WACH Fox to broadcast weekly high school football game

WACH Fox 57 has increased its commitment to high school sports coverage in recent years and is taking another step in the direction this season.

The network will broadcast a live high school football game each week beginning Aug. 21, when Dutch Fork takes on Greenwood as part of the Battle of the Bluff at River Bluff High. The games will be shown on WACH’s digital channel, WACH 57.2 (Time Warner channel 1250) and streamed online at wach.com.

“We are very excited to bring live high school football to the community,” WACH Fox general manager Allison Aldridge said.

“I think it is a really big deal and exciting time for our station,” WACH Fox weekend sports anchor Derek Phillips said. “High school sports in this market thrive. And to be at a different location is good for the station and the players who can come home from their game and watch a game they had just played in.”

In the past, Time Warner Cable broadcasted high school football games on a tape-delayed basis. But since Sinclair Broadcasting bought WACH and Aldridge took over as station’s general manager in 2013, talks started about doing a live high school game.

Aldridge’s last station in Charleston carried a live high school football game each week.

It was just a matter of getting sponsors on board and getting the production people in place. Sonic was signed as the title sponsor of the game which will be called “Friday Night Rivals.”

It will be a multi-camera broadcast complete with a half-hour pregame and sideline reporting.

“Allison has wanted to get it done and had been in the works for a while,” Phillips said. “We couldn’t be more excited.”

The pregame show begins at 7 with kickoff at 7:30 p.m. each week. After the game, Phillips will anchor the “Subway Fifth Quarter” on WACH’s main channel beginning at 11 p.m.

Former South Carolina standout and NFL veteran Corey Miller will handle play-by-play duties for the broadcasts and is joined by SC Varsity’s Jim Baxter in the booth. Amber Lynn Pennycuff will handle sideline duties.

Miller, who played nine seasons in the NFL for the Minnesota Vikings and New York Giants, joined WACH in 2013 and is the host of the network’s “Overtime” show, which airs each Thursday. He also is a color commentator on college football games for American Sports and ESPN3 on Saturdays.

“We have a lot accomplished in the last couple years and are just scratching the surface,” Miller said. “We will be doing a lot of different things in the broadcast and it will be more than just football.”

Eighteen Midlands teams will be shown on the game of the week. with Dutch Fork and Spring Valley each playing in two. After appearing in the opener, the Silver Foxes will be on the following week when they host Goose Creek.

Spring Valley will be on Oct. 9 when it hosts Blythewood and the regular-season finale at Westwood.

This story was originally published July 30, 2015 at 12:38 AM.