Upstate’s Top Football Moments 2001-2024

Here we go again, and I’m expecting a little more argument. Just like last time, these aren’t just specific moments (though there are a couple of games included). These are more just moments in time that had a huge influence on football in the Upstate in the 2000s.

Read them over. Think of your own. Yell at me about why you’re right and I’m wrong.

Isn’t it fun?

The Rise of the Rebels

In the Upstate, Byrnes was THE story of the early 2000s. From 2002-2011, the Rebels won eight state championships, seven region titles, and became the standard for high school football in the Palmetto State. They were 135-12 in that timeframe, with winning streaks of 23, 29, and 33 games. The High Powered Offense and Strike Force defense rewrote the South Carolina record books, and the Rebels’ national schedule paved the way for high-profile interstate matchups across the area. Four state titles in a row from 2002-2005 tied the South Carolina record at the time, and the program set a template for lasting success.

A couple of huge right place, right time factors played a big part. First Byrnes was patient with Bobby Bentley, the former Rebels player turned coach who had a vision of what the program could be, though it took a couple years to get there. Then, Bentley hired Mike Srock. Srock brought with him a revolutionary strength program and the idea that if you were too fast, too strong, there’s not much an opponent could do to stop it. Both men wielded huge influence at Byrnes, and their influences are still felt.

Byrnes’ run of talent in the 2000s is staggering, from Trey Elder, Prince Miller, and Willy Korn to Marcus Lattimore and Corey Miller, the Rebels roots are still being realized across the football landscape. They also had a huge impact on this list. You’ll absolutely notice them another couple of times below. Starting with…

Dorman-Byrnes Six-Game Series

From 2008-2010, Byrnes and Dorman played six times. The teams split the series 3-3. All three years, the regular-season winner lost the high-stakes playoff matchup. And all six games were classics.

There was the 2008 regular season game, a game which was moved to Saturday due to weather, seemed to draw every football fan in Spartanburg County, and saw Byrnes with a chance to claim the No. 1 spot in the country. Ash Butler scored on Dorman’s first play from scrimmage, ended up with 190 yards and three scores, and the Cavaliers built a huge lead and held off a furious rally for the win.

Then Byrnes returned to Cavalier Stadium deep into November and walked out with a win, going on to defeat Sumter for the state title the next week.

Byrnes returned the regular-season favor in 2009, winning a slugfest in Duncan 17-10 as Roland Johnson notched double-digit tackles for loss for the Rebels. 

The rematch came on the biggest stage, and Dorman’s John Parker sealed the deal with a late 56-yard interception return for a game-sealing touchdown as the Cavaliers won 28-17 to claim their second state title in school history.

In 2010, the Cavaliers won the regular season matchup 21-14, and were poised to meet the Rebels again in the state final. There, Byrnes unveiled a completely different offense, turning to a run-heavy attack behind Shakeem Wharton’s 31 carries, 159 yards, and three TDs to take a 34-14 win.

Chapman Makes Its Mark

The Panthers knocked on the door in 2007, the school’s last season in 2A, making the state title game before falling to Cheraw. After Mark Hodge took over, though, the Panthers took control of the 3A classification. Chapman won state titles in 2016 and 2019, played for another in 2017, and were one drive away from the state championship game in 2018. The 2019 team was a particular standout, as Mikele Colasurdo and company set a slew of state and national offensive records and rolled up more than 56 points per game. 

Hillcrest Gets It Done

Dutch Fork has had a stranglehold on big-classification football for the bulk of the period since 2012, having reached 12 state finals and claiming nine championships in that frame. One of those setbacks, and arguably the most stunning, was a 2014 title game loss to Hillcrest.

Greg Porter’s Rams were an offensive juggernaut, rolling to more than 45 points per game. The rolled through regular season play with a 24-23 loss to Westside as their only blemish, and topped 35 points in every other region game. The Rams’ closest win all year was a 20-0 victory over Fort Dorchester in the state semifinals, and they didn’t just beat Dutch Fork in the final. They destroyed the Foxes 47-17, touching off quite the celebration in Simpsonville.

Dutch Fork has just two other title game losses in its current run. You want to talk about a couple more of them?

Gaffney Title Runs

The Indians have two of those wins over Dutch Fork. The first came in 2012, the Foxes’ first trip to the finals in the run, as Gaffney built a big early lead and went on to a 34-22 victory. The second was a little more unexpected. Dutch Fork looked unbeatable in 2021…until they weren’t. Gaffney had a fantastic game plan, and played out of their minds defensively in a 22-19 win. Grayson Loftis found Suga Jeffries with a 40-yard TD strike with just more than three minutes left to end Dutch Fork’s state title streak at five and hand the Foxes their first loss since 2017.

The Indians had plenty more success in the 2000s, winning 4A Division I state titles in 2003, with a last-second goal line stand to turn away Sumter 28-21, and 2006 with a 45-0 thumping of Irmo behind quarterback Malcolm Long, South Carolina’s Mr. Football. 

But the most dramatic of the Indians’ recent title wins came in the 2005 4A Division I title game. After falling behind 26-7 at the half, the Indians rallied behind Long and Quentin Hemphill to take a 33-32 victory. Hemphill scored on a 33-yard run with less than four minutes to play and rushed for 223 yards on the day, but his biggest play came on a reception that capped a drive for the ages. 

Taking over at his own 10-yard line with 2:12 left, Long didn’t need quite all of it. A 43-yard catch-and-run by Tyson Petty flipped the field. A strike to Terry Barnes on fourth-and-seven kept the Indians alive. And then Long found Hemphill, who forced a guy to miss and dove over the line for the final two yards of his 12-yard reception to seal the win.

One of the most talked about title game appearances for the Indians, though, came in a loss… 

Byrnes Over Gaffney

The T-shirts were already printed. After a regular-season thumping of Byrnes in 2011, Gaffney looked unbeatable. The Indians were going to be crowned, and a 4A title game appearance against Byrnes at Clemson was just a formality.

Somebody forgot to tell the Rebels. 

The Byrnes defense gave up 400 yards, but only 45 on the ground, and made the Indians one-dimensional. The Rebels held Gaffney 25 points below their season scoring average, and scored twice defensively, once on Melvin Armstrong’s 57-yard fumble return and once on Skip Barnes’ 29-yard interception return. A TD pass from Shuler Bentley to Akia Booker, a TD run by Shakeem Wharton, and Kaleb Patterson’s field goal added up to an improbable 31-24 Byrnes win, the Rebels’ eighth title in 10 years.

Spartanburg Sets Records

The 2014 Vikings were a different animal. Led by all-stars at the offensive skill positions and an unreal defense, Spartanburg looked a little uneven in starting 3-3.

The Vikings caught fire from there. Behind Tavien Feaster, Austin Scott, and an all-star cast, they won nine games in a row to close out the season and claim a 4A Division II state title, the program’s first state championship since 2001. Their first win in the streak was a 35-28 showdown with Dorman. After that, nothing was close. The Vikings topped 50 points in their next four games, scored 31 in a snoozer in the first round of the playoffs, then scored 51, 63, and 49 down the stretch. Their 49-28 state title win was never in doubt, never as close as the score, and even with all that offense, a defensive highlight – a circus interception by Cedric Rookard – was the play that made SportsCenter.

Boiling Springs’ Cinderella Season

Sometimes, all it takes is a little faith.

Boiling Springs proved that in 2016. The Bulldogs started 5-0 before a 28-14 setback against Dorman. They quickly rediscovered their magic, beating Byrnes, Gaffney and Spartanburg to win the region crown. They then ran a gauntlet in the playoffs, knocking off Rock Hill, Greenwood, and Gaffney (again) before an Upper State final slugfest with Spartanburg. The Bulldogs survived a late two-point conversion attempt and won a 14-13 double-overtime thriller, sending the program to its first state title game.

The High School Facilities Race

Dorman opened a new school to usher in the 2000s, and with it came Cavalier Stadium. It was the blueprint for what high school football in the area would look like in the future, particularly in Spartanburg and Cherokee counties.

Since that time, every school in the area has made updates and improvements to their football facilities. Only Boiling Springs, Broome, Chesnee, and Woodruff remain in the same footprint as in 2000, and the Bulldogs and Eagles have added turf and weight room improvements, Woodruff unveiled a team room, and Broome has made several improvements, including new lights for this season. New schools have brought new stadiums in the other Spartanburg districts, with Landrum and Chapman unveiling similar but unique-looking facilities as part of their building programs, Spartanburg dedicating a showplace stadium that’s just feet from their locker room instead of across town, and Byrnes set to open a brand-new Nixon Field this year. In Cherokee County, Blacksburg tilted the stadium and started from scratch on the same piece of land, while Gaffney added an on-campus reservation (complete with the traditional tunnel). Greenville County schools will soon have turf fields at all stadiums, with other improvements across the district.

TV Comes To Town

Byrnes’ 2006 game against Glades Central from Florida is remembered for a couple of things. One, it was near 100 degrees, and easily one of the hottest games in memory with an early September noon kickoff. Two, it was the debut of a running back wearing No. 21 who wasn’t on the printed roster since he was a freshman, and who turned a bunch of heads.

What it SHOULD be remembered for is the ESPN coverage the game drew. Televised games, particularly nationally televised games, were still a bit of a novelty at the high school level, and that game kicked the door in. The Rebels would play Gaffney later in the season in another nationally televised contest. More would follow, and eventually regionally televised games would be the norm on a lot Friday nights. That level of media coverage helped change the landscape.