keithfarner's Blog

Football fans, here are my predictions for Week 8. What are yours?

Pendleton (6-1, 2-0) at Abbeville (7-0, 2-0)
Prediction: Abbeville 28, Pendleton 24

B-HP (3-4, 2-0) at D.W. Daniel (7-0, 2-0)
Prediction: Daniel 31, B-HP 28

Westside (2-5, 0-1) at Wren (2-5, 0-1)
Prediction: Westside 28, Wren 21

T.L. Hanna (2-5,1-0) at Greenwood (3-4, 1-0)
Prediction: Greenwood 21, Hanna 7

Woodmont (5-2, 1-1) at Seneca (1-6, 0-2)
Prediction: Seneca 28, Woodmont 14

Walhalla (3-4, 1-1) at Crescent (2-5, 0-2)
Prediction: Walhalla 21, Crescent 7

Palmetto (3-4, 0-2) at Southside (4-3, 1-1)
Prediction: Palmetto 35, Southside 21

Dixie (2-6, 0-1) at Ninety Six (7-1, 1-0)
Prediction: Ninety Six 31, Dixie 14

Elbert County (3-3, 1-2) at Franklin County (4-2, 2-1)
Prediction: Franklin 28, Elbert 7

Stephens County (4-2, 2-1) at Morgan County (1-5, 1-2)
Prediction: Stephens 35, Morgan 14

Hart County (3-3, 2-1) at Oconee County (2-4, 2-1)
Prediction: Hart 28, Oconee 21

30-28 B-HP? Sounds good, but I'm going Daniel 31-28. Both teams have had some close games this season, so it could come down to the wire.

I'll look for you and your crew at the game.

Did coaches/athletics directors make the right call when they moved games to Thursday? Only three games in the Anderson area were rescheduled. The Friday forecast in Anderson, according to weather.com, calls for 89 degrees and a 10 percent chance of rain.

Were coaches too worried about potentially losing revenue to keep the games on Friday? How will fans react to attending Thursday games instead of Friday?

There obviously wasn't a consensus among coaches. The Spartanburg area, for example, had eight of 10 games rescheduled. Spartanburg's forecast is only a 20 percent chance of rain on Friday, and 87 degrees.

What was the motive behind moving some games, but not all?

With the Hanna-Westside game on tap for this week, what makes this such a heated rivalry?

Besides the usual cross-town reasons, why is this one better than Dorman-Spartanburg, Summerville-Fort Dorchester, Fort Mill-Rock Hill?

Westside fans, what gets you fired up about the Jackets? Hanna fans, why do you hate the Rams?

Kenya Fouch ran a spread at Calhoun Falls last season. But it appears Hanna will be more balanced with two quality running backs, and two top-notch receivers. Defense will be 4-3.

We've already discussed the area games this week. Here are the rest of the games across the state.
A quick glance at this schedule tells me the best games appear to be Chester at Union County, and Dorman at Spartanburg.

Union County and Chester is a rematch of the Upper State championship last season, which Chester won 16-0. Dorman and Spartanburg renew their rivalry which Dorman has won three of the last four meetings and six of the last nine, according to my colleague Jason Gilmer at the Herald-Jornal. Spartanburg leads the overall series 38-11-1.

Academic Magnet at Garrett Academy (Sat.)
Ashley Ridge at Johnsonville
Aynor at Latta
Battery Creek at Wade Hampton (H)
Carolina Forest at Timberland
Cheraw at Lamar
Chester at Union County
Dorman at Spartanburg
Edisto at Bamberg-Ehrhardt
Hardeeville at Bluffton
Hillcrest at Easley
Hunter-Kinard-Tyler at Barnwell
Liberty at Christ Church
Marion at Carvers Bay
Military Magnet at North Charleston (Sat.)
North Myrtle Beach at Conway
Whitmire at Ninety Six (8/22/2008)

It's not a stretch to see Wren with a 6-5 record. After its fourth string QB looked better than, well, any fourth string QB I've seen recently in jamboree play, it'll definitely have an offense this year. The question is will that offense still be able to move the ball in region play. And will the defense be able to contain teams that have more and better athletes. Depth historically becomes a problem for Wren by midseason, but since it's already had its share of injuries at QB and linebacker, that might not happen during the season. I've been surprised how much Jeff Tate has changed the climate already, and got the players excited, even during a jamboree. I'm not predicting a region championship, but I'd be surprised if Wren doesn't make the playoffs -- for the first time since 1996.

http://www.independentmail.com/news/2008/jul/24/wren-hopes-backup-title-talk/

Hanna can be as good as its quarterback and linemen are. Although the offensive linemen are all new, they've played together for several years, and are all juniors and seniors. Coach Kenya Fouch said the starting offensive line next week should have four seniors and a junior.

Hanna has talented receivers, running backs, and inside linebackers. But it's had those before, and been .500 the last three seasons. If sophomore QB Dajun Martin can play above his age and experience, and the offensive linemen gel, Hanna could threaten Greenwood for the region, or make a playoff run. But still a lot of question marks with the Jackets.

Oops. Dixie is playing host to Southside Christian. My mistake.

All right everybody. The 7-on-7s are history. The jamborees are in the books.

Which Week 0 game will be the most exciting?

Southside-Wren
Walhalla-Blacksburg
McCormick-Crescent
Dixie-Christ Church

What are your predictions?