Midlands high school football: Irmo-White Knoll, plus Week 9’s top games, picks
It is the ninth week of the 2025 regular season for South Carolina public high school football.
Here is a look at this week’s top games in the Midlands and predictions for winners for Week 9:
Brookland-Cayce (2-5, 2-2) at Gilbert (3-4, 2-2)
Players to watch — Brookland-Cayce: QB Andrew Frick, WR/DB Bennett Plane; Gilbert: RB/S Wynn Meetze, LB Gray Gunter.
Notes: Gilbert leads series 7-6 and teams have split the last four meetings. Two teams enter the game in a four-way tie for third in the region with Midland Valley and South Aiken. Brookland-Cayce quarterback Andrew Frick has thrown for 1,505 yards and 12 touchdowns. Junior Evan Simmons leads Brookland-Cayce with 82 tackles. Gilbert’s Wynn Meetze rushed for 134 yards and two touchdowns, and Jiraiya Staley added 130 yards in last week’s win over Midland Valley.
Lexington (3-4, 1-1) at Dutch Fork (5-1, 2-0)
Players to watch — Lexington: LB Cam Morris, RB Markel Byrd; Dutch Fork: DE Jaden Wuerth, DE Julian Walker.
Notes: Dutch Fork leads series, 15-8, and has won 11 straight against the Wildcats. Dutch Fork RB Quintin Wilson has scored three touchdowns in each of the last two games. Stone Furrey leads Dutch Fork with 21 catches for 427 yards and two touchdowns. Junior Jaden Wuerth leads Dutch Fork in tackles for loss (9) and sacks (8). Dutch Fork is outscoring opponents, 103-36, in the second half. Lexington RB Markel Byrd had two touchdowns last week against Chapin and leads the team with 536 yards rushing and five TDs.
Lugoff-Elgin (4-4, 1-3) at Westwood (5-2, 2-1)
Players to watch — Lugoff-Elgin: ATH EJ Richardson, WR Shamil Saadiq; Westwood: WR/DB Jayden Boyd, RB Angelo Rios
Notes: Westwood leads all-time series, 7-2, and has won four of the last five against the Demons. Lugoff-Elgin was held to 132 yards of offense in the 26-0 loss to Ridge View last week. EJ Richardson leads Lugoff-Elgin with 1,162 all-purpose yards and 12 touchdowns. Lugoff-Elgin sophomore QB Zach Williams has thrown for 1,506 yards and 16 touchdowns. Lugoff-Elgin WR Shamil Saadiq is 120 yards shy of 1,000 receiving yards on the season. Jace Coleman leads Lugoff-Elgin with 81 tackles and nine sacks. Westwood is tied for third in the region with Lugoff-Elgin at 1 ½ games back. Westwood is hoping to have RB Angelo Rios back for the game. Rios has missed the last two games with an injury. He leads team with seven touchdowns. Jovan Howard has rushed for 516 yards and QB Carrington Carter has thrown for 1,010 yards and 14 TDs. Westwood’s Jayden Boyd announced this week he was decommitting from Duke.
Silver Bluff (4-4, 1-1) at Swansea (7-0, 1-0)
Players to watch — Silver Bluff: RB Drelyn Brown, QB Trellis Riley; Swansea: ATH Dante Caldwell, LB Jerrel Wine.
Notes: Silver Bluff leads the all-time series, 19-13, and has won four of the last five against the Tigers, including last year’s 56-26 win. Swansea, which is coming off a bye, is one of the area’s three unbeaten teams left along with Irmo and Newberry. The Tigers are looking for their first 8-0 start since 1992. That team finished the season unbeaten and won the first of three straight state titles. Swansea’s defense is giving up just 10.6 points a game.
South Aiken (4-3, 2-2) at Gray Collegiate (5-2, 4-0)
Players to watch — South Aiken: WR Kyson McLeod, DL Ray Harris; Gray Collegiate: QB Xavier Wright, WR/DB Royce Williamson.
Notes: Second meeting between the two schools. Gray enters the game on a four-game winning streak and is in first place in Region 4-4A. Gray freshman QB Xavier Wright has thrown for 916 yards and nine TDs since taking over the starting job four weeks ago. RB Trevon Williamson leads Gray with 586 yards rushing and nine touchdowns. Gray WR Corey Gleaton leads the team with 25 catches for 675 yards and eight touchdowns. He also has four interceptions on defense. Royce Williamson leads Gray with six interceptions and LB Michael Boulware has 143 tackles. WR Kyson McLeod leads South Aiken with 38 catches for 613 yards and eight touchdowns.
White Knoll (5-2, 1-1) at Irmo (7-0, 2-0)
Players to watch — White Knoll: WR Caleb Geronomi, QB Jhais McKiever; Irmo: DE Jaiden Bryant, OL Nate Carson.
Notes: Irmo leads all-time series, 13-2, including two wins against the Timberwolves last year. Irmo defeated White Knoll, 35-21, in the regular season and then 29-25 in the 5A Division II Lower State championship. Irmo is ranked No. 1 in Class 5A and is ranked No. 1 in RPI in 5A Division II, which helps determine seeding for the playoffs. White Knoll is second in RPI in 5A Division II. Second straight top-3 ranked opponent for White Knoll, which played No. 3 Dutch Fork last week. Irmo has won 28 of its last 29 regular-season games. Irmo is tied with Dutch Fork in region standings with White Knoll a game back.
Game schedule, predictions
(Winner picks in boldface. All Games start at 7:30 p.m.)
Thursday
CLEAR DOT CHARTER at Augusta Christian
Friday
AC FLORA vs. Dreher at Memorial Stadium
Airport at NORTH AUGUSTA
American Leadership at BATESBURG-LEESVILLE
Blythewood at SUMTER
Brookland-Cayce at GILBERT
CA JOHNSON at Great Falls
CAMDEN at York
CHESTER at Columbia
FAIRFIELD CENTRAL at Eau Claire
KEENAN at Fox Creek
Lexington at DUTCH FORK
LOWER RICHLAND at Lakewood
LUGOFF-ELGIN at Westwood
Ninety-Six at SALUDA
NORTH CENTRAL at Cheraw
Pelion at STROM THURMOND
RIVER BLUFF at Chapin
Silver Bluff at SWANSEA
South Aiken at GRAY COLLEGIATE
West Florence at RIDGE VIEW
White Knoll at IRMO
Last Week’s Record: 23-4
Season Total: 201-43
This story was originally published October 16, 2025 at 7:00 AM.
