It’s hard for a high-school football game to be more important at this stage in the season than Chester and Clinton at Wilder Stadium this Friday night.
The rivalries were earlier. The playoffs are later. For Oct. 20, this is about as big as it gets.
Chester (8-1, 3-0 region) is ranked seventh in Class 3A. Clinton (6-2, 2-0) was once ranked second.
A victory in the Cyclones’ regular-season finale wraps up Region 4-3A. The Red Devils also clinch the region with a win because, even if Emerald shocks Clinton in the final game, Clinton wins by tie-breaker. The two are the only region teams with winning records.
To make a long paragraph short, this game settles the region. Woodruff (3-6, 1-2) has the inside track to the third playoff seed. The winner of Emerald (0-8, 0-2) at Union County (1-7, 0-2) likely settles the fourth. The final week’s games are Clinton at Emerald and Woodruff at Union County).
Clinton has beaten Union County, 51-28, and Woodruff, 36-20. Chester has beaten Woodruff, 44-6; Union County, 60-0; and Emerald, 48-16. The Red Devils’ losses were to Chapman, 22-21, and to South Aiken, 41-30. South Pointe, currently ranked seventh in 4A, defeated the Cyclones, 31-0, on Sept. 9.
Rain is forecast for Friday. A few schools have already moved games to Thursday. Assuming it’s played on Friday, rain is unlikely to dissuade many fans from packing Wilder Stadium. The home stands have been at near capacity all year.
Laurens (2-7, 2-1 Region 2-4A) is playing at Eastside (4-4, 0-2) in a game that is crucial to the Raiders’ seeding and hopes to play a first-round playoff game at home.
The Eagles’ region losses are to Greer, 28-14, and Riverside, 41-20. Laurens has beaten Riverside, 18-17, and Wade Hampton, 23-13, after losing to Greer, 49-7. The game in Taylors is the Raiders’ final regular-season game. Eastside finishes up the following week at home versus Wade Hampton. Greer (3-5, 2-0) plays at Wade Hampton (2-6, 0-2) on Friday, then hosts Riverside (5-4, 2-0) a week later.
Here is the weekly S.C. Media poll of the state’s leading high-school football teams:
CLASS 5A: 1. Summerville (19) (7-0) 2. Hillcrest (7-0) 3. Byrnes (7-1) 4. T.L. Hanna (7-1) 5. White Knoll (7-0) 6. Gaffney (5-2) 7. Lexington (6-1) 8. Fort Dorchester (4-2) 9. Sumter (5-2) and 10. Ashley Ridge (6-1). Others receiving votes: Clover, Spartanburg, J.L. Mann and Rock Hill.
CLASS 4A: 1. South Florence (17) (7-0) 2. Northwestern (2) 3. Irmo (7-0) 4. James Island (7-0) 5. Westside (6-1) 6. Midland Valley (7-0) 7. South Pointe (5-2) 8. Lucy Beckham (6-0) 9. Myrtle Beach (6-1) and 10. York (6-1). Others receiving votes: North Augusta, Hartsville and Greenville.
CLASS 3A: 1. Daniel (18) (7-0) 2. Belton-Honea Path (1) (7-0) 3. Dillon (6-1) 4. Gilbert (7-0) 5. Chapman (6-1) 6. Crestwood (6-1) 7. Chester (7-1) 8. Broome (7-0) 9. Philip Simmons (7-0) and 10. Manning (7-0). Others receiving votes: Camden and Clinton.
CLASS 2A: 1. Gray Collegiate (12) (9-2) 2. Abbeville (7) (6-1) 3. Oceanside Collegiate 4. Silver Bluff (6-1) 5. Hampton County (7-1) 6. Woodland (6-0) 7. Fairfield Central (5-2) 8. Marion (7-1) 9. Strom Thurmond (5-2) and 10. Ninety Six (6-1) O.thers receiving votes: Saluda and Liberty.
CLASS A: 1. Lewisville (19) 2. Christ Church (5-2) 3. Bamberg-Ehrhardt (6-1) 4. Whale Branch (5-0) 5. Southside Christian (4-2) 6. Blackville-Hilda (7-1) 7. St. Joseph’s (7-1) 8. Lake View (5-1) 9. Hunter-Kinard-Tyler (7-1) and 10. Calhoun County (6-1). Others receiving votes: Lamar, Latta and Cross.
Javaye Suber, a junior safety for the Laurens Raiders, is Player of the Week of the Laurens County Touchdown Club for his performance in the win over Wade Hampton.
Suber made four solo tackles and had three assists, but the spectacular aspect of his game was two interceptions, the former returned 47 yards to set up and a touchdown and the latter returned 27 yards for one.
“Javaye Suber plays with great speed and technique at safety,” LDHS head coach Daryl Smith stated. “He has great instincts and amazing hands. You can tell he loves the game because he practices as hard as he plays on Friday nights. He’s doing an amazing job this year.”
Clinton (12-1, 8-0) wrapped up the Region 4-3A girls’ tennis title with a 6-0 victory over Emerald.
# 1 Singles Chandler Dailey defeated Caroline McCatha 6 -1, 6 – 0
# 2 Singles Libby Dailey defeated Mallie Stone 6 – 0, 6 – 0
# 3 Singles Kimora Wesley defeated Imani Williams 6 – 0, 6 – 0
# 4 Singles Carley MacMillan defeated Daydyn Stoddard 6 – 0, 6 – 0
# 5 Singles Addy Derrick defeated Sydney Sandes 6 – 0, 6 – 0
# 1 Doubles C. Dailey & K. Wesley Did Not Play
# 2 Doubles Peyton Nabors & Deborah Goldman defeated Maniya Jackson & Taylor Brooks 6 – 1, 6 – 0
The Red Devils take on Fountain Inn at the Clinton Middle School courts on Thursday at 5 p.m.
Laurens Academy played for the region volleyball championship against Cambridge Academy at Newberry Academy on Tuesday evening.
Two Crusaders passed career milestones, Madison Sherman with 2,000 kills and 1,000 digs, and Madison Loe with 1,000 assists.
State playoff brackets are due to be released on Wednesday.
Paladin Plaudits: Quarterback Tyler Huff is Southern Conference offensive player of the week, also for the second time this season. The former Blue Hose is 15-3 as the Paladins’ starter. … The men’s cross country team is ranked first in the Southeast Region and 12th in the nation. The women are third and 24th. … Women’s soccer goalkeeper Addison Corn is SoCon defensive player of the week after making seven saves in a 2-1 win over Mercer. … Aaron Salinas, the men’s goalie, made three saves to preserve a 0-0 draw with the Bears. … Volleyball defeated UNC Greensboro in straight sets to go 13-6, 4-4 in the SoCon. … Football plays South Carolina State and Richmond in 2026-27, swapping home games. The Bulldogs visit Paladin Stadium in 2026, the Spiders in 2027.
Blue Hose Blurbs: Football placekicker Mack Mikko is the Pioneer Football League special-teams player of the week for the second time. … Volleyball defeated Radford, 3-1, to go 7-11 but 5-2 in the Big South. … Women’s wrestling released its schedule, which is linked here. … The Big South men’s soccer leader, High Point, edged the Blue Hose, 1-0.
Laurens Academy (3-6, 1-2 SCISA 8-man Region 1-A), is playing Newberry Academy (2-7, 0-4), which the Crusaders have already beaten, 58-0, on Sept. 1.
Garrett Murphy rushed for 133 yards last week in a 26-24 loss to King, also catching four passes.
Thornwell (1-6) takes a long trip to Conway to play Atlantic Christian Academy (0-2) after allowing 115 points in the past two weeks. Atlantic Christian, by the way, is the Armada.
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