seven regions in AAAA, the top three seeds in the upper state and the top four seeds in the lower state will be region champions.

Taking a look at each of the classes, AAAAA has just one region title on the line. AAAA three, AAA one, AA two and Class A five.

In SCISA, both of the AAA regions will be determined on Friday with one each in the other four classes.

Let’s take a look at each of the regions that are still on the line.

SCHSL

AAAAA

Region 6: Berkeley is 8-1 on the season and 4-0 in region play. The Stags, No. 5 in the High School Sports Report AAAAA rankings, will be traveling to Myrtle Beach to face Socastee (4-6, 3-1). If Berkeley wins, it is the region champion.

Should the Braves win and Carolina Forest (7-2, 3-1) loses to 3-6 Cane Bay, then they would win the region title. The only way CF can win is if it wins and Socastee wins to force a tiebreaker to determine the region No. 1.

AAAA

Region 1: This is one of the regions where there are no ifs, ands or buts about it: the winner is the region champion.

This will not only be for the region crown, but it will be for who holds bragging rights in Anderson. Westside will make the trip across town to face T.L. Hanna. Both are 8-1 overall and 4-0 in the region.

Westside is second and the Yellow Jackets are fourth in the AAAA rankings.

Region 2: Greenville will visit AAAA No. 1 Gaffney, the two teams most thought would do battle for the region title when regions were announced following reclassification. However, this isn’t a cut-and-dried region winner because Greer is in the mix

If Gaffney (8-1, 4-0) wins, it is the outright champion. Should Greenville (5-4, 3-1) win and Greer (6-3, 3-1) loses to 3-6 Riverside, then it wins the title.

Wins by Greenville and Greer would bring about a 3-way tie and a tiebreaker would come into play.

Region 4: Lancaster will visit Lugoff-Elgin with the winner being the region champion, no questions asked. I have a question though. Who can honestly say they saw this game being for the region title when schedules were released? Yeah, me neither.

Both teams come into the contest with 8-1 overall records and 4-0 region marks. L-E is ranked sixth, while the Bruins are ninth.

AAA

Region 6: This region could possibly be a 4-team pileup at the top following Friday’s games, and there is a legitimate chance that could take place. Let’s start with the simple stuff though.

Hartsville, ranked 10^th in AAA and eighth-ranked Loris go into the final week tied for first with 4-1 region marks. Should HHS (5-3 overall) win the battle of Darlington County over Darlington (4-5, 3-2), it wins the region title since it defeated Loris in a wild 52-49 shootout. Should Darlington win, however, and Loris (7-2) wins the battle of Horry County over Aynor (6-3, 2-3), it is the region champion.

Now comes the fun part. Should both Hartsville and Loris lose and Crestwood (5-4, 3-2) wins the battle of Sumter County over Lakewood (1-8, 0-5), then you would have four teams with 4-2 region marks. Good luck figuring that all out.

AA

Region 2: Mountain View Prep will take to the road to face Southside Christian School, and one or the other will be the region champ when the night is done.

SCS, ranked sixth in AA, is 7-2 overall and 4-0 in the region, while MVP is 4-4 and 3-1.

Region 3: This one should be a lot of fun since it’s the battle of Newberry County. Of course, Newberry (4-5, 3-1) would like nothing better than to snatch the region crown and an undefeated season away from Mid-Carolina (9-0, 4-0), the No. 1 team in the HSSR AA poll.

CLASS A

Region 1: This is another one of those matchups that has two teams undefeated in the region doing battle as Abbeville (7-2, 5-0) visits Ninety Six (6-3, 5-0).

AHS will be a heavy favorite because, well, because it’s Abbeville. However, that’s why you play the games.

    Abbeville is No. 4 in the HSSR Class A Division I rankings. Ninety Six is ninth.

Region 3: Fairfield Central will be a heavy favorite against Lewisville in a battle of region unbeatens. The Griffins are 9-0 and 3-0 and are No. 1 DI rankings. The Lions started the year 0-6 but are now, obviously, on a 3-game winning streak.

Region 4: This region has a similar vibe to it as Region 3. Blackville-Hilda is No. 1 in the Class A Division II rankings with an 8-1 overall mark and a 3-0 mark in region play. Hunter-Kinard-Tyler is also 3-0 inside the region but just 4-4 overall.

Region 5: Central is 9-0 overall, 5-0 in region play and No. 2 in the DI rankings. However, the Eagles are easily finishing the regular season with the toughest part of their schedule.

They are coming off of a 40-30 home victory over defending Class A state runner-up Lamar (7-2, 4-1, No. 4 in DII). Now they have to travel to Cheraw to face the Braves, who are 6-3 and 4-1 and ranked seventh in DI. A win gives the Eagles the region title.

Should Cheraw win and Lamar lose to 2-7 Chesterfield, then it would win the region championship. A Cheraw victory coupled with a Lamar triumph would bring about a 3-way tie and the dreaded tiebreaker.

Region 7: This is another showdown between two undefeated region teams. Hardeeville (6-2, 3-0) will travel to Varnville to take on Hampton County (7-2, 3-0). Hampton County is ranked fifth in DI, while Hardeeville is No. 7 in DII.

SCISA

Region 2-AAAA: If defending AAAA state champion Northwood Academy (7-2, 4-0) beats Laurence Manning Academy (6-2, 3-1), then this is easy: the Chargers are the region champions.

    Should LMA knock off Northwood and Pinewood Prep (8-1, 3-1) falls to Porter-Gaud (5-4, 2-2), it would be the region champ. However, wins by Laurence Manning and Pinewood would bring about a 3-way tie and the SCISA tiebreaker would come into play.

    A team gets 15 points for each of their region victories and up to 10 points for the margin of victory.

    NA is second in the HSSR SCISA AAAA rankings followed by Pinewood, LMA and P-G, respectively.

    Region 1-AAA: This is another one of those either-or-or this regions. Wilson Hall, 6-3 and 4-0 and ranked sixth in AAA, wraps up the title with a home win over no. 4 Northside Christian Academy (8-1, 3-1). Should NCA win and No. 3 Florence Christian School (6-3. 3-1) lose to Thomas Sumter Academy (2-6, 0-4), then it takes home the trophy.

    Wins by Northside and FCS would bring about a 3-way tie and the tiebreaker would come into play.

    Region 2-AAA: There’s nothing to figure out here. Defending AA state champion Bethesda Academy is 6-1 and 2-0, while First Baptist is 8-1 and 2-0. Bethesda is No. 1 in the AAA rankings and First Baptist is second.

    Region 2-AA: When this region was set up following SCISA’s reclassification, this game between rivals Williamsburg Academy and Pee Dee Academy was expected to decide the region. That is the case.

    The Stallions, the defending Class A state champions, are 7-1 and 3-0 and ranked second in AA. Fourth-ranked Pee Dee, the defending AA state runner-up, is 6-2 and 3-0.

    Region 1-Class A: Clarendon Hall (4-5, 2-0) will travel to Dillon Christian School (7-2, 2-0) with the region title on the line. The Saints, who are third in the HSSR Class A rankings, came into the season on a 21-game losing streak. Second-ranked DCS went 3-7 last season.

    Region 2-8-Man: Laurens Academy is 8-0 overall, 2-0 in the region and third in the HSSR 8-man rankings. The Crusaders will be heavy favorites to wrap up the region title against No. 5 Richard Winn Academy (3-5, 1-1).

    A win by RWA would definitely gum up the works though. If No. 4 Newberry Academy (5-4, 1-1) were to lose to Cambridge Academy (2-7, 0-2), then Richard Winn would take the regions. Wins by RWA and Newberry would bring about a 3-way tie.