Weather, coaching reunions and local matchups highlight Midlands playoff slate
The high school football playoffs in the Midlands this week include weather challenges, coaching reunions and some local-vs.-local matchups.
Possible impacts from Tropical Storm Nicole have forced some Round Two playoff games in the state to be moved to Wednesday and Thursday and Saturday for Midlands teams. Teams that haven’t moved games are hoping the weather moves through and everything will go on as scheduled for Friday.
Familiar faces return to the Midlands
Three former Midlands coaches — Reggie Shaw, Dustin Curtis and Reggie Kennedy — will be back in the area for the playoffs.
Shaw and his Byrnes squad will be at Blythewood in the second round of the Class 5A Upper State playoffs. Shaw was hired to replace Jeff Scott at Blythewood after the 2006 season but never coached a game for the Bengals.
Shaw resigned a few weeks before the start of the 2007 season after penalties for holding an illegal padded practice in the spring and then an impermissible full-contact practice as summer practice began.
After Blythewood, Shaw went on to become the winningest coach at Ben Lippen and then went to A.C. Flora before heading to Byrnes in 2017, where he was a one-time assistant. The Rebels are 8-3 this season and face Blythewood (10-1), which is in midst of its best season since the 10-win 2007 season. The Bengals have given up no more than 13 points in six straight games, which include three shutouts.
Curtis brings Dorman to play Dutch Fork in another Class 5A Upper State playoff matchup. The two teams have faced off in 2017 and 2019 state championship games, with Dutch Fork winning both times.
Curtis is in his first year at Dorman after a successful run at Westwood and A.C. Flora. He led Flora to its first state championship in 2020 and has the Cavaliers at 9-2 the season. Dorman has a pair of Division I offensive linemen in South Carolina commit Markee Anderson and UNC commit DJ Geth.
The Silver Foxes have won 10 games in a season for the 11th time since Tom Knotts took over in 2010. Dutch Fork has given up just 14 total points over the last five games.
Kennedy and his Manning football team travel to Gilbert for the second round of the Class 3A Lower State playoffs. Manning is coming off a 44-42 overtime win over Lakewood last week for its first playoff victory since 2011.
Kennedy previously coached in the area at Blythewood and Irmo before leaving for Manning in 2019. Manning’s roster has South Carolina commit Monteque Rhames.
Gilbert is a victory away from its third 10-win season in the past seven seasons. The Indians have won six straight games after a two-game losing streak earlier in the year.
Local matchups
There are two games this week that are all-Midlands matchups — Lower Richland at Camden, and Saluda at Gray Collegiate.
Lower Richland and Camden are meeting for the first time since 2015, when the Bulldogs won 45-32. The Bulldogs have home-field advantage for the Class 3A Lower State playoffs.
The Saluda-Gray game was moved to Irmo High School because a bigger venue was needed than Gray’s home at Midlands Sports Complex. The teams have split their previous four matchups, including Gray’s 20-6 win last year during the regular season.
Playoff schedule, picks
Game times are 7:30 p.m. unless noted with Lou Bezjak’s prediction in parenthesis
Thursday
Class 2A
Newberry at Abbeville, 6 p.m. (Prediction: Abbeville)
Friday
Class 5A
Dorman at Dutch Fork, 8 p.m. (Dutch Fork)
Class 2A
Saluda vs. Gray Collegiate at Irmo High School, 8 p.m. (Gray Collegiate)
SCISA
Porter-Gaud at Hammond (Hammond)
Saturday
Class 5A
Byrnes at Blythewood, 2 p.m. (Byrnes)
Lexington at Summerville, 6 p.m. (Lexington)
Class 4A
Irmo at James Island, 6 p.m. (Irmo)
Hartsville at A.C. Flora, 6:30 p.m. (A.C. Flora)
Class 3A
Lower Richland at Camden, 3 p.m. (Camden)
Brookland-Cayce at Dillon, 5 p.m. (Dillon)
Manning at Gilbert, 6 p.m. (Gilbert)
Class 2A
Keenan at Strom Thurmond, 6 p.m. (Strom Thurmond)
Fairfield Central at Silver Bluff, 6 p.m. (Fairfield Central)
Class A
CA Johnson at Wagener-Salley, 6 p.m. (Wagener-Salley)
Bezjak Last Week: 25-5
Bezjak Season Record: 238-57
This story was originally published November 10, 2022 at 9:00 AM.
