Week 5 Preview Capsules: Spartanburg Area

Woodruff (2-3) at 3A No. 9 Broome (4-1)

Series Record: Woodruff leads the all-time series 18-13. The teams split a pair of meetings last season, with Broome taking the regular season matchup and Woodruff winning 42-34 in the playoffs.

Last Week: Woodruff beat Chesnee 40-15; Broome beat Berea 58-6

Radio/TV/Internet: meridix.com (Woodruff); coxsportsbroadcasting.com (Broome)

Location: Royal Stadium, 381 Cherry Hill Rd., Spartanburg

Who to watch for Woodruff: QB T.J. Morris, RB Aiden Gibson, WR Kory Scott

Who to watch for Broome: QB Kamajay Brackett-Brannon, RB Jaylen McGill,

About the Wolverines: Woodruff is growing by leaps and bounds offensively behind some young players. Morris looks better every week at QB, and Gibson, just a freshman, has solidified his hold on the top RB spot for Woodruff. Last week, he carried 18 times for 121 yards and a touchdown.

About the Centurions: Broome’s rushing game, behind McGill and Brackett-Brannon, is outstanding. But the Centurions are sneaky-good defensively. They’ve got seven guys with at least 20 tackles, led by Tyqwon Booker’s 37. Chance Williams has seven tackles for loss and seven sacks, and Tre Suber has already notched six interceptions.

4A No. 9 West Florence (3-1) at 5A No. 3 Byrnes (4-1)

Series Record: West Florence won the only previous meeting between the schools 22-19 last season.

Last Week: West Florence beat Dreher 44-17; Byrnes beat Wren 28-7

Radio/TV/Internet: The Fan Upstate, 97.1/97.7 FM

Location: Nixon Field, 150 E. Main St., Duncan

Who to watch for West Florence: WR Keshawn Johnson, QB Franklin Emerson, DB Kelvin Hunter

Who to watch for Byrnes: ATH Knai Cook, QB Andrew Stevens, RB Tre Segarra

About the Knights: West Florence spent the early part of the year figuring some things out offensively, as Johnson started at QB before giving way to Emerson. They’ve formed a good connection on the field, and are the key to the offense. Hunter is a Shrine Bowl DB, and absolutely plays like one.

About the Rebels: Lost in the Rebels’ offensive emergence over the past few weeks has been the efforts of the defense. Cook does a little bit of everything, Chris Foster helps control the defensive front, and Armoni Weaver and Chamarryus Bomar lock down the secondary. The result has been a stingy squad that gives up just 12 points per game.

Clover (1-3) at Boiling Springs (3-2)

Series Record: Boiling Springs leads the all-time series 11-10, but Clover won last year’s meeting 26-0.

Last Week: Clover beat Dorman 35-14; Boiling Springs beat Greer 31-13

Radio/TV/Internet: upstateprepcast.net

Location: Bulldog Stadium, 2251 Old Furnace Rd., Boiling Springs

Who to watch for Clover: QB Jaylon Hoover, RB Landon Stone, LB Jayden Bryant

Who to watch for Boiling Springs: QB Lincoln Huskey, RB Javen Chhim, RB RyShaun Morgan

About the Blue Eagles: Clover put it all together last week against Dorman in their best outing of the year. Hoover threw for 239 yards and three scores, Stone rushed for 179 and a touchdown, and Brant had nine total tackles, two and a half tackles for loss and two sacks in the win.

About the Bulldogs: Boiling Springs got a big night on the ground from Huskey, Chhim, and Morgan, but the Bulldogs continue to get it done on defense. Dennis Glenn is a standout on the line, Calvin Jackson continues to impress at LB, and Jeremiah Favorite is a lockdown player on the back end.

Union County (1-4) at 3A No. 5 Chapman (4-1)

Series Record: Chapman leads the series 8-6, including a 31-6 victory last season.

Last Week: Union County beat Laurens 20-17; Chapman beat Clinton 22-21

Radio/TV/Internet: WBCU 1440 AM (Union County); upstateprepcast.net (Chapman)

Location: Panther Stadium, 1420 Compton Bridge Rd., Inman

Who to watch for Union County: RB Cam Owens, RB Jakevious Jennings, DE Nemo Brannon

Who to watch for Chapman: QB Coleman Gray, WR Rashawn Cunningham, LB Reece Lynch

About the Yellow Jackets: Union County is operating out of a run-heavy offense this season, and had some success last week. Owens is the home-run hitter who can provide big plays, while Jennings does a lot of the dirty work on the inside, using his stout frame to move the pile.

About the Panthers: Chapman won an absolute thriller last week, defeating Clinton on the final play of the game. Gray continued his absolutely insane season at QB, rushing for nearly 200 yards, while Cunningham provided him with a reliable threat in the passing game.

5A No. 5 Gaffney (3-2) at 5A No.6 Fort Dorchester (2-1)

Series Record: Gaffney won last year’s meeting 35-31 to tie the series record at 1-1.

Last week: Gaffney lost to Northwestern 49-24; Fort Dorchester beat Berkeley 52-0

Radio/TV/Internet: WZZQ 104.3 FM

Location: Steve LaPrad Field at Bagwell Stadium, 8500 Patriot Blvd., Summerville

Who to watch for Gaffney: RB Jaiden McDowell, QB Riley Staton, WR Emazon Littlejohn

Who to watch for Fort Dorchester: QB Charles Watson, RB Ryan Campbell, DL Camdon Hawkins

About the Indians: Gaffney got thumped by Northwestern last week, and it will be interesting to see how the Indians respond. Even in the loss, though, Staton slung it all over the field and McDowell had another big game. However, it doesn’t get any easier, as the Patriots are one of the top teams in 5A.

About the Patriots: Fort Dorchester is loaded offensively. Watson is a true dual-threat guy, and Campbell is an electrifying sophomore who opened eyes in last year’s 5A state title game and has gotten progressively better since. The defensive line, led by Hawkins, allowed Berkeley next to nothing last week.

Blue Ridge (0-5) at Landrum (3-1)

Series Record: Blue Ridge leads 24-13 overall, and won last year’s matchup 53-21

Last Week: Blue Ridge lost to Wade Hampon 33-32; Landrum beat Spartanburg Christian 40-20

Radio/TV/Internet: There is an upstateprepcast.net broadcast for both teams

Location: Cardinal Stadium, 18818 Asheville Hwy., Campobello

Who to watch for Blue Ridge: RB KB Henderson, QB Gavin Forrester, WR Asheton Stokes

Who to watch for Landrum: RB Colton Link, RB Braden Mashtare, LB Marc Baker

About the Tigers: Blue Ridge has struggled this season, but there have been bright spots for the Tigers. One of the biggest has been Henderson, who has 632 rushing yards on the year. He’s run for more than six yards per carry, averages nearly 125 a game, and has nine TDs.

About the Cardinals: Landrum has moved to the spread offense – and has already rushed for more than 1,000 yards. Link is responsible for the bulk of that, with 624 yards. He rushes for 9.3 yards per carry, and has scored seven TDs. Mashtare has been a great complement, as he’s second on the team in rushing and leads in receptions and yards.

Spartanburg (3-2) at Mauldin (0-4)

Series record: Spartanburg leads the all-time series 11-7, including a 35-3 win last season.

Last week: Spartanburg beat Riverside 49-6; Mauldin lost to Westside 56-10

Radio/TV/Internet: Fox Sports Spartanburg 1400AM/98.1 FM

Location: Freeman Field, 701 E. Butler Rd., Mauldin

Who to watch for Spartanburg: QB T. J. Johnson,  WR Justin Rice, S Demario Bookhart

Who to watch for Mauldin: RB Devan Ortega, QB Miller Breazeale

About the Vikings: Spartanburg shook off some early offensive struggles in a big way last week. Johnson led the way, throwing for more than 200 yards and a score, while rushing for 134 and FOUR more TDs on the ground.

About the Mavericks: Mauldin had some success running the ball on a stout Westside defense, with Ortega rushing for nearly 100 yards. That included a 50-yard score that made it 7-7 in the first half, a run in which he scored straight through the middle of the Rams’ defense.

Dorman (1-3) at River Bluff (4-1)

Series Record: Dorman won 39-23 last year in the only previous meeting between the schools.

Last Week: Dorman lost to Clover 35-13; River Bluff beat Lower Richland 44-6.

Radio/TV/Internet: WQUL 101.7 FM

Location: The Swamp, 320 Corley Mill Rd., Lexington

Who to watch for Dorman: WR K.D. Hainsworth, LB Owen Hendricks, S Brannon Teamer

Who to watch for River Bluff: QB Parker Murray, RB Trace Nettles, WR Stephen Collier

About the Cavaliers: The Cavaliers are still searching for an identity on offense, but Hainsworth came up with a pair of big plays in last week’s loss to Clover. He caught two TD passes, for 60 and 61 yards, his second and third TDs of 60 or more for the year.

About the Gators: River Bluff has shown the ability to be explosive on offense this season. Murray has already thrown for nearly 800 yards, Nettles has rushed for more than 400, and Collier leads a strong group of receivers with almost 400 yards.