By Thomas Grant Jr.

The Bojangles Ridge View Classic is not just the newest Northeast sporting event.

For the host team Blazers, it’s also their regular-season opener.

Disagreements over a rescheduling date resulted in the cancellation of last week’s game at South Pointe. It was supposed to be the first of three straight games for the Blazers against defending state champions.

Instead of opening against the defending Class 4A champions, Ridge View will now play host to the reigning dynasty in its classification. Dutch Fork is seeking a second ‘5-peat’ and their 11th Class 5A title in 12 years under head coach Tom Knotts.

The Blazers trail the all-time series 5-7 with the Silver Foxes having won the last two meetings. Last year’s game saw Ridge View take a 21-14 lead in the second half, only for Dutch Fork to rally back for the 28-21 win.

Wide receiver Khristian Jackson suffered a shoulder injury in the game. He’s back in action along with quarterback Tre Howard who suffered a season-ending foot injury in the previous game.

“I’ve got a lot of respect for Coach (Derek Howard) and his players,” Knotts said. “He’s got very athletic players. They’ve got some big solid players, some nice linebackers. They’ve got a good program.

“But we worry about Dutch Fork and hopefully, take care of business when we get out there.”

RNE wins opener

It was a “Battle of the Northeast” in Week One.

Spring Valley was seeking a second straight season-opening victory over Richland District Two rival Richland Northeast.

The contest was also the debut for new Cavaliers’ head coach DeMarcus Simons. He was seeking to revive the program which had an active 11-game losing streak and went winless last year.

Playing at home, Richland Northeast rolled to a 38-9 victory over the Vikings. Quarterback Zion Farmer threw for 175 yards and two touchdowns and Curt Ceaser rushed for two scores in the win.

The Cavaliers will seek a second straight win over a Northeast area foe this Thursday at Blythewood. The Bengals are coming off a 24-6 loss to Catawba Ridge in which they scored the opening points on a touchdown pass from James Veasey to Landyn Strong. Nig

Spring Valley will play its home opener Friday against Irmo. It’s the WACH 57 Whataburger Friday Night Rivals Game of the Week.

The game can be seen on WACH 57.2 or 1250 on Spectrum Cable or streamed at www.wach.com.

Cardinals get victory

It was a SCISA vs. S.C. High School League matchup in Week 1.

Cardinal Newman got four touchdowns from R.J. Hughes in the 34-0 shutout win over American Leadership Academy.

He caught three touchdown passes from quarterbacks Liam Shuping and Jaxon Holub and rushed for a touchdown. Charlie Lawhead also rushed for a score.

Nathan MacMurdo led the defense with 13 tackles and Johnny Foster had 10 tackles and one of his team’s three interceptions.

WEEK 2 SCHEDULE

(Thursday’s Game)

Richland Northeast at Blythewood

(Friday’s Games)

Westminster Schools of Augusta Football at Cardinal Newman

Spring Valley at Irmo

Dutch Fork at Ridge View