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One of the region championship games in the Midlands that has the potential to be a very physical game with some bad blood is Ridge View (8-1) at AC Flora (9-0) for the 4A-Region 5 Championship.
The Game: This has been a much anticipated game, as there has been a lot of social media hype from players on both of these teams. The last time they met was in the 2019 playoffs and the Blazers ended the Falcons’ season with a 28-14 win.
Ridge View: The Blazers have lost just one game this season and that was a 1 point loss to Sumter. I am not lost on the fact that the Blazers really have not played a difficult schedule outside of the Blythewood and Sumter games. Irmo was a chanllenge to them and it took an overtime effort to win that one. This team has been strong
on defense all season long. LBs Myles Brown and David Matthews are Midlands leaders in tackles in the Class 4A. Joshua Saddler is one of the best edge guys in the Midlands. Offensively, though they have gotten better in recent weeks, they have yet to get to the hype their players created on social media in the off-season. WR’s Zion Agnew and Adonis McDaniel are putting up good numbers now.
AC Flora: The Falcons are one of hte Midlands’ strongest teams regardles of classification. Their offense can be lethal with the ground attack led by Markell Townsend, who leads 4A rushers in the MIdlands. QB Carew Bates has been more than serviccable with his passing game and management of the offense. Their offensive line is their strength, with Kendarious Kinard and Ben Holmes at
the tackles. Defensively, I like this team’s juniur linebackers Eric McClain and Albert Perkins,both very under rated. The wildcard in this game is going to be WR Chris Lofton, who happens to be the most dangerous return man in the Midlands.
The Breakdown: AC Flora gave up a lot of yards on the ground to Brookland-Cayce and it makes me think they are vulnerable to the run. That said, this Ridge View team has not seen an offense like Flora’s and in the end, I think it could be too much for them.This may be the best of all of the region championship games.
My Pick: AC Flora
