Dreher must wait out appeal before playing Friday
Dreher’s stay in the Class 3A football playoffs might not hinge on what happens on the field.
The Blue Devils are scheduled to travel Myrtle Beach for a first-round playoff game Friday, but will have to wait on the outcome of Broome’s appeal the South Carolina High School League’s Executive Committee on Tuesday.
On Monday, the SCHSL announced Broome was appealing the seeding of the Class 3A brackets. The Centurions are arguing they have more points than the Blue Devils in the points system, which determines the at-large spots for the 3A playoffs.
“We had heard Saturday that Broome might appeal, but we are planning on business as usual and getting ready for Myrtle Beach,” Dreher coach Treigh Sullivan said after practice Monday.
Based on the information he has received, Sullivan was confident Dreher would be making the trip to Myrtle Beach on Friday.
This is the second straight year the SCHSL executive committee decides Dreher’s playoff fate. Last year, the committee overturned SCHSL’s decision to ban Camden and Dreher from the playoffs because of their fight during the teams’ game.
This year, it has to do with the points system. Dreher (5-5) finished tied for fourth in Region 4-3A with Camden, but held the tiebreaker because of the 47-15 win against the Bulldogs on Oct. 16. Broome (4-6) finished fourth in Region 3-3A.
In the 3A Upper State, 14 teams earn automatic bids to the playoffs based on their finish in their regions and three earn at-large bids.
The three Upper State at-large qualifiers will come from the fifth-place teams in Region I-3A and 2-3A and fourth place teams in Region 3-3A and 4-3A. Of those four teams, three with the highest points total based on 3A points system earn playoff spots.
The team with the lowest point total of the three at-large teams gets dropped to the Lower State to make sure there are 16 teams in each.
This story was originally published November 9, 2015 at 8:51 PM with the headline "Dreher must wait out appeal before playing Friday."