Week 10 HS football preview

This week looks to be one of the more interesting weeks in high school football this season. All classes except for 4A are ending their seasons this week, and the country's winningest football coach is gunning for a major milestone.

Summerville football coach John McKissick is going for his 600th win on Friday night. Summerville started the year 1-3. Many people thought this year wasn't going to be the year for win number 600. The Green Wave though have won 4 of their last 5 games, including a big win over Fort Dorchester.

They are perfect in the region at 3-0 and 5-4 overall. A win would get them to a game against Bluffton at Summerville for a region championship, and the 600th win for Coach John McKissick.

McKissick has a record of 599 wins, 143 losses and 13 ties in his career. He has been the head coach at Summerville High School since 1952. He is the winningest football coach in history. Ashley Ridge is a local rival though that hopes to spoil McKissick.

It is the final home game of the year, and they hope to get some semblance of pride from the season.

Ashley Ridge vs. Summerville football tickets will be on sale in the front office at ARHS beginning Tuesday morning. Adults - 6.00 and Students - 4.00 GET YOUR TICKETS IN ADVANCE!! Tickets also available at SHS, Gregg, Alston and Rollings. Game time: Friday, October 26th at 7:30pm. Location: ASHLEY RIDGE HIGH SCHOOL STADIUM "The Swamp" - because it's "just another home game."

The rest of the Lowcountry has some very interesting stories to talk about this week. Goose Creek tore apart Wando last week in their biggest home game ever. Stratford slammed West Ashley 65-22. Bluffton beat Fort Dorchester by 1 in a whale of a game. Ashley Ridge beat Beaufort to keep their playoff hopes alive.

Region 8-3A might be the most undecided region in the state. Hanahan has won the region, and Stall will finish last, but the rest of the teams in the region are fighting for playoff spots.

Berkeley, James Island, Orangeburg-Wilkinson and Hilton Head run the gamut of scenarios. All four of them could finish second in the region, hosting a playoff game, or they could miss the playoffs entirely. All can finish 3rd or 4th also. Berkeley has Hilton Head at home on Thursday night in my #3 game of the week. James Island has Orangeburg-Wilkinson on the road Friday. 

Berkeley beat Hilton Head tonight 52-33 clinching at least a #3 seed in the playoffs. This means that the James Island/Orangeburg-Wilkinson game will be a winner-take-all game. Winner is in the playoffs, loser is out. 

These four teams have 2 scenarios. Hanahan has clinched the region title.

IF--
berkeley beats hilton head and orangeburg beats james island:
hanahan #1(locked up)
Berkeley (3-2) #2 (has tie breaker over ow)
OW (3-2)#3
Hilton Head (2-3) #4 (has tie breaker over james island)
James Island (2-3) #5
stall #6 (locked up)

IF- berkeley beats hilton head and james island beats ow:
hanahan #1 (locked up)
James Island (3-2) #2 has tie breaker over berkeley
Berkeley (3-2) #3
OW (2-3) #4 has tie breaker over hilton head
Hilton Head (2-3) #5
stall #6

So there you have it.

In other regions, Baptist Hill has clinched Region 6-1A, and the top 32 teams in 1A go to the playoffs in 2 16-team brackets. St. John's and Cross will also be in the playoffs definitely, and Military Magnet might.

In 2A, all teams go to the playoffs. Bishop England though clinched their region with a win over Woodland last Friday night. Timberland and Lee Central will be in a battle for the Region 7-2A title.

I already explained our local 3A region, but in 4A, Bluffton and Summerville can play for a winner-take-all shot at the Region 8-4A title if each wins this week. Goose Creek can win the region this week if a couple things happen.

SCISA also has their last week of the season this week along with 8-man.

My top 5 games of the week are: 5) Wando at Cane Bay. A crucial game in Region 7-4A. Cane Bay hopes to get the Warriors napping after last week's emotional loss.

T-4) Hilton Head at Berkeley (Thursday) and James Island at Orangeburg-Wilkinson. Both of these games directly affect playoff races, so they will be exciting to watch, especially the Friday game when each team knows exactly what it has to do.

2) South Florence at Stratford. This might actually be an interesting game. Stratford is looking for another win to help their playoff positioning, after a big win against West Ashley last week. It's a rare non-region game near the end of the season. South Florence has won four of their six road games. This will be interesting.

1) Summerville at Ashley Ridge. I already talked about this game, but a chance at McKissick's 600th win makes it even more interesting.

Enjoy your games!