Week 0 Previews: Greenville County

CLASS 5A

Dorman at Greenville

The 90th season of football at historic Sirrine Stadium kicks off with a matchup of traditional powers looking to regain that form. Greenville seeks to bounce back from a 2-9 record last season under new coach Scoot Watson. A pair of sophomores to watch for the Red Raiders offensively are quarterback Tristan Bryant and receivers Hamp Renfrow (Hunter’s cousin). Junior JaQwon Haygood could also be a big-play receiver. Senior Franklin Whitley, a 6-foot-7, 268-pound defensive end who powered Greenville to a state title in basketball in March, decided to play football for the first time this year. He already has a scholarship offer from Georgia.

Dorman is looking to build off last season’s 6-4 mark after going 3-8 in 2023. The Cavaliers return many starters, especially on what could be a stingy defense. That side of the ball is led by senior safety Kentavion Anderson, who’s committed to Clemson, and a tackling machine in senior Jordan Darby at linebacker. Offensively, Nick Means is back at running back after totaling nearly 900 all-purpose yards as a sophomore last season. The Cavaliers have a new quarterback in transfer Meek Slydell, who threw for more than 1,000 yards and 15 touchdowns in eight games at Asheville High last season.

Boiling Springs at Greer

Defense could rule the day in this matchup, considering some of the standouts on that side of the ball. Greer returns nine defensive starters off a team that fought through injuries to go 7-5 last season, including its first win over rival Byrnes since 2000. The Yellow Jackets are led by a trio of seniors on the defensive front in Aiden Jones, Paden Armstrong and Lewis Bussey. Jones piled up 76 tackles last season, an absurd total for a defensive lineman. Equally stunning is that 27 of those were tackles-for-loss. Jones also had seven sacks and 26 hurries.

Boiling Springs is coming off a 7-4 season, its most wins since going 13-2 in 2016. The Bulldogs have much to replace off that team though as it had 34 seniors. Boiling Springs’ senior leader this season is undoubtedly defensive back Jeremiah Favorite. Favorite, who’s committed to Michigan State, is one of the fastest players in the state. Last season, Favorite had four kickoff returns, five punt returns and four interceptions. He returned one of each for a touchdown. Offensively, Boiling Springs must replace standout quarterback Lincoln Huskey and leading rusher Javen Chimm. Senior receivers Tre Suber and Grayson Crowe should be playmakers, while 6-foot-3, 200-pound Jaiden Grate could be a secret weapon at tight end.

Laurens at Hillcrest

In a series dominated by Laurens historically, Hillcrest will be going for its seventh consecutive victory over the Raiders. The Rams are coming off an 8-4 season and will have to replace their leading passer, leading rusher and leading receiver. While quarterback Jackson Free split time much of last season before becoming the full-time starter by the end, he threw for 13 touchdowns, had just five interceptions, and ran for three more scores. While the Rams graduated all parts of a three-headed monster at running back last season, senior Josh Smith and sophomores Ny Allen and Elijah Jackson could make up another one this season.

Laurens is looking to bounce back from a 1-9 season in Greg Porter’s first as its head coach. It was the most losses for Porter since a 2-9 mark his first season at Hillcrest in 2010. Four years later, he was hoisting a state championship trophy with the Rams.

Midland Valley at JL Mann

This game will mark the head coaching debut of longtime Gaffney assistant and defensive coordinator Bryce Smiley, who will be looking to build off what’s been JL Mann’s best period of football in school history. After going 11-3 in 2023, the Patriots went 9-3 last season but lost a ton of offensive production due to graduation. One returning starter who will be counted on is quarterback McLeod Darnell. Before an injury ended his season midway through 2024, Darnell completed 68 percent of his passes for 1,070 yards with 11 touchdowns and three interceptions. Junior lineman Luke Penland will be the leader up front on both sides of the ball. Nowhere is Mann more talented than at linebacker, where juniors Shaun Carvalho and Major Workman and senior Jordyn Turner-Butler lead the way.

Mauldin at Riverside

Riverside is looking to build off a 6-5 season that included its first playoff win in 15 years. The Warriors will have to replace a human Swiss Army knife in Mikkel Skinner. After playing receiver, running back and defensive end for Riverside, Skinner’s now a tight end at Kentucky. Quarterback Gideon Merhib is back and he’s got a speedy weapon to throw to in receiver Jaiden Taylor. He may have another in Somad Eaddy. Eaddy, who’s committed to Wake Forest, is one of the top shut-down cornerbacks in the state and could be an offensive threat this season.

Mauldin’s tasked with replacing a 1,000-yard rusher in Nehemiah Floyd. Senior Reddick Langston is back at quarterback as is his top receiver, Tamari Shepherd. Shepherd had 36 receptions for 491 yards and two touchdowns last season. The Mavericks are led defensively by senior linebacker Evan Hruska, who led the team in tackles (79), tackles-for-loss (13.5), pass breakups (six) and forced fumbles (three). He also had three sacks and two fumble recoveries.

Southside at Eastside

Eastide underwent a tough transition to Class 5A last season as the Eagles went 4-6. This year, they will have to replace Shrine Bowl defensive end Jaquavious Dodd, who’s now at South Carolina. Senior linebackers Michael Posey and Lucas Tankersley and senior strong safety Cayden Workman will lead Eastside defensively. Peyton Schrader is set for his third season as starting quarterback. He threw for 749 yards last season, but really shined running the ball. He had 470 yards rushing, averaged 9.2 yards per carry, and ran for seven touchdowns.

New head coach AJ Millis, a former Berea assistant, will try to turn around a Southside program on a 21-game losing skid after back-to-back 0-10 seasons. Junior Javier Latimer was the Tigers’ leading receiver last season as he had 395 yards receiving on 23 catches (17.2 yards per catch) and scored four touchdowns. Senior defensive back Jaziar Houston, who’s a track and field standout, led the Tigers with 60 tackles, including a sack, two interceptions and a blocked field goal. He finished second in the long jump at the Class 5A state track meet.

Travelers Rest at Wade Hampton

Somebody’s lengthy losing streak will come to an end Friday night at Wade Hampton. The Generals have lost each of its last 14 games, while Travelers Rest has lost eight consecutive games. The Devildogs last win came over Wade Hampton in last season’s opener. After that 14-7 final, offensive struggles for both teams continued. Travelers Rest was shut out five times, while Wade Hampton was blanked four times last year.

Tight end/defensive end Will Kay and receiver JJ Eichelberger look to be senior leaders for the Generals, while junior linebacker Angel Gomez leads the defense. Travelers Rest quarterback Colby Epps is back after suffering a season-ending injury in game three last year. After losing Epps, five other Devildogs took snaps at QB the rest of the way. Junior Jayden Coney provides a speedy threat at running back, while linebacker Xavier Hagerman leads TR’s defense.

CLASS 4A

Fountain Inn at Liberty

After the first graduating class in school history helped Fountain Inn earn its first winning season at 6-4 last year, the Fury are looking to take another step forward. Players responsible for 90 percent of Fountain Inn’s offensive yardage return this year led by junior quarterback Sam Holliday. Holliday enters his third season as starter after throwing for 1,430 yards and rushing for 1,076 in 2024. He ran for 15 touchdowns, passed for 10 and had no interceptions. Junior Bojack Johnson is back at running back after rushing for nearly 800 yards and 10 touchdowns last year. Junior safety Colby Flood, who had 85 tackles and five interceptions last fall, leads the Fury defense.

Liberty, which went 5-5 last season, is led by two-way player Jamijae Karim. Karim plays linebacker on defense and plays like a linebacker on offense as he’s a bowling ball type of running back. He rushed for more than 1,000 yards and 15 touchdowns last season.

CLASS 3A

Hammond at Class 3A No. 9 Christ Church

Private schools without much room left in their respective trophy cases square off in this matchup. After going 6-5 in their first season in Class 3A last season, seven-time SCHSL state champion Christ Church is led by wide receiver Jude Hall and running back Michael Martin on offense and cornerback Anthony Atkins on defense. With defenses keying on the 6-foot-4 Hall last season, the Memphis commit still had 57 catches for 795 yards and five touchdowns. Martin is poised to be the next standout Cavaliers’ running back after rushing for 676 yards and eight touchdowns as a freshman in 2024. Atkins, who’s committed to Navy, is a lock-down cornerback who tackles like a safety as he had 51 stops and seven pass breakups last year.

Hammond opened last season with a 56-28 win over the Cavaliers and rolled on to a 13-0 record and its eighth consecutive SCISA state title. That was the Skyhawks’ 16th state title since 2006 and 22nd overall.

Class 1A No. 1 Abbeville at Southside Christian

New head coach Johnathan Gess takes over a Southside Christian program coming off a rare losing season. The Sabres went 2-8 in their first year in Class 3A for their first losing season since 2016 and most losses since 2010. Gess has a career record of 187-49 with seven state championships over 18 seasons at Georgia’s Eagle’s Landing Christian and most recently Hebron Christian. Players to watch for the Sabres include senior running back Nick Fortuna, 6-foot-5 senior quarterback Jack Criswell and junior defensive lineman Nigel Rock.

Abbeville visits Simpsonville for the first time since pulling out a thrilling 22-21 win in this matchup two years ago. In 2024, the Panthers opened with a 41-7 victory over the Sabres in what was actually one of their lowest outputs last season. Abbeville went 13-1 and scored a school-record 710 points on the way to its 13th state championship in school history. The Panthers will be led by Darius Riley, who rushed for more than 800 yards and 19 touchdowns last season.

Cardinal Newman at St. Joseph’s

Like others who moved up to Class 3A last season, St. Joseph’s also found the sledding tough as it went 5-6. That marked the Knights’ first losing season since 2018. This year, St. Joseph’s is tasked with replacing do-everything William Gillespie, who had 1,125 yards rushing, 92 tackles and recovered six of his own onside kicks last year. Last year’s leading receiver, Paul Norman, is back and he should be a favorite target of new starting quarterback Jack Stewart. Lineman Jensen Granger could be the leader on defense after recording 38 tackles and three sacks as a freshman last season.

Cardinal Newman, a SCISA program from Columbia which went 2-9 last season, has one of the top linemen in the state in junior center Wells Lewis.