By Thomas Grant Jr.

Richland Northeast invited its “Mr. South Carolina Football” back in time to close out the regular season.

Quarterback Will Wilson was back on the field after missing the past two games with an injury. His play proved critical as the Cavaliers edged York 23-20 on a 15-yard field goal with 13 seconds left.

Wilson rushed for two touchdowns as Richland Northeast (7-2, 3-2) continued its best start in years. A win will clinch third place in Region 3-4A and hope to have improved its ranking in the RPI ratings which will determine seeding this year.

Return to Action

Northeast teams Ridge View and Blythewood face each other Friday following a bye week.

The Blazers (5-3, 4-0) has won four straight games and are tied with Sumter for first place in Region 5-5A. The two teams close out the regular season against each other Nov. 8.

Meanwhile, the Bengals (6-3, 2-3) have dropped two straight games and need a win to at least finish tied with fourth place with Westwood.

The Redhawks (5-4, 3-2) were in action last week. They were defeated by West Florence 13-8 as Angelo Rios had a 1-yard touchdown run and added a 2-point conversion late in the first half.

Cardinals close out regular season

Cardinal Newman will look to end a couple of streaks Friday against defending SCISA Class 4A champion Hammond School.

A win would not only snap a 5-game losing streak on the season, but a 23-game winless streak to the Skyhawks. The Cardinals (5-4, 1-5) are currently in eighth place in SCISA Class 4A standings.

On the positive side, running back Caleb Ford leads the state in rushing (1,890 yards, 12 touchdowns) and needs 110 yards to reach 2,000 yards.

S.C. PREP FOOTBALL MEDIA POLL

Class 5A

1. Dutch Fork (17) (7-0)

2. Northwestern (1) (9-0)

3. Summerville (9-0) 

4. Irmo (8-0) 

5. Sumter (8-0) 

6. Spartanburg (6-1) 

7. Gaffney (6-1) 

8. Hillcrest (7-1)

9. JL Mann (6-2)

10. River Bluff (7-1)

Others receiving votes: TL Hanna, Dorman, Boiling Springs, Catawba Ridge, Greenwood, Clover

Class 4A

1. Westside (18) (7-0)

2. Daniel (7-1)

3. South Pointe (7-2)

4. South Florence (7-2)

5. Hartsville (7-1)

6. May River (7-1)

7. North Augusta (7-1)

8. Wren (6-1)

9. Seneca (8-1)

10. AC Flora (7-2)

Others receiving votes: Gray Collegiate, Greer; Bishop England; Richland Northeast

RPI RATINGS

CLASS 5A

Division I

(Upper State)

1.Dutch Fork, 7-0, 0.86230, 2. Spartanburg, 6-1, 0.76799, 3. River Bluff, 7-1, 0.71766,4. JL Mann, 6-2, 0.69060, 5. Lexington, 5-3, 0.64505, 6. Boiling Springs, 5-2, 0.61839, 7. Clover, 6-3, 0.60427, 8. Dorman, 5-3, 0.60012, 9. Blythewood, 6-3, 0.56370, 10. Rock Hill, 5-5, 0.55063, 11. J.F. Byrnes, 3-5, 0.50899 Mauldin, 2-6, 0.36005, 12. Wade Hampton, 0-7, 0.18146

(Lower State)

1. Summerville, 9-0, 0.79045, 2. Sumter, 8-0, 0.74792, 3. Ridge View, 5-3, 0.64150, 4. James Island, 6-3, 0.61407, 5. Ashley Ridge, 6-3, 0.59774, 6. Carolina Forest, 4-3-1, 0.56675, 7. Fort Dorchester, 5-4, 0.52885, 8. West Ashley, 4-5, 0.47636, 9. Stratford, 4-5, 0.46697, 10. Wando, 4-5, 0.43045,  11. Cane Bay, 1-7, 0.30064, 12. Spring Valley, 0-9, 0.29078, 13. Stall, 0-8, 0.24091

Division II

(Upper State)

1.Northwestern, 9-0, 0.82032, 2. Gaffney, 6-1, 0.72599, 3. TL Hanna, 6-2, 0.66066, 4. Hillcrest, 7-1, 0.65533, 5. Greenwood, 6-2, 0.61888, 6. Catawba Ridge, 7-2, 0.61365, 7. Riverside, 4-3, 0.54554   8. Indian Land, 5-4, 0.48251, 9. Eastside, 4-3, 0.46149, 10. Woodmont, 2-6 ,0.41322, 11. Nation Ford, 1-8, 0.36377, 12. Greenville, 1-7, 0.34569, 13. Fort Mill, 1-7, 0.32326, 14. Easley, 1-7, 0.32369

(Lower State)

1. Irmo, 8-0, 0.81999, 2. West Florence, 6-3, 0.60689, 3. Chapin, 4-4, 0.60022, 4. White Knoll, 4-4, 0.58711, 5. Goose Creek, 5-3, 0.58686, 6. Berkeley, 5-4, 0.53913, 7. Westwood, 5-4, 0.52112 , 8. Myrtle Beach, 4-4, 0.49774, 9. Lugoff-Elgin, 4-6, 0.45234, 10. Lucy Beckham, 4-5, 0.44693, 11. Socastee, 3-5, 0.43563, 12. North Myrtle Beach, 3-4, 0.40963, 13. Conway, 1-7, 0.30356, 14. St. James, 0-8, 0.22422

CLASS 4A

(Upper State)

 1.Westside, 7-0, 0.82969, 2. Daniel, 7-1, 0.68015, 3. Seneca, 7-1, 0.66951, 4. South Pointe, 7-2, 0.66785, 5. Wren, 6-1, 0.63970, 6. AC Flora. 7-2, 0.63292, 7. Greer 5-3, 0.61752, 8. Camden, 6-3, 0.61114, 9. Richland Northeast, 7-2, 0.60490, 10. Fountain Inn, 4-4, 0.54313, 11. Emerald, 4-4, 0.49819, 12. Pickens, 3-5, 0.46884, 13. Lancaster, 3-6, 0.43224, 14. Berea, 3-5, 0.42235, 14. Dreher, 3-6, 0.41426, 16. Blue Ridge, 3-5, 0.40326, 17. Laurens, 1-7, 0.39287, 18. York, 2-7, 0.36981, 19. Travelers Rest, 1-6, 0.28879, 20. Southside, 0-8, 0.20753

(Lower State)  

1.Bishop England, 7-2, 0.69644, 2. South Florence, 6-2, 0.67987, 3. Hartsville, 7-1-1, 0.67469, 4. North Augusta. 7-1, 0.67052, 5. May River, 7-1, 0.65960, 6. Gray Collegiate, 6-2, 0.63513, 7. Hilton Head Island, 6-2, 0.60638, 8. Bluffton, 5-3, 0.54004, 9. Crestwood. 4-5, 0.52664, 10. Darlington. 4-5, 0.49769, 11. Gilbert, 4-4, 0.48336, 12. Lower Richland, 5-5, 0.47485, 13. South Aiken. 3-5, 0.47140, 14. Midland Valley, 4-5, 0.44881, 15. Beaufort, 2-7, 0.39461, 16. Lakewood, 2-7, 0.38327, 17. Brookland-Cayce, 2-7, 0.38143, 18. Airport, 1-7, 0.33141, 19. Wilson, 1-8, 0.30641, 20. Colleton County, 1-8, 0.30598, 21. Aiken, 0-8, 0.22463

FRIDAY’S SCHEDULE

Hammond at Cardinal Newman 6:30 p.m.

Ridge View at Blythewood 7:30 p.m.

Westwood at Sumter 7:30 p.m.

Photo by Cardinal Newman