Finally, Dreher knows it’s in playoffs

After waiting out a pair of appeals, Dreher’s football team can turn its attention to preparing for the playoffs.

On Wednesday, the South Carolina High School League’s appellate panel upheld the executive committee’s decision to deny Broome’s appeal of seeding in the Class 3A football playoff brackets.

The ruling means Dreher will travel to Myrtle Beach as scheduled for Friday’s first-round playoff game.

“It feels good to know it doesn’t linger at all,” Dreher coach Treigh Sullivan said. “We are glad that we can worry about getting ready for Myrtle Beach. We have had two good days of practice and the kids have been focused.”

Sullivan didn’t mention the appeals with his team, but knows they were paying attention. He also sympathized with Broome’s reasoning for making the appeal.

Broome was arguing the policy of determining at-large berths for three Class 3A Upper State teams. In previous years, teams were allowed to maximize points by “marking-off” games for a loss or a win against a lower classification opponent to maximize points in 3A.

There’s no mention of that in the Class 3A handbook,, but it was agreed on by the Class 3A football coaches.

According to the handbook, the only instances mark-off games would be allowed is in tiebreaker situations. In Dreher and Broome’s case, no tiebreaker was needed.

This story was originally published November 11, 2015 at 5:12 PM.