Week 0 Preview Capsules: Greenville County

Class 5A No. 8 J.L. Mann at Class 4A No. 8 Midland Valley

Series record: First meeting.

Last season: J.L. Mann went 11-3. Midland Valley was 12-1.

Location: Midland Valley High, 227 Mustang Drive, Graniteville

Who to watch for J.L. Mann: RB LaDainnian Martin, DB Ramani Bruton, LB Wyatt Ward

Who to watch for Midland Valley: RB Preston McNair, DB Kaiden Davis

What to know: J.L. Mann makes the long road trip to Aiken County for a first-time matchup of teams that made deep playoff runs in 2023. It will be the first game for Midland Valley interim head coach Brent Dorn after a tumultuous offseason for coach Earl Chaptman, who is on administrative leave. The Mustangs had 11 players off last year’s best team in school history now playing college football.

Class 5A No. 10 Hillcrest at Laurens

Series record: Laurens leads 34-17-2, but Hillcrest has won each of the last five meetings and eight of the last nine. The Rams won last season, 55-9.

Last season: Hillcrest went 10-3. Laurens was 2-9. 

Radio/TV/Internet: Hillcrest – https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057301007626 (Facebook Live stream); Laurens – WLBG 860 AM/104.1 FM.

Location: KC Hanna Stadium, 5058 US-76, Laurens

Who to watch for Hillcrest: QB Kalab Sutton, RB Frank Starks, DB Christian Henderson

Who to watch for Laurens: QB Will Thompson, WR Josh Goodwin, DB Nideaz Williams

What to know: This will be the debut of new Laurens coach Greg Porter, who will be facing Hillcrest for the first time. Porter came to the Raiders from Greenville, but before that coached the Rams to unprecedented success including Hillcrest’s lone football state championship in 2014. Another former Ram will be leading Laurens at quarterback in Thompson.

Class 3A No. 4 Christ Church at Hammond

Series record: Hammond leads 3-0 with all three victories coming in consecutive seasons from 1989-91.

Last season: Christ Church went 13-2 and captured the Class 1A state championship for the second consecutive season. Hammond was 11-2 and earned its seventh consecutive SCISA state title.

Location: Edens Stadium, 854 Galway Ln, Columbia

Who to watch for Christ Church: WR Jackson Repp, WR Jude Hall, QB Tucker Hendrix

Who to watch for Hammond: DB Jordan Boston, TE Mike Tyler, DB Zay Mathis

What to know: Christ Church makes its debut in Class 3A with a tough matchup at SCISA powerhouse Hammond. These two football programs might have the largest trophy cases in the state.

Southside Christian at Class 1A No. 1 Abbeville

Series record: Abbeville leads 7-0 including a thrilling 22-21 win in Simpsonville last season.

Last season: Southside Christian went 9-4. Abbeville was 12-2.

Location: Hite Stadium, 701 Washington St, Abbeville

Who to watch for Southside Christian: RB/WR Christian Kaiser, OL/DL Jeremiah Jackson, QB Jack Criswell

Who to watch for Abbeville: QB/S Damarcus Leach

What to know: This will be Southside Christian’s first game as a Class 3A member, while it will be Abbeville’s first as a Class 1A member since 1991. The Panthers played in 2A for 50 of the previous 52 seasons. It’s a rematch of a classic last year in which Leach came on at quarterback and rallied Abbeville from a 21-7 halftime deficit. The Panthers scored the game-winning two-point conversion with 56.2 seconds left.

Greer at Boiling Springs

Series record: Greer leads the series 4-2

Last year: Greer 6-6, second round playoff loss; Boiling Springs 4-7, first round playoff loss

Radio/TV/Internet: yellowjacketsportsnetwork (Greer); upstateprepcast.net (Boiling Springs)

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

Who to watch for Boiling Springs: QB Lincoln Huskey, DL Dennis Glenn, ATH Jeremiah Favorite

Who to watch for Greer: DL Isaiah McCoy, DL Aiden Jones, WR Brock Diggins

What to know: The story of the game is the defensive line on both sides of the matchup. Dennis Glenn is probably the best sophomore defensive lineman in the state, or one of. Greer has four guys back, led by Isaiah McCoy and Aiden Jones, both of whom are absolute terrors.

Greenville at Dorman

Series record: Greenville leads the all-time series 5-2, including a victory last season

Last season: Greenville was 10-4 and advanced to the 4A Upper State title game; Dorman finished 3-8

Radio/TV/Internet: WQUL 101.7 FM (Dorman); TV – WMYA My 40

Location: Dorman Stadium, 1050 Cavalier Drive, Roebuck

Who to watch for Greenville: DL Jair Simmons, RB Kylar Zimmerman, OL Hunter Taylor

Who to watch for Dorman: LB Dru Darby, DL Brayden Melton, QB Brice O’Neal

What to know: There’s arguably not a team that was hit harder than Greenville by transfers, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. Jair Simmons is a guy who’s back, and he’s a really good one on the defensive line. Offensively, the Red Raiders are a work in progress. Dorman has a good core back on defense, led by Brayden Melton up front and Dru Darby at linebacker. Offensively, Brice O’Neal will look to lead the way at quarterback.

Riverside at Mauldin

Series record: Mauldin leads 20-10, including wins in 11 of the last 12 meetings. The teams last played in 2019 with the Mavericks winning 43-6.

Last season: Riverside went 5-6. Mauldin was 0-10.

Location: Freeman Field, 701 East Butler Rd, Mauldin

Who to watch for Riverside: ATH Mikkel Skinner, WR Jaiden “Speedy” Taylor, CB Somad Eaddy

Who to watch for Mauldin: QB Reddick Langston, RB Nemo Floyd, S Shawn Harris

What to know: Skinner begins his final season of high school before moving on to play for the University of Cincinnati with a trip to Mauldin. Skinner’s versatility helped him lead Riverside in rushing and finish second in receiving last season, as he finished with more than 1,200 yards of total offense and 15 touchdowns. Mauldin will be trying to end a 20-game losing streak.

Eastside at Southside

Series record: Eastside leads 13-9, including a 38-21 victory the last time the teams met in 2019.

Last season: Eastside went 6-5. Southside was 0-10.

Location: Joe Perkins Stadium, 100 Blassingame Rd, Greenville

Who to watch for Eastside: DE Jaquavious Dodd, RB Eli Foster, DL Michael Posey

Who to watch for Southside: QB Chancler McClure, WR Tyrell Bailey 

What to know: Eastside features one of the state’s top players in Dodd, who’s committed to South Carolina. He made 24 tackles-for-loss last season, including 12 sacks. Southside will be trying to get things turned around after being shut out five times in a winless 2023 season.

Wade Hampton at Travelers Rest

Series record: Tied 14-14. Travelers Rest snapped a three-game losing streak in the series with a 60-27 road win last season.

Last season: Wade Hampton went 2-8. Travelers Rest was 4-7.

Location: Chico Bolin Stadium, 301 N Main St, Travelers Rest 

Who to watch for Wade Hampton: DB Mehki Hentz, WR Jamarion McKinney, RB James Coleman 

Who to watch for Travelers Rest: LB Lucas Tankersley, OL Brayden Everette

What to know: This will be a battle of new head coaches. Rueben Wright, a Greenville native who previously served as head coach at Eastside and Carolina before most recently coaching in Tampa, Fla, has returned to the Upstate to coach Wade Hampton. After going 30-9 over the past three seasons at St. Joseph’s, Chris Goodman left there to become Travelers Rest’s head coach.

Liberty at Fountain Inn

Series record: First meeting.

Last season: Liberty went 7-4. Fountain Inn was 3-7.

Location: Fountain Inn High, 644 Quillen Ave, Fountain Inn

Who to watch for Liberty: QB Logan Smith, WR Kendrick Jackson, LB Jamijae Karim

Who to watch for Fountain Inn: QB Sam Holliday, WR Zach Madden, LB Xeviel Gonzalez

What to know: This year’s senior class will be the first in school history for Fountain Inn and senior football players hope to leave the program on a high note. One of those seniors is 6-foot-4, 330-pound offensive lineman Jackson Njoku, who offers plenty of protection for Holliday.

Cardinal Newman (1-0) at St. Joseph’s

Series record: St. Joseph’s leads 2-0, including a 43-6 road win in 2021.

Last season: Cardinal Newman went 9-3 and opened this season with a 24-21 win over Cannon School (NC) last week. St. Joseph’s was 11-3.

Location: St. Joseph’s Catholic School, 100 St Joseph’s Dr, Greenville

Who to watch for Cardinal Newman: DB Freddie Gillens

Who to watch for St. Joseph’s: QB Cade Alt, RB William Gillespie, RB Lucas Salgado

What to know: This is another matchup of a Greenville County private school against a SCISA school from Columbia. It will also be St. Joseph’s first as a member of Class 3A and first under new head coach Eric Nash. Nash, who’s served as the Knights’ AD since 2018, was a three-time All-Southern Conference lineman at Wofford.