Dutch Being Chased By Summerville & Sumter In Div. I -AAAAA While Northwestern Is Team To Beat In Div. II AAAAA

Billy Baker • November 14, 2024

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By Billy G. Baker

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Moncks Corner—The region winners in the AAAAA SCHSL football classification all received byes for the first round of the play-offs that started on November, 15^th so if any upsets are brewing involving the top seeded teams in the two divisions we will have to wait until Nov., 22^nd for that to possibly happen.

In the Upper State AAAAA D-1 a bye went to number one rated Dutch Fork (9-0) and they will play the winner of the Boiling Springs (6-3) versus Dorman (6-3) in a week two in Irmo.

Rock Hill (5-5) received a bye and they will play the winner of the Mauldin (2-8) versus River Bluff (8-2) game in week two. JL Mann (8-2) got a bye and they await the winner of the Blythewood versus Clover (7-3) game on Nov., 15.

Number four- rated Spartanburg, fresh off a close game loss with rival Gaffney awaits the winner of Lexington versus Byrnes in week one.

In Lower State Div. I Summerville (10-0) has a bye and they await the winner between Fort Dorchester and Stratford. Cane Bay, a winner over Berkeley last week, received a bye and they await the winner between Spring Valley and Ridge View.

Carolina Forest has a round one bye and they await the winner between Wando and James Island. Highly regarded Sumter (9-0) has a first- round bye and they will host the winner between West Ashley and Ashley Ridge on Nov. 15.

Now, we move on to Div. II AAAAA: In the Upper state number one rated Northwestern (10-0) will host the winner between Eastside and Indian Land on Nov., 15. Greenwood received a first- round bye and they will host the winner of the nation Ford versus Hillcrest first round game on Nov., 15.

T.L Hanna earned a bye and they await the winner of the Woodmont versus Catawba Ridge winner in round two. Gaffney, fresh off of a come from behind win over Spartanburg that clinched the region title, awaits the winner of the Greenville versus Riverside game.

In the Lower state Div. II AAAAA: Irmo (9-1), fresh off of a loss to Dutch Fork, awaits the winner between Goose Creek and Chapin in week one. West Florence has a week one bye and they will host the winner between Lucy Beckham and North Myrtle Beach in round two.

Berkeley has earned a bye and they await the winner between Socastee and Westwood in round one. Finally, Myrtle Beach earned a first- round bye and they await the winner between Lugoff-Elgin and White Knoll from first round action.

The HSSR predicts that Dutch Fork and Summerville will emerge as respective bracket winners in Div. I AAAAA and will meet in the gold medal round at South Carolian State University on Friday Dec., 13 at 2 p.m.

Tom Knotts, the head coach at Dutch Fork, told the HSSR after his 24-14 big win over Irmo last week, ““I pay attention to Dutch Fork, but now that I’ve played Irmo, these are the two best teams in the state,” said Coach Knotts after the Irmo win. “They’re going to be in the smaller (school size) 5A and we’re in the larger 5A, so thank goodness we don’t have to play them again and they’re probably saying thank goodness they don’t have to play us again.

“We like to get to this time of year, the kids behave better, they focus better, they lift better, they meet better,” Knotts said. “This is our time of year. We’re used to it.”

Summerville head coach Ian Rafferty shared these thoughts about the play-offs, ““Unfortunately we will have to play some teams we’ve already seen in the playoffs but it is what it is,” said Coach Rafferty. “Against Fort Dorchester we did some uncharacteristic things on special teams and turned the ball over near the goal line, but moving forward the key is the way our guy’s work. We have kind of built a good mentality throughout the season and just work and show up to play on game night. Basically, we just need to be the Green Wave.”

The Summerville offense spreads the ball around and the team suffered some key injuries on both sides of the ball this season so a lot of players have seen action and contributed to the second consecutive undefeated regular season.

In Div. II AAAA, the HSSR predicts a Northwestern versus Gaffney final in the gold medal round scheduled for 06 p.m. on December, 14 at South Carolina State University.

Gaffney head coach Dan Jones told the HSSR after his win over Spartanburg last week, “Coach Jones said that during the bye week Gaffney would stay focused on getting ready to compete in the second round of the play-offs on November, 22. “We will study film and lift weights on Monday but we will have three full practices on Tuesday through Thursday,” said Coach Jones. “We will be hard-at-work getting ready to play wither Greenville or Riverside.”

For the regular season, the Gaffney offense produced 1,423 yards rushing and 1,849 yards passing and that defines a balanced attack on offense. Gaffney out-scored teams 275-139.

Northwestern, led by veteran QB Finley Polk has dominated teams 514-158 this year. Head coach Paige Wofford has done a great job coaching the Trojans for the past several years and his team is expected to plow through the competition in the play-offs on the way to the finals.

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