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THE TEAMS
Camden is easily the best 3A team in the Midlands and one of the best in the entire state. This offense is absolutely rolling behind QB Grayson White, who captured Week One’s SCVarsity All-Midlands Player of the Week. Defensively, they are nasty and physical. Linebacker Will Nash is a player to watch off this team for sure and he is one of the top defenders in the Midlands. I don’t see this team losing a regular season game if they get by AC Flora.
Gilbert hasn’t played yet but I already know what this team has. For one, they have a senior running back in Alias Graham-Woodberry who is lethal. They also have the top junior in the Midlands in RB Jaden Allen-Hendrix. Defensively, they are gong to be younger but the talent level is definitely high and I think this team has to be a favorite to win their region.
Brookland-Cayce struggled against a very good Byrnes team last week and Coach Rusty Charpia has this team playing a tough out of region schedule. But if they are healthy when region play starts, they will battle Gilbert for the top spot in the region. They have a good ground game and are strong on defense in the linebacker group and up front. Sophomore DL Trequan Singleton has impressed me so far.
Swansea knocked off Airport last week and this team has thirteen starters back from a year ago. They have a good, young quarterback in Jacob Harper who is still learning but defensively are strong, fast and aggressive. They get a big test this week at River Bluff but I believe this Tigers team will compete for their region.
Dreher is rebuilding under first year Coach Corey Jenkins and I think they have a lot of growing up to do. Their young quarterback played well for his first time taking varsity snaps and they have two wide receivers in Caleb Timmons and Kaleb Berry who can stretch a field. But they are not proven in other key positions and are going to find themselves in a big lopsided mismatch this week against rival AC Flora.
Crestwood has the makings of a good football team. They have one of the more dangerous athletes in the Midlands at quarterback in Javion Martin and he has weapons around him. Their defense didn’t show up last week against Richland Northeast and it cost them the game. They just couldn’t get their defense off of the field and that will be something that could cost them close games.
Lower Richland lost to West Ashley in a wet, lightening delayed game last week. The offense was not impressive. It was also not impressive in jamboree play the week before. With one of the most dynamic athletes in the Midlands in WR Nate Branch, this team needs to be making explosive plays downfield and they are not. They will either fly or fail based on the play of their quarterback and that needs to be figured out soon.
Orangeburg-Wilkinson played a decent game against a bigger White Knoll team and came up short. Quarterback play will be key for this team, though they did get a 100 yards performance out of running back Tymir Chislm. Defensively, they played well, giving up just 259 yards. But 195 of those yards were on the ground and they have to fix that.
Lakewood was smashed by Sumter but frankly, they were well outmatched by the 5A Gamecocks. I still think this Lakewood team can be good and their young quarterback will get better, but their passing ame was non-existant last week. They did rush for close to 200 yards against a good Sumter defense so this team is not far off.
THE IMPACT PLAYERS
QB Grayson White, Camden
LB Will Nash, Camden
RB Alias Graham-Woodberry, Gilbert
RB Jaden Allen-Hendrix, Gilbert
QB Tanner Staton, Brookland-Cayce
DL Trequan Singleton, Brookland-Cayce
QB Jacob Harper, Swansea
WR Caleb Simmons, Dreher
WR Kaleb Berry, Dreher
QB Javion Martin, Crestwood
DB Khalil Moody, Crestwood
WR Nate Branch, Lower Richland
RB Tymir Chislm, Orangeburg-Wilkinson
DB Brandon Cisse, Lakewood
