Week 3 Previews: Spartanburg Area

CLASS 5A

No. 6 Byrnes (1-1) at Greer (0-3)

Byrnes will try to avenge a rare loss in the series when the 63rd edition of this rivalry kicks off Friday at Dooley Field. The Rebels saw their 16-game winning streak against Greer snapped in an 18-10 loss last season. Thanks to Byrnes’ bye being last Friday, the Rebels have had two weeks to stew about a heartbreaking loss to Irmo in a battle of top-ranked teams in Week 1. Byrnes scored midway through the fourth quarter to take a four-point lead before Irmo scored with 34 seconds left to pull off a 35-32 win. Tre Segarra has rushed for 254 yards and three touchdowns to lead Byrnes this season. Chanin Harris has caught 11 passes for 197 yards and two scores also for the Rebels.

Just as it did with the win over Byrnes last season, Greer will try to avoid its first 0-4 start since 1992. The Yellow Jackets last beat the Rebels in back-to-back seasons in 1999 and 2000. Greer is coming off a tough 55-16 loss at Hillcrest. The Yellow Jackets trailed 13-3 at the half before the Rams pulled away in the second half. Dawson Fowler passed for 207 yards and rushed for 105 and a touchdown for Greer. Calvin McCoy rushed for 140 yards and a score and caught six passes for 60 yards also for the Yellow Jackets.

CLASS 3A

No. 2 Woodruff (3-0) at Woodmont (1-1)

Woodruff moved to 3-0 in impressive fashion last Friday. After falling behind 23-0 in the second quarter at Emerald, the Wolverines put up half a hundred the rest of the way for a 50-23 win. Connor Davis completed 19-of-30 passes for 245 yards and three touchdowns, while rushing for another score. Kori Moates caught 11 of those passes for 154 yards and two scores, while Aiden Gibson rushed for 132 yards and two touchdowns also for Woodruff. 

New Woodmont coach Malcolm Boyd earned his first victory in thrilling fashion last Friday when the Wildcats pulled out a 28-21 overtime win at Pendleton. Woodmont overcame three turnovers by rushing for more than 200 yards as a team. Sophomore Ja’cobie Robinson provided the highlight of the night with a 93-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.

No. 3 Mountain View (3-0) at Crescent (1-1)

Mountain View will roll into Iva Friday coming off a big 66-27 win over St. Joseph’s. Stars’ quarterback Makorean Anderson had more touchdowns than incompletions in the victory. Anderson completed 13-of-17 passes for 269 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions, while also rushing 11 times for 153 yards and four touchdowns. Jesse Beckwith had an interception and forced two fumbles to lead Mountain View’s defense.

Crescent had a bye last week after evening its record with a 21-6 win over Palmetto in Week 1. Mason Evans threw for 145 yards and rushed for 167 and two touchdowns for the Tigers.

Chapman (0-3) at Class 2A No. 4 Clinton (1-2)

Chapman will try to get back on track against what’s bound to be an ornery bunch of Red Devils in Clinton Friday. Coming off a heartbreaking 35-34 loss at St. Joseph’s in Week 1, the Panthers fell 56-0 at Boiling Springs last week. It’s the second shutout loss for Chapman this season. The Panthers were held to 47 yards of total offense and suffered five turnovers, including four interceptions.

Clinton is coming off a 41-12 loss to rival Newberry. It’s the most lopsided home loss for the Red Devils since a 49-20 loss to Broome on Sept. 6, 2019.

CLASS 2A

R-S Central (NC) (0-2) at Chesnee (2-1)

Chesnee rebounded from a heartbreaking 35-34 overtime loss to Broome in Week 1 with a 33-6 victory at Walhalla last Friday. Standout quarterback Evan Reece-Lawter had 187 yards of total offense and all five touchdowns for the Eagles. Kale Thrift and Blake Cochran rushed for 77 and 75 yards, respectively, also for Chesnee. The Eagles’ defense had four sacks, allowed 126 yards of total offense, five first downs and just one third-down conversion.

Asheville Christian (NC) (0-4) at Landrum (2-1)

Playing without injured leading rusher AJ Lindsey, Landrum suffered its first loss in a 20-12 setback at Ware Shoals. Braylon Revis had 157 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries for the Cardinals. Karson Roach scored the other Landrum touchdown on a two-yard return of a blocked punt.

Blacksburg (0-3) at Union County (0-3)

Both teams enter winless this season, but each are coming off one-score losses last week. This will be a rematch of a tight contest a year ago when Union County won at Blacksburg, 30-27. The Yellow Jackets fell at York 27-20 last week. Union, which led 14-7 at the half, drove to York’s five-yard line with less than a minute to play but failed to convert on fourth down. Qa Brannon completed 14-of-21 passes for 250 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions for the Yellow Jackets. Akeem Shaw caught eight of those passes for 199 yards, including a 96-yard touchdown. Dreshawn Mills added 114 yards rushing and two touchdowns also for Union.

Blacksburg lost at Chase (NC), 28-20, last Friday. Chase returned a pair of fumbles for touchdowns to help take a 22-0 third quarter lead. The Wildcats fought back and scored a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns to cut the lead to eight, but turned the ball over on downs on their final possession to seal Chase’s win.