News - Sports - Preps

Friday, Oct. 10, 2008

Season becomes a family affair

Seems like we've been talking about it for a year, and the consensus is nobody in York County is happy with the way the area Class AAAA schools were separated at the last realignment.

But, there have been a couple of byproducts of the new system that have pumped some new life into early season match-ups.

The first was in Week 3, when Northwestern and Rock Hill locked horns. District Three Stadium was packed and Northwestern came away with a 20-0 win.

Last Thursday, the stadium was packed again when Northwestern, No. 2 in the state, hosted South Pointe, No. 3. South Pointe won 28-7 and took over the Trojans' precious spot in the poll.

"It was a great game and South Pointe has a good team," Northwestern's Jarrett Neely said. "I'm sure we will see them at some point in the playoffs."

As good as those games were, they were non-region battles. That's because the S.C. High School League moved Lancaster, Rock Hill and South Pointe into Region 4-AAAA, which includes three Columbia teams.

The League left Northwestern, Fort Mill, Clover and York in Region 3-AAAA, replacing the teams they moved with Gaffney and Nation Ford, which opened its doors last year in Fort Mill.

But a couple of points before we start bah-humbugging. The realignment is for this school year and next. So the problem with the current one will be addressed.

There is another silver lining, so to speak. Region play for area Class AAAA teams starts tonight. When it ends on Nov. 7, the top three teams in 3-AAAA and 4-AAAA make the playoffs.

On top of that, if the points line up, several other teams could get in as wild cards.

If South Pointe, Rock Hill and Lancaster are the top three teams in their region, they are in. The same applies to Northwestern, Clover, and York, maybe even Nation Ford if the Falcons spring an upset or two.

The roadblock in Region 3-AAAA is Gaffney, which should turn the corner after two straight losses.

In tonight's Region 3-AAAA games, Northwestern goes to Nation Ford, Fort Mill to Clover and Gaffney comes to York.

In Region 4-AAAA, Rock Hill hosts Ridge View, which appears to be the better team over Blythewood and Spring Valley, Lancaster hosts South Pointe and Blythewood hosts Spring Valley.

Both region championships could be decided in the final night of the regular season when Northwestern travels to Gaffney and Rock Hill goes to South Pointe.

Region 4-AAA features what could be its best game of the season, Chester at Lugoff-Elgin.

It's only the second region game for each, but those and Fairfield Central were predicted to contend for the title. Chester has struggled at times, but took care of its first bit of business last week with a 21-18 win over Fairfield Central.

Chester is 3-3 overall and 1-0 in region play. Lugoff-Elgin is 5-1 and 1-0.

In Region 3-A games, Great Falls played in Week 0 and has the night off. Lewisville hosts defending state champ Chesterfield and Indian Land goes to McBee.

Those games also fall into the big category.

Chesterfield, Lewisville and Great Falls are all undefeated in region games, so tonight's winner has a leg up on the region title Lewisville has won three straight years.

Great Falls goes to Chesterfield next Friday and hosts Lewisville the following Friday.

Indian Land had 13 players out last week but is getting all but the injured ones back tonight. The Warriors are 2-4, a win better than last season, and is 1-1 in league play.

If the Warriors beat McBee tonight and beat Buford on Oct. 24, they will make the playoffs.

Westminster Catawba goes to Matthews, N.C., to play the Carmel Bearcats club team, which is the school's JV squad. Carmel started last season and split its four games.

The Indians are coming off their first win. The "Iron 18" will be on level ground again tonight. Carmel's numbers are in the low 20s.