With two weeks left in the South Carolina high school football regular season, the scoreboard is starting to sort out the contenders from the rest. Several of the state’s top-ranked teams have already locked up region crowns, while others are still lining up a final push.
No. 1 Dutch Fork did what Dutch Fork does, blanking River Bluff 42-0 to clinch another Region 4-5A championship for Tom Knotts.
That gives the Silver Foxes 15 region titles in Knotts’ 17 seasons. They also improved to 12-0 all-time against River Bluff.
Dutch Fork piled up 562 yards of offense, got wide receiver Maleek Miller back after a one-game absence, and saw Knotts praise an offensive line anchored by All-State junior center Brodie Lorenzo for protecting quarterback Jaxon Knotts.
No. 2 Northwestern kept pouring it on, racing past Spartanburg 64-10.
The Trojans scored the first 43 points and got a huge night from Shrine Bowl quarterback Xavier Means, who threw four touchdown passes and ran for another score in the first half. Northwestern has now won seven straight and can clinch the Region 2-5A title next week with a win over Fort Mill.
No. 3 James Island also wrapped up a region championship, rolling past Ashley Ridge 63-14 to claim the Region 5-5A title. The Trojans have scored at least 40 points in four straight games and continue to look like one of the Class 5A teams to beat.
A few other ranked teams delivered statement wins. Gaffney shut out its opponent behind quarterback Corey Taylor, who threw for 157 yards and three touchdowns, while Amire White added two rushing scores.
Dorman beat Boiling Springs in a ranked matchup thanks to Carter Nash, who ran for 172 yards and two touchdowns. The Cavaliers also got a strong night from their defensive front, which finished with four sacks and 11 tackles for loss, and junior defensive lineman Easton Cotto’s return gave the group a lift.
Westside stayed in the thick of the Region 1-4A race with a shootout win powered by quarterback Bear Woods, who threw for 382 yards and five touchdowns, including three to Tajeh Watson. Damauri Robinson added 98 rushing yards and two touchdowns for the Rams.
T.L. Hanna kept pace in that same region picture and remains on course for a season-ending showdown with Westside that could decide the championship.
The most jarring results landed in Rock Hill and Hartsville. No.
21 Fort Mill stunned No. 9 Rock Hill 9-7 by scoring all of its points in the fourth quarter.
Broden Mitcheson scored on a 1-yard run, Noah Hardy added an 18-yard field goal, and an interception stopped a potential go-ahead drive for the Bearcats, who have now lost three of their last four.
Hartsville produced another wild finish, outlasting No. 24 Loris 52-49.
Lions running back Makel Stephens put up huge numbers - 185 rushing yards and five touchdowns - but Hartsville found a way anyway, winning on a score with less than two minutes left. The teams traded punches throughout the second half before the Red Foxes finally landed the knockout.
The win moved Hartsville to 3-1 and dropped Loris to 3-1.
Daniel added another win with a 5-touchdown performance from quarterback Jace Grass in a victory over Pickens. Grass became the fourth quarterback in school history to reach 50 career touchdown passes.
Elsewhere, quarterback Gideon Merhib threw three first-half touchdown passes and Jacobi Fuller scored twice on the ground as the Rebels cruised. South Pointe stretched its region winning streak to 17 games and remains on track for a fourth straight region title. Berkeley moved closer to the Region 6-5A championship with a win behind quarterback Henry Rivers, who rushed for two touchdowns and threw for another.
Indian Land responded to its previous week’s loss to South Pointe by scoring the first 42 points in its game. Strom Thurmond kept rolling, extending its winning streak to 18 games with another shutout while limiting Pelion to 57 total yards.
A.J. Hilliary and Zy Rouse each scored two touchdowns for the Rebels.
North Augusta edged its opponent on Jacob DeGennaro’s 34-yard field goal with about five minutes left, keeping the Yellow Jackets unbeaten in region play. Derrick Raniszewski passed for 211 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Seahawks, while defensive end Josh Digger added seven tackles and two sacks.
Lugoff-Elgin broke open its game against Dreher with 30 unanswered second-half points and stayed tied for first in Region 4-4A. Camden got a strong first half from Jaden Manning, who ran for three touchdowns. Hanahan erased an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat Georgetown, and quarterback Tripp Gallus hit Quamell Grant on a 98-yard touchdown pass for the go-ahead score.
Wren jumped out fast and scored the first 42 points of the game, setting up a pivotal matchup with Belton-Honea Path that will decide the Region 2-3A championship.
Carolina Forest also got back on track, with Kaiden Bridges rushing for 137 yards and three touchdowns in a rebound win after the Panthers’ first region loss since 2022.
In Other News...
South Carolinas Florida Win Just Took On A Very Different Look
Floridas upset of No. 7 Texas changed the conversation around the Gators in a hurry, and it also gave South Carolinas win in Gainesville a different kind of afterglow. What looked at the time like a solid road result over a team in transition now sits next to one of the more eye-opening victories of the weekend, with Florida beating Texas 27-24 as a 10.5-point underdog and ending a long drought in top-10 road games.
The Gators are back in the AP Top 25 at No. 20, and the timing matters for South Carolina fans who have watched their own win over Florida age a little better by the day. Florida now heads into a bye before a matchup with No. 5 Georgia, which means the full impact of that South Carolina result may not be clear for another week, even if the larger picture already looks a lot more impressive. [Read more 🡒]
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Now sitting second in the conference, Charleston has positioned itself for home-field advantage in the opening round of the playoffs, with one regular-season match still to come at home against Indy Eleven. For a club that has spent the season building toward a strong postseason run, the standings update matters almost as much as the comeback itself. [Read more 🡒]
Wake Forest Already Has One Big Offensive Concern Before The Season
Wake Forests early exhibition work has already offered a mixed preview, and South Carolina got a front-row look at the parts that still need smoothing out. The Demon Deacons have dropped both of their tune-up games, falling to Georgetown and then to the Gamecocks, even as freshman brothers Gavin and Gallagher Placide flashed the kind of scoring pop that can give a new-look roster some life.
The bigger concern has been the offense around them, which has been uneven from the perimeter and inconsistent from several other spots in the rotation. With one more closed-door scrimmage left before the regular season starts, Wake Forest still has a chance to sort through those issues, but the early signs point to a team that needs more reliable shooting and steadier contributions if it wants to avoid a rocky opening stretch. [Read more 🡒]