Midlands high school football: Region title, rushing record on the line this week
It is the 10th 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 10:
Batesburg-Leesville (5-3, 2-1) at Pelion (4-4, 1-2)
Players to Watch - BL: RB Amadre Wooden, WR/DB KD Whitt; P: WR Jai Chuniesingh, LB Brady Cottingham
Notes: Batesburg-Leesville leads all-time series, 8-0. Batesburg-Leesville RB Amadre Wooden is 205 yards shy of breaking the school’s all-time rushing record held by Wooden’s uncle, Terrence Wilson (4,692 yards). Wooden has rushed for more than 200 yards in each of his last five games and has 1,157 yards in that span. B-L is tied for second in Region 2-2A with Saluda. Jai Chuniesingh leads Pelion with 43 catches for 859 yards and 10 touchdowns. Brady Cottingham leads Pelion with 70 tackles.
Newberry (8-0, 2-0) at Keenan (3-6, 1-2)
Players to Watch - N: QB Kenton Caldwell, WR: Jamere Crooks; K: QB Cam McMillon, RB Hunter O’Neal
Notes: Newberry has won six of the last seven against Keenan and leads the all-time series, 18-5. Newberry QB Kenton Caldwell has 34 total touchdowns and needs 69 rushing yards to go over 1,000 on the season. Caldwell has 1,450 yards passing. Jamere Crooks leads Newberry with 40 catches for 614 yards and nine touchdowns. Cordell Jackson leads Newberry with four interceptions. Keenan QB Cam McMillon saw his first action last week since transferring from South Pointe last month. McMillon threw for 179 yards and had two total touchdowns in the win over Fox Creek. Keenan RB Hunter O’Neal has rushed for 1,196 yards and 12 touchdowns. Darius Dixon leads Keenan with 109 tackles and four sacks.
Ridge View (6-2, 4-0) at Sumter (7-1, 4-0)
Players to Watch - RV: RB Spencer Bobian, WR Khristian Jackson; S: QB Frank Richardson, LB Javonte Brown
Notes: Winner of the game clinches the Region 5-5A championship. Ridge View hasn’t won a region title in football since 2007. Sumter leads the all-time series, 8-2. Ridge View RB Spencer Bobian needs 22 yards for 1,000 yards rushing yards on the season. He leads the team with 13 TDs. Ridge View WR Khristian Jackson returned to action last week after missing four games with an injury. Sumter is averaging 380 yards rushing per game and had 544 last week against Blythewood. Sumter QB Frank Richardson has rushed for 1,052 yards and 22 touchdowns this season.
River Bluff (4-4, 1-2) at Dutch Fork (6-1, 3-0)
Players to Watch - RB: WR Darius Carter, RB Hayden Myers; DF: DE Julian Walker, DE Jaden Wuerth
Notes: Dutch Fork leads all-time series, 10-0, and has scored 40 or more points in each of the games against River Bluff. Dutch Fork is tied for first in Region 4-5A with Irmo. Dutch Fork WR Stone Furrey leads the team in receiving with 25 catches for 512 yards and three touchdowns. Dutch Fork’s Julian Walker and Jaden Wuerth have combined for 21 tackles for loss and 14 sacks. Dutch Fork is averaging 40.6 points per game. Taylor Davis made his first start at quarterback last week for River Bluff. River Bluff RB Hayden Myers needs 13 yards for 1,000 rushing yards on the season. Darius Carter leads River Bluff with 44 catches for 589 yards and eight touchdowns.
Saluda (5-3, 2-1) at Strom Thurmond (6-2, 3-0)
Players to Watch - S: RB Tristan Daniels, QB Brayden Williams; ST: QB Bri’shaun Lee, LB Bryston Coleman
Notes: Strom Thurmond leads all-time series, 43-15-3 but Saluda has won two of the last three against the Rebels. Strom Thurmond leads Region 2-2A by a game over Saluda and Batesburg-Leesville. Saluda RB Tristan Daniels needs 26 yards for 1,000 rushing yards on the season and has team-high 12 touchdowns.
South Florence (7-1, 4-0) at Lower Richland (6-3, 3-2)
Players to Watch - QB Malachi Jackson, WR Jayaun Perkins; LR: RB Solomon Kelson, LB Ophir Hill
Notes: South Florence leads all-time series, 6-1. South Florence is tied for Region 5-4A lead with Hartsville. Lower Richland is in third place. Lower Richland has won six games in a season for the first time since 2022. South Florence QB Malachi Jackson has 1,338 total yards and 26 total touchdowns. South Florence LB Terry Gordon leads SF with nine sacks. Lower Richland RB Solomon Kelson leads the team with 703 yards and 12 TDs.
Game schedule, predictions
(Winner picks in boldface. All Games start at 7:30 p.m.)
Friday
Airport at GILBERT
American Leadership at NINETY-SIX
ANDREW JACKSON at North Central
BATESBURG-LEESVILLE at Pelion
Ben Lippen at HAMMOND
CA Johnson at LAMAR
Camden Military at HEATHWOOD HALL
Cardinal Newman at PORTER-GAUD
CHESTER at Mid-Carolina
CLEAR DOT CHARTER at Anderson Cavaliers
Dreher at SOUTH POINTE
EAU CLAIRE at Columbia
FLORENCE CHRISTIAN at Northside Christian
Fox Creek at SWANSEA
GRAY COLLEGIATE at Aiken
IRMO at Chapin
Lancaster at CAMDEN
LAURENS ACADEMY at Richard Winn
NEWBERRY at Keenan
Newberry Academy at WW KING
NORTH AUGUSTA at Brookland-Cayce
Richland Northeast at YORK
RIDGE VIEW at Sumter
River Bluff at DUTCH FORK
Saluda at STROM THURMOND
SOUTH FLORENCE at Lower Richland
Spring Valley at LUGOFF-ELGIN
WHITE KNOLL at Lexington
WESTWOOD at West Florence
Last Week’s Record: 18-4
Season Total: 219-47
