Week 1 Previews: Greenville County

CLASS 5A

JL Mann (0-1) at No. 5 Gaffney (0-1)

It will be a homecoming for new JL Mann coach Bryce Smiley, who spent the past 15 seasons as a Gaffney assistant, including defensive coordinator the past few seasons. It was a rough debut for Smiley last week. So much rain produced standing water on the Patriots’ home field forcing the season opener to shift from Friday to Saturday and from Mann to Midland Valley. The long trip didn’t end well as the Patriots allowed 599 yards of total offense, including 472 passing, in a 46-21 loss.

Gaffney will try to get things on track after a 27-21 loss to Independence (NC) to open the season last Friday. On a 4th-and-7 play, Banks Bouton threw a 33-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Shelton midway through the second quarter. That gave the Indians a 21-14 lead, but they were stunningly shut out the rest of the way. Gaffney was outgained 377-153 for the game. Zyon Ratchford had 11 tackles, including 10 solo stops, to lead the Indians’ defense.

Woodmont (0-0) at Class 4A No. 10 Seneca (1-0)

Malcolm Boyd’s tenure as head coach at Woodmont begins with a tough assignment on the road. The Wildcats have some big shoes to fill in the offensive backfield following the graduation of 2,000-yard rusher Zeke Belcher and 1,000-yard rusher TJ Williams. Woodmont does return four starters on the offensive line that paved the way for all those yards, led by Adrian Estrich. Lorenzo Hurley, who had nearly 500 yards of total offense last season and is also a standout safety on defense, could have a bigger impact at running back this year.

Seneca is coming off a 35-point second half in a 56-35 win at Powdersville last week. Amari Verner ran for 183 yards and four touchdowns, while Gavin Thoma completed 12-of-15 passes for 254 yards with three touchdowns and one interception to lead the Bobcats.

Hillcrest (1-0) at Clover (0-1)

Hillcrest opened the season in style last week as the Rams piled up 597 yards of total offense in a 56-17 win over Laurens. Jackson Free threw for 285 yards on just nine completions and three of those went for touchdowns. Josh Smith ran for 174 yards and a touchdown, while Jaylen Samuels ran for 108 and a score.

Boiling Springs (1-0) at Mauldin (0-1)

Mauldin will try to bounce back from a 41-27 loss at Riverside last week. The Mavericks scored in each quarter, but a 28-point second quarter by the Warriors was too much to overcome. Wide receiver Tamari Shepherd caught a touchdown pass and returned a kickoff for a score to lead Mauldin.

Boiling Springs raced out to a 23-0 lead over Greer last week and held on for a 23-18 victory. Kyron Tobler ran for an 11-yard score for the Bulldogs, while Tyvion Hall had a 35-yard interception return for a score. With nine seconds left in the first half, Josh Kahl hit Deion Suber for a 25-yard touchdown to push the lead to 23-0 at the break.

Greenville (0-1) at Riverside (1-0)

Riverside will look to build off big nights from Gideon Merhib and Somad Eaddy in last week’s 41-27 win over Mauldin. Merhib threw for 349 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 57 yards and another score. Eaddy hauled in eight passes for 204 yards receiving and a touchdown.

Greenville will try to recover after a disappointing home opener in Scoot Watson’s debut as head coach last week. The Red Raiders fell behind 31-0 in the first half and went on to a 34-0 loss to Dorman.

Eastside (1-0) at Carolina (0-0)

Class 3A member Carolina has a tough test to open its season with a visit from Class 5A Eastside. The Trojans are led by Jordyn Rice, who plays quarterback and gets after quarterbacks as a linebacker on defense. The defensive side of the ball is where he’s getting attention from colleges. As a quarterback, one of Rice’s favorite targets will be DJ Brown. Like Rice, Brown is also an impactful defensive player at cornerback.

Quarterback Peyton Schrader got Eastside off to a hot start last week as he ran five times for 95 yards and two touchdowns in a 51-6 win over Southside. He also completed 4-of-6 passes for 110 yards. Ke’Lyn Durham (8-67 rushing) and Lucas Tankersley (4-46) also ran for two touchdowns apiece for the Eagles. MJ Posey had three of Eastside’s nine sacks on defense.

Blue Ridge (0-0) at Wade Hampton (0-1)

After going 1-10 two years ago, Blue Ridge improved to 4-7 last season. The Tigers look to build off that improvement and quarterback Gavin Forrester looks to lead the way. Forrester is a true dual-threat quarterback. If not for injuries sidelining him for a couple of games, he likely would’ve had 1,000 yards rushing and 1,000 passing. He has two valuable weapons in Jakorey Dodd, a defensive back who also lines up all over the place on offense, and Mitchell Bobbitt, who was the leading receiver for Blue Ridge last season.

Wade Hampton will look to recover from a 13-10 home loss to Travelers Rest last week. A blocked field goal return for a touchdown by the Devildogs proved to be the difference as the Generals losing streak reached 15 games.

CLASS 4A

Greer (0-1) at Class 3A No. 1 Belton-Honea Path (1-0)

A tough early season schedule continues for Greer as they make the road trip to take on top-ranked BHP. After falling behind Boiling Springs 23-0 at the half last week, the Yellow Jackets made a valiant comeback in the second half before falling 23-18. Greer quarterback Dawson Fowler threw for 187 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 59 yards and a score, but also suffered three interceptions. Tucker Hudson caught five passes for 83 yards and a touchdown for the Yellow Jackets. Paden Armstrong had four tackles, including a sack, and a 17-yard fumble return for a score to lead Greer defensively.

BHP raced out to a 28-0 first quarter lead last week and went on to a 49-9 win over Broome. Noah Thomas threw for 217 yards on just seven completions and three of those went for touchdowns for the Bears. MJ Earle had six carries for 47 yards and a touchdown, caught a 55-yard touchdown pass and had a 33-yard kick return also for BHP.

Fountain Inn (1-0) at Class 3A No. 2 Woodruff (1-0)

While both teams in this matchup had solid defensive showings in opening week victories, the offensive star power in this one could make for a shootout. Sam Holliday had three touchdowns in Fountain Inn’s 48-14 win at Liberty last week. Holliday completed 13-of-18 passes for 268 yards and a score, and rushed for 42 yards and two touchdowns. BJ Curenton had six catches for 131 yards and a touchdown – all in the first half. Meanwhile, the Fury defense allowed just 106 yards of total offense.

Woodruff standout running back Aiden Gibson rushed for 84 yards and caught four passes for 99 yards and a touchdown to lead the Wolverines to a 21-13 win over Clinton. In his varsity debut, new Woodruff quarterback Connor Davis completed 9-of-16 passes for 132 yards. In addition to his touchdown pass to Gibson, Davis ran for another score.

Berea (0-0) at Landrum (1-0)

Landrum made the long trip to Walhalla and came away with a 20-13 win. It avenges the Cardinals’ 20-14 home loss to the Razorbacks in the 2024 season opener. AJ Lindsey came up huge on both sides of the ball for Landrum. On offense, he ran 27 times for 133 yards. On defense, Lindsey had six tackles, including one tackle-for-loss, an interception and a 23-yard fumble return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter to help seal the win. JT Gist had seven tackles and two sacks also for the Cardinals, while Braylon Davis had five catches for 85 yards and a touchdown.

This will be the season opener for Berea, which is tasked with replacing graduated quarterback Amazay Robinson. Robinson threw for 1,318 yards and five touchdowns and was also the Bulldogs leading rusher with 435 yards and seven touchdowns in 2024. Berea also graduated their leading receiver, Destin Eichelberger, who had 61 catches for 620 yards and four touchdowns last year. Senior linebacker Jelani Bradley looks to lead the Bulldogs defensively. He had 45 tackles, including seven tackles-for-loss and six sacks last season.

Liberty (0-1) at Southside (0-1)

Two teams looking to get on track after rough openers meet in this matchup. Southside suffered nine sacks in a 51-6 loss to Eastside last week. The only points for the Tigers came on a fumble return for a touchdown midway through the fourth quarter to avoid the shutout.

Liberty was held to 106 yards of total offense in a 48-14 home loss to Fountain Inn. Jamijae Karim ran for 57 of those yards on 11 carries to lead the Red Devils. Kendall Jackson accounted for both of Liberty’s scores with a touchdown run and a touchdown catch.

Emerald (1-0) at Travelers Rest (1-0)

Jayden Coney was responsible for both touchdowns in Travelers Rest’s 13-10 win at Wade Hampton last week. Coney scooped up a blocked field goal and raced to the end zone in the first quarter to give the Devildogs a 7-2 lead. In the third quarter, Coney had a short touchdown run on an option pitch to push the lead to 13-2 and TR went on to snap its eight-game losing streak.

Chris Dean ran for 110 yards on 12 carries to lead Emerald to a 28-0 win over Ninety Six. Quarterback Beau Hite completed 7-of-10 passes for 98 yards and one touchdown, and rushed for 32 yards and another score also for the Vikings.

CLASS 3A

No. 5 Mountain View (1-0) at Southside Christian (0-1)

A tough schedule continues this week for Southside Christian. The Sabres were held to 104 yards of total offense – including 12 yards rushing on 32 attempts – in a 42-0 loss to reigning Class 1A champion Abbeville. Of those 104 yards, 76 came on a pair of pass completions by Jack Criswell.

Mountain View made its long road trip to Conway a happy one last week as the Stars defeated Atlantic Collegiate in a game that ended in the third quarter due to lightning. The weather was about the only thing that could stop MVP quarterback Makorean Anderson. Anderson completed 16-of-18 passes for 273 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 117 yards and another score.

Christ Church (0-1) at Anderson Cavaliers (0-1)

Christ Church will look to get things on track after a 17-0 home loss to Hammond Academy last week. Hammond, which has won eight consecutive SCISA state championships, did all of its scoring in the second quarter and came up with three interceptions on defense to help collect the shutout. The Cavaliers were held to just 78 yards of total offense, including 11 passing. Reid Hipp and Jake Bradberry had eight tackles apiece to lead Christ Church’s defensive effort. Hipp also had a sack.

The Cavaliers face another non-SCHSL opponent this week in Anderson, which is made up of players that are either homeschooled or attend private schools that don’t have a football program. The Cavaliers lost at Orangeburg-Wilkinson, 48-0, last Friday.

Chapman (0-1) at St. Joseph’s (1-0)

Junior fullback Mack Rambo ran for 192 yards and three touchdowns on 16 carries to power St. Joseph’s to a 41-29 victory over SCISA member Cardinal Newman last week. The Knights, who led 41-7 at the half, finished with 424 yards of total offense including 344 rushing. Quarterback Jack Stewart completed 2-of-3 passes for 80 yards. Both of those completions went for touchdowns and both were caught by Paul Norman. Stewart also rushed for 48 yards and St. Joseph’s other touchdown. To go along with his 80-yard receiving night, Norman ran for 43 yards on three carries.

Chapman will try to bounce back from a 43-0 home loss to Daniel to open the season last Friday. After a first half in which they had just 26 yards of total offense, including minus-two rushing, the Panthers trailed 29-0 at the half. The Lions finished with a 423-86 advantage in total yards.