It will be here before you know it...

Byrnes' running back Shakeem Wharton, a key cog in the Rebels' state championship run a year ago, leads a talented attack that has aspirations of a repeat.

It’s almost as if you can sniff it in the air… football days are near.
As the NFL and NBA divvy through paperwork in an effort to avoid work stoppages, the Friday night lights are guaranteed to shine in 2011.
Few states shone more brightly than the Palmetto State last year, sporting the nation’s top prospect in South Carolina signee defensive lineman Jadeveon Clowney (South Pointe) and the Gatorade National Player of the Year in Northwestern quarterback Justin Worley, bound for Tennessee.
Bricks are being laid for the upcoming season, seen through various offseason camps and drills at the crack of dawn. Camps open at the end of the month, and with every passing day a new beginning draws closer.
Several teams will begin their respective campaigns in familiar territory; Byrnes, after dispatching rival Dorman in the state title game, again is considered an odd’s on favorite in Class 4A’s Big 16 ranks. Scott’s Branch enters a new season winners of two consecutive Class A- Division II titles, while Abbeville won its first state title since 1996.
Deep in talent, Class 2A king Central (Pageland) despite losing quite a number of players key in its title run to graduation, believe it has more than enough left in the cupboard to defend its crown in 2011.
Two other state titlists open summer camp with questions.
Gone for Northwestern, the Class 4A-Division II champion which finished ranked No. 4 nationally in the RivalsHigh 100 poll, is not only Worley --but also legendary head coach Jimmy “Moose” Wallace. Taking his headset is Kyle Richardson, whose play calling has helped turn the Trojans’ “Air Raid” attack, which in recent years has set the bar in terms of offensive production.
Two of the past three Class 3A championship trophies reside in Myrtle Beach, both having much to do with the heroics of its quarterback. A new era begins under center for the Seahawks, with inexperienced C.J. Cooper and Carolina Forest transfer Tyler Keane to vie for the job.
For the rest, hope springs anew; last year’s inadequacies meaning nothing, potential is all that matters.
The heart of the summer may be just over the horizon, but in that same location is football.

Class AAAA playoff brackets released, present potential for great matchups

Photo by Joe L. Hughes II

Dorman's Rodney Agnew makes an acrobatic catch to score a touchdown earlier this season against Greenwood. The Cavaliers were awarded the top seed in Class AAAA Division I when the South Carolina High School League (SCHSL) announced playoff pairings on Saturday.

Mathematics was not necessarily my strong point during school. So it should not come as a surprise that I am not a fan of the systems to use determine participants in the Class A and Class AAAA playoffs.
It kills me that we never get the opportunity to see what team is a head above the rest, rather than splitting a classification’s title.
However, this Class AAAA playoff run has the potential to be one of the best, with no overwhelming favorite to hoist a trophy the first weekend in December.
The closest team to playing the role, however, is Class AAAA Big 16 champion Dorman (11-0), which was awarded Division I’s top seed for this year’s playoffs. Led by Shrine Bowlers Charone Peak and Adam Humphries, the Cavaliers should not get a real scare until the semifinal round where a matchup with Irmo (9-2) or Gaffney (8-3) may await.
Defeating the rival Yellow Jackets may have earned Dutch Fork (9-2) a region title, but in the process drew it a date with Clover (9-2). As dangerous a 14-seed as there can be, the Eagles’ Wing-T offense is sure to give the Silver Foxes problems; can we say upset alert?
Regardless, most critics would bet their money on a Byrnes-Summerville semifinal in the lower bracket, both programs getting pretty favorable draws to advance through.
The Division II bracket, on the other hand, will be nothing short of a dogfight to Columbia.
Goose Creek (11-0) earned the division’s top seed, therefore receiving home field advantage through the state semifinal round. This may come in handy as Northwestern (11-0) and its “Air Raid” offense was placed on its side of the bracket, setting up a potential clash down in the Lowcountry Nov. 26 with a ticket to Williams-Brice Stadium at stake.
Seeded just behind the Gators is Greenwood, which rides into the playoffs with a 10-1 record, its only blemish a 35-28 loss at Dorman. Similar to Goose Creek on the other side of the bracket, a stiff opponent also will try to block the Eagles’ way to Columbia, this one in the form of North Augusta, which also is 10-1 on the year.

Class AAAA Division I (Big 16) matchups
Upper bracket
(16) White Knoll at (1)Dorman
(9) Fort Dorchester at (8)Stratford
(13)Spartanburg at (4)Irmo
(12)Wando at (5)Gaffney

Lower bracket
(15)Blythewood at (2)Summerville
(10)Boiling Springs at (7)Lexington
(14)Clover at (3)Dutch Fork
(11)Mauldin at (6)Byrnes

Class AAAA Division II matchups
Upper bracket
(16)Conway at (1)Goose Creek
(9)Easley at (8)Beaufort
(13)James Island at (4)Northwestern
(12)Ashley Ridge at (5)Lugoff-Elgin

Lower bracket
(15)Laurens at (2)Greenwood
(10)Wren at (7)South Florence
(14)Richland Northeast at (3)North Augusta
(11)JL Mann at (6)T.L. Hanna

A State Steeped in History: High School Football in South Carolina

By JOE L. HUGHES II

Published: The Gaffney Ledger, Aug. 23, 2010

Little has changed about high school football in South Carolina through the decades, yet in towns from the Upstate to the Lowcountry people line up in droves hoping to get a view of their hometown team.

The state’s love for the gridiron was a subject John Boyanoski was quite acquainted with when he relocated to the Palmetto State from Scranton, Pa., to begin a new chapter in his journalism career. Yet, he wanted to delve further, find out more about what makes Friday nights under the lights such a time honored tradition in South Carolina.

“I had written two books and was wondering what should I do next,” Boyanoski said. “Then it hit me — I should look into South Carolina’s rich football tradition. After all, I always wanted to know where this all started, and where did this come from?”

An award-winning journalist who through the years has written for The Greenville News and the Spartanburg Herald- Journal, and contributed to the likes of the Associated Press and Sports Business Journal, Boyanoski tries to capture more than a century’s worth of history in his latest work, “High School Football in South Carolina: Palmetto Pigskin History.” The 208-page book jumps headfirst into the state’s tradition on the gridiron, getting state residents acquainted with Florence High School — sometimes dubbed the Yellow Jackets or the Golden Tornadoes — winners of the first four state football titles, a mark that has been tied, yet never broken.

He also discusses key events on and off the field, including the aftermath of a 1922 contest between teams from Columbia and Charleston in which fans from the state’s capital city sent their friends from the Lowcountry home with egg on their faces — literally. “After the game, violent Columbia fans hurled eggs at the Charleston train as the players left for home,” Boyanoski said.

The longtime journalist began his search for answers in Columbia, making several treks around the state to libraries, schools and sometimes homes in locales such as Charleston, Florence and Summerville, looking through any publication he could get his hands on, whether it be a newspaper or a yearbook stashed away in a high school’s media center.

“The biggest thing I wanted to do was chronicle some of the past stories and careers that make the state unique, and hunt down some of those stories and characters that somehow fell through the cracks due to the passing of time,” Boyanoski said. “I pulled from some of the major dailies covering particular areas of the state as well as publications serving communities looking for clues as to what that newspaper said about a certain year or era. I really wanted to go directly to the source and see what was being said in these local papers.”

While some would consider the current batch of athletes as the best era ever collected by the Palmetto State, Boyanoski begs to differ.

“Those that played in the early 1970s, the likes of Harry Carson and Mike O’ Cain, in my opinion that era has to top the list,” he said. “There have been many really talented eras, but when you break everything down, nothing compares to that era.”

According to the author, Carson’s case was quite intriguing.

“For a Pro Football Hall of Famer, you do not see too many articles or mentions of him in publications or for that matter the S.C. high school football history books,” Boyanoski said. “He wasn’t a superstar in high school, and did not play in either the Shrine Bowl or the North — South (All-Star) game. Yet, he went on to have one of the more dazzling careers in NFL history, and was recognized by being inducted into the hall of fame.”

A number of names recognized by the masses also turn up in the book, including Cale Yarbrough, the NASCAR legend who was once a standout at Timmonsville High School; former chairman of Augusta National Golf Club Hootie Johnson, who earned a football scholarship at the University of South Carolina due to his performance on the gridiron at Greenwood High in the late 1940s; and Anderson’s Jim Rice, formerly of the Boston Red Sox, now a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.

Of course, Gaffney makes quite a few appearances in the book, according to Boyanoski.

“According to some research I conducted, when Gaffney won its first state football championship in the 1920s, an estimated 5,000 people waited into the wee hours of the morning at train station awaiting the team’s return from Columbia. ... Gaffney’s been a football power for forever and a day, the fans are so in love with the Indians and how they perform on the field,” he said.

The book, which was published by History Press, also contains all-time win-loss records for schools, in addition to the state’s long line of All-State performers on the gridiron. It is currently available at www.historypress.net for $19.99.

It's a question of where...

Former Gaffney and current S.C. State quarterback Malcolm Long leaps across the goal line during the Indians' drubbing of Irmo in the 2006 S.C. Class 4A "Big 16" title game at Williams-Brice Stadium. Programs in the state's highest classification discussed the possibility of moving its two championship contests from the venue earlier this year. (Photo courtesy of Larry B. Littlejohn/ The Gaffney Ledger)

Published : Aug. 13, 2010 — The Gaffney Ledger

By Joe L. Hughes II

Some summers are best spent inside.

This year happens to be one of them, with temperatures near or surpassing 100-degrees, the easy stroll to the mailbox has become somewhat laborious. I almost feel sorry for those who must make a living in the sun — construction workers, street crews and especially the mailman who must deal with both the afternoon heat and a pit bull nipping at his heels.

It is hard to believe that in a few short months the temperature will go from the 90s to near freezing.

Being a football fan, each week sitting among the crowd at the nearest high school football stadium yields the opportunity to see nature at work. During the first few weeks of the season, it seems the sun does not go down until the second half, fans typically getting a glimpse of the sunset — the makings of a perfect date in my opinion.

My wife may tend to differ — yet she still winds up in the crowd with me every Friday night. Now, back to the subject.

With every week, it seems the weather gets a bit more nippy, with a torrential downpour every ruining the plans of those wanting to see the home team play.

Then just like that, it's the playoffs and a state champion has been crowned.

With the exception of a few years in which the games were held in Clemson and Orangeburg (Class 1A held state title games at S.C. State University for the past several years), Columbia and the University of South Carolina's Williams- Brice Stadium has been the goal of high schools throughout the Palmetto State. Providing the opportunity for some athletes to achieve the dream of walking onto the venue's hallowed turf, it is quite a reward for players and coaches alike — win or lose.

However, with each passing year it seems the debate of whether to move the event, aptly named the "Weekend of Champions", from the capital city.

Following last year's Weekend of Champions, the Class 4A football committee consisting of a representative from each of the classification's eight regions toyed with the idea of moving the Division I and II games to separate venues, with expenses from the event being at the heart of the issue.

Under the current format, the schools involved in a title game receive an equal amount of revenue from ticket sales despite the number of tickets sold.

In an effort to cut costs, the Class 4A football committee proposed the South Carolina High School League (SCHSL) move its Division II title tilt to Saturday, being played the same afternoon as the Class 2A and Class 3A championship games. The committee went as far as to solicit bids from other venues including Clemson, Furman and Spring Valley High School in Columbia to host the games.

The Class 4A football committee later wound up keeping the state title game in Williams-Brice Stadium, deciding not to bail on their peers in Classes 2A and 3A, who would have had to find a way to come up with $62,000 for use of the venue and the fact it would not bring the savings once perceived by the governing body.

With school districts scrambling to stay afloat in today's unstable economic climate, I can definitely understand why Class 4A football officials at least looked into moving the game. After all, what should take preference — making sure every student has a book or how much money the school and school district should commit should it be lucky enough to advance to Columbia?

Speaking of Columbia, my hometown really is the one which benefits most from the weekend, bringing in a large amount of money from visitors lodging at the city's hotels and eating at the municipality's many restaurants.

Two years ago, the SCHSL tinkered with the idea of moving the Weekend of Champions to Clemson, which offered a change of pace for all involved. According to friends who went to games during the two-day event it was a resounding success, not to say if it were in Columbia it would not do well.

In my opinion, the state's high school athletic commission ought to follow the blueprint of its contemporaries in Alabama, which chose to alternate between Tuscaloosa, Ala., and Auburn, Ala., as hosts for its high school title games. The championship games were previously held in Birmingham, Ala., the home of the Super 6 Championships for more than a decade.

The school not hosting the annual Iron Bowl matchup between the Crimson Tide and the Tigers would a week or so later welcome the 12 schools advancing to their respective classification's championship game. For example, with the Iron Bowl being held in Tuscaloosa this year the Super 6 Championships will take place in Auburn this year, alternating each year.

If the SCHSL adopted this measure, it would have little bearing on this year's games as Williams-Brice Stadium would host the Weekend of Champions, with Death Valley being the site of the 2010 renewal of the Carolina-Clemson game.

While the plan would not necessarily ease all complaints or ever will, rotating the site of the Weekend of Champions would ease the burden of Upstate schools one year and those from the Midlands down the following season. It would also offer some student-athletes the opportunity to walk the same field Frank Howard, Woody Dantzler and more recently C.J. Spiller walked, instead of only being offered the chance to see where Gaffney product Sidney Rice spent four years.

It would offer the total experience for them — if they cared. These kids are only concerned with making their dreams of a championship come true.

However, if money is the issue, there is nothing wrong with looking at other options. When sports and athletic success becomes more important than the hard work necessary in the classroom, that's when I have a problem.

After all, that's why the word student comes before athlete when referring to athletes (student-athlete) in high school and college, right?

A fan's letter to the Dallas Cowboys ...

It's about time I bought another hat.
Sitting for the past few years in the back of my car as a token of reverence to my team, the Dallas Cowboys,once a sharp royal blue has been sapped of its color, faded from the sun beaming on it day after day.
Similarly, the team emblazoned on it has somewhat become jaded in recent years, blinded by tales of past glory.
It almost seems like yesterday Dallas was navigating its way through the NFL, rising from the depths of a 1-15 season to the Super Bowl only a few years later.
That bright January day at Pasadena's Rose Bowl would be the first of three trips for the Cowboys to the big game, each of which were victories for the team dubbed "America's Team."
The trio of quarterback Troy Aikman, NFL all-time leading rusher Emmitt Smith and hall of fame wide receiver Michael Irvin reminded Dallas fans of the glory days in which Roger Staubach and Tony Dorsett roamed freely at Texas Stadium, while coach Tom Landry roamed the sidelines.
Headed into the 1995 season, there were high hopes of a fourth championship in a five-year span. Dallas would finish 10-6 that year, just enough to get past rival Philadelphia to earn the NFC East title.
The team would start the playoffs on a high note, defeating Minnesota 40-15 and seemingly on a collision course with Green Bay in the NFC Championship game.
For Cowboys fans, that day - Dec. 28, 1996 - sticks with us even as we prepare to begin the second decade in the 21st century.
It was the last time Dallas won a playoff game. Kerry Collins and an upstart Carolina Panthers club would bounce the Cowboys out of the postseason the next week, beginning a bad trend of December and January flame outs by the team.
Going into each year, the question remains, "Can Dallas win in December?"
The calendar's final month is the most important in the NFL season, separating the real from fake and solidifying playoff positioning.
During the past 13+ years, however, the Cowboys have found ways to dismantle their hope of earning a championship ring.
Unfortunately, these are the facts the team and us fans live with everyday:
- more than 4,700 days since the team's last playoff win in 1996, losers of its last five postseason games
- Dallas has not experienced a winning December since 1996.
Tough pill to swallow, without a doubt. After last season's swoon, in particular the 44-6 drubbing at the hands of the Eagles with a playoff bid on the line, the faith a lot of us has been shaken, always wondering when the woes will end.
With each failed opportunity to rid themselves of December's past, doubt creeps into players' minds as well.
The only way to dispel the notion of flame outs in the season's final month is simple - WIN!
Dallas has three final opportunities to change its notoriety of being a team that seems to "finish first" - in the bad way.
Making it happen this year will be difficult, with games at unbeaten New Orleans in addition to renewing acquaintances with division rivals Washington and Philadelphia.
As is always the case this time of year, my Cowboys will show what they are made of.
Hopefully, the results are good, beaming radiantly like the Dallas star logo etched to the brand new cap residing in my car.