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4A Notebook
The AC Flora machine is rolling. They put up 50+ points on rival Dreher and pulled starters out early. QB Carew Bates is executing the offense like a veteran and the RB group of Markell Townsend, Nolan Kelson and Aiden Mosley is the best group in the Midlands and chewed up 339 yards of real estate against Dreher. The Falcons will be off this week before facing Brookland-Cayce next week.
The Irmo Yellow Jackets are 2-0 after a 27-20 win over Lancaster this past week. QB AJ Brand had another solid game for the Jackets against a fiesty Bruins defnse that held Chester to just 16 points. Irmo has yet to find a deep threat to compliment their quarterback’s talents but their run game is good with RB Erick Tucker and defensively, they play very well intermitently. They cannot afford to take plays off against River Bluff and this game is a great measuring stick for each of these teams.s
Ridge View lost a close game to the Sumter Gamecocks and honestly felt they should have won this game. To be frank, the Ridge View offense has not lived up to the off-season hype on the bird app. I made that comment and was called on it publicly. First of all, it is not a criticism, it is an observation. Secondly, I’ve been a professional recruting analyst and coach for 30+ years so I don’t need a backyard cone-coach questioning the manner in which I do my analysis. This team has a LOT of potential on offense, they just have not implemented it. They need to get their WRs involved more and figure out how to get them teh ball in space. Defensively, they have played their tails off and deserve a lot of credit. This week, they take on a Lower Richland team that is trying to find their own identity. They are struggling at quarterback and can’t take advantage of their own weapons. This should be a good game but the Blazers will need more than 14 points to win.
Richland Northeast hit a brick wall in Blythewood’s defense and it is concerning. They have one of the top quarterbacks in the MIdlands in sophomore Will Wilson but he was held to 46 yards in the air and 9 yards rushing. Their lone touchdown came off of a busted 93 yard run by their running back J Willingham, but that was 93 of their 167 yards of offense so other than that one play, they only had 74 yards of offense. This week, they face a Keenan team that is very beatable. They are 0-2 against Dreher and OW and have only put up 30 points this season.
Westwood is 0-2 after taking a beating from Lower Richland this past week. This team has not been stellar on offense at all this year and will struggle if they are without their starting quarterback after an injury. They have some good athletes on this team and WR Noah Jennings is one of the best in the Midlands but they can’t seem to get him the ball. They take on Blythewood this week and I do not think this will be a pretty game for the Redhawks.
Airport is 0-2 and have not been overly impressive on offense this season. They have a weapon in WR Apollos Cook but cannot seem to get the ball to him. I can see the frustration in this kid on the field. They had flashes of improvement against Brookland-Cayce this past week, but honestly, this team just looks like a team who is immature in a lot of positions. They have athletes who are capable of making them a very good team but they have not “grown up” yet. They take on a Butler team from Augusta, Georgia who was 0-10 last season, but won their first game out of the gates. This should be a competitive game and Airport has a good chance at winning but they have to execute and not take plays off on defense.
Lugoff-Elgin is 0-2 but they played two very good football teams in River Bluff and Camden. I don’t think anyone expected them to win either of those games. This week, however, they travel to Darlington to take on a Falcon team who is 0-1 and went 0-8 last season. They played Hartsville in game one so, like Lugoff-Elgin, were in a no expectation situation. The Falcons have some dangerous athletes that can go get a football but they are not proficient in the passing game. This is going to be a good game for one of these teams, with both needed a win to help sooth the wounds and get them on track.
THE IMPACT PLAYERS
RB Noah Kelson, AC Flora
RB Markell Towsnsend, AC Flora
QB AJ Brand, Irmo
RB ErickTucker, Irmo
LB Miles Brown, Ridge View
LB David Matthews, Ridge View
WR Noah Jennings, Westwood
WR Apollos Cook, Airport
LB KD Outten, Lugoff-Elgin
