Hard to believe that we are already to the fourth week of high school football for most teams in the Charleston area. James Island, along with a couple other schools, will be playing their 5th game of the year Friday night. JI will be halfway through their regular season, amazingly.
You know the season is getting into it when Byrnes Fan 74 posts his first playoff projections for 4A on Palmetto Football Talk.
Last week was a week which was more of the same. Goose Creek blew out a foe, this time hated Summerville in front of a sell-out crowd at Goose Creek. Bishop England tore through Porter-Gaud, a team some picked to upset BE, 47-14 in front of the TV cameras of Thursday night lights.
Berkeley lost again, this time to Cane Bay. Berkeley is 0-3 now, with a thought of no end in sight for losing. However, they do not play any more 4A teams for the rest of the season, so that will help them.
James Island had a tough loss against Georgetown 14-8, to fall to 2-2, and now has to face one of the better teams in the lower part of SC, Bluffton.
This week's games will be ones to watch. Here is my top 5:
5) Cane Bay at Beaufort. These two schools couldn't be much closer on the field. On Doodles' Doodles, this is a toss-up game, which rarely happens. Cane Bay is 2-1 with big wins over Summerville and Berkeley and an OT loss to Fort Dorchester. Beaufort played horribly in the first game against Wando, but bounced back nicely, allowing just 13 points in the two wins against Aiken and Groves from Savannah.
This game will be a very interesting one to watch, as these schools have never faced each other, and look to begin a new rivalry.
4) Academic Magnet @ Bishop England. If you had this game marked on your best game list at the beginning of the year, you were crazy. Magnet has their best record after 3 games ever (3-0), and a legit chance at a winning record.
They have to go to Bishop England though, one of the toughest places in the area to play. BE has playmakers on offense and defense, and is imposing for almost any opposition.
3) Wando at Summerville (Thursday). Summerville was just beaten up last night by Wando. The score was 24-14, but it could have been a lot worse. Wando left at least 3 TDs on the field, and Summerville did not play good. They had a personal foul on a botched Wando punt which cost them about 40 yards and 5 minutes, and their DBs were leaving some of Wando's WRs more open than a bag of potato chips after it was eaten.
It will be tougher for McKissick, now 1-3 on the year, to get the five wins needed to get 600. The remaining schedule is @ West Ashley, Stratford, Fort Dorchester, @ Beaufort, Colleton County, @ Ashley Ridge, and Bluffton. The Green Wave are a very young team, with a 14 year old QB in Sawyer Bridges. He will grow up through the rest of this season.
2) Stratford @ Ashley Ridge. Stratford looks to be back to its old snarky self, with Coach Ray Stackley and QB Jacob Park. Stratford is undefeated. Last week was a tough win against Fort Dorchester, 28-21, but they have already shut out Berkeley and had a big win over Sumter.
Ashley Ridge got off the snide last week going to West Ashley and winning. West Ashley looks to be a little down after losing its starting QB. Ashley Ridge is a dangerous team, and in the competitive world of high school football in the Lowcountry, any 4A team can beat any other any game. Their fans will be amped up this week.
1) Goose Creek @ Fort Dorchester. We have seen the rise of Goose Creek football right before our eyes. It is hard to believe that in a 3 year period from 2000-2002, the program only won four games. Now, it is challenging to be one of the best programs in the Southeast. Last week's game against Summerville showed us that.
The Gators were up two TDs at halftime and Summerville made it a game. But in the second half, the game was over two-thirds of the way through the 3rd when GC made it 35-7 with two easy TD drives. Fort Dorchester will be eager to showcase their new scoreboard with their young team.
Goose Creek, just like what Summerville and Stratford were in the 1990s and early 2000s, has become the showcase opponent for most schools in the area. The Patriots will be amped up for this game, and could make it close.
There are several other interesting games, including Colleton County and West Ashley, a real chance for Colleton to break their long losing streak which dates to when I was a senior in HS (2009). Stall plays Military Magnet, and Porter-Gaud hosts Orangeburg Prep hoping to bounce back from last week.
Those are just some of the games on this weekend of HS football. Please support your school.
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