First slate of games gave us plenty to talk about

Week 0 is in the books and it’s time for some breakdown and prognosticating. Here’s what we learned this week in each classification:

CLASS 5A

The Dutch Fork Silver Foxes appear to the be the real deal, with a total destruction of Independence (N.C.). The Foxes have to be considered the early contender now for the Region 5 crown.

The Lexington Wildcats’ preseason woes seemed to be corrected in the second half against West Florence, as they found their rhythm and raced to a big season-opening win.

White Knoll has question marks on offense. They struggled to a win over an Aiken team that they should’ve disposed of easily. The defense is way ahead of the offense at this point.

My Midlands top five: 1. Dutch Fork; 2. Lexington; 3. Blythewood; 4. Spring Valley; 5. White Knoll.

CLASS 4A

Ridge View might be taking things up a notch after going to Sumter and knocking off a very good 5A team. Sumter made mistakes, but the Blazers capitalized.

A.C. Flora is going to be a good team. It played tough against the state’s No. 1 team in 3A, Woodruff, on the road. I’m not putting too much emphasis on this loss in evaluating them.

Chapin has some work to do. They fought a good game against River Bluff down to the wire and yes, River Bluff is 5A, but the Gators are down this year. I was impressed with what Chapin’s backup quarterback was able to do.

My Midlands top five: 1. Ridge View; 2. Airport; 3. A.C. Flora; 4. Richland Northeast; 5. Westwood.

CLASS 3A

Brookland-Cayce is explosive on offense. Granted, they outmatched Lake Marion, but they made big plays and their speed are impressive. My concern is inconsistency.

Swansea’s going to be a good team. In the spring, I questioned how well they could be, but with a veteran offensive line, this team is a legit contender in Region 5-3A

I don’t know how good Gilbert is going to be, but they have a fighting chance with the play of Catriez Cook at running back. He had one of the top performances in the state this weekend.

My Midlands top five: 1. Fairfield Central; 2. Brookland-Cayce; 3. Swansea; 4. Camden; 5. Gilbert.

CLASS 2A

Calhoun County has a lot of talent, and might be the best in the Class 2A in the Midlands area. A solid win over Pelion gives them some confidence to play against Gray Collegiate and Dreher in the next three weeks.

Gray Collegiate took it on the chin against a bigger and more physical Gilbert team, but we learned that Bryce Fields is still on fire and might be the best quarterback in the Class 2A since North Central’s Bubba Williamson went down.

My Midlands top five: 1. Batesburg-Leesville; 2. Calhoun County; 3. Saluda; 4. Gray Collegiate; 5. Keenan.

SCISA

Ben Lippen athlete Bryce Thompson is for real after scoring twice on three touches, including a 95-yard kick return for a touchdown. They played only six minutes and the game was called because of rain and Northwood decided not to finish.

Heathwood Hall surprised me with a convincing win, and I think that this team might be a little more competitive than I anticipated. I still don’t think they’re top-five contender in SCISA 3A, though.

My Midlands top five (statewide): 1. Hammond; 2. Porter Gaud; 3. Laurence Manning; 4. Ben Lippen; 5. Pinewood Prep.

This story was originally published August 21, 2016 at 8:07 PM with the headline "First slate of games gave us plenty to talk about."