The panic button is big, red, and loud.
For Byrnes football fans, it's easy to slam a frustrated fist on that button after last night’s 35-21 loss at rival Dorman.
But it’s probably not time to do that just yet.
Some takeaways from Friday night’s blockbuster matchup that saw Byrnes fall to 1-1 on the season:
TALE OF TWO HALVES
For Byrnes, Friday night was quite literally a tale of two halves.
Aside from a pick-six thrown on the first play of the game, the Rebels were stout on both sides of the ball for the game’s first 24 minutes. After Byrnes threw interceptions on both of its first two drives, the Rebels would march down the field with relative ease on three of their next four, scoring three touchdowns.
QB Gideon Merhib led a nice drive after taking over, converting on a fourth-down and capping it with a 10-yard TD pass to RB Jacobi Fuller. Merhib’s second drive saw him unload a deep ball to WR Choo Harris, who got behind the defense and sped in for a 61-yard score. RB Tre’ Segarra gave Byrnes its only lead of the game just before half at 21-14, rushing in from 25 yards out.
The Rebels were moving the ball at will and spreading the wealth to all of their playmakers.
After halftime, it felt like one more score might start to put things out of reach for Dorman. Byrnes was firing on all cylinders offensively, and the Rebel defense had virtually shut down the Cavaliers’ offense after giving up 14 points early.
SELF-INFLICTED ERRORS
Turnover on downs. Punt. Fumble. Punt. Interception. Turnover on downs.
Those were the results of the six offensive drives Byrnes had in the second half. It’s tough to beat a team as good as Dorman on its own. But with mistakes like those, especially in the second half with the game in the balance, it’s even harder. On that third drive, a holding penalty on the Rebels negated a 45-yard Tre’ Segarra run down inside the Dorman 5, as well.
Late injuries to both RBs — Segarra (hamstring) and Fuller (undisclosed, left game after hard hit in 3rd quarter) — certainly didn’t help Byrnes’ cause. But there were points left on the board and opportunities that went unclaimed, leaving the question of “what could’ve been” to be asked.
DORMAN IS (EVEN BETTER) THAN ADVERTISED
Now, the opponent.
After an impressive run to the Upper State Championship last season, Dorman came into the 2026 campaign a little bit overlooked. A few departures were largely the reason for that, with the headlining name being former All-State safety Polo Anderson.
But the Cavaliers didn’t come into the season with as much hype or outside expectation as one might have expected. After their first two games of the season — wins over Hillcrest and Byrnes — that should change. The Cavaliers will leapfrog Byrnes in the Class 5-A rankings this week to No. 2, behind only Dutch Fork.
THREE-HEADED RUSHING ATTACK
Dorman’s bread and butter offensively over the past half-decade, if not longer, has been its dominant ground game.
What’s unique about this season, however, is how willingly the Cavaliers are to deploy three different running backs in different looks and formations. Dorman ran the ball 36 times on Friday night, splitting the carries fairly evenly between Nick Means (13), Carter Nash (12), and Jabez Thomas (7).
The even split kept all three running backs relatively fresh throughout the game, especially deep in the fourth quarter when Byrnes’ defensive front was tiring. That allowed the Cavaliers to milk nearly seven minutes off the clock on a game-sealing touchdown drive to make it 35-21 late, using chunk run after chunk run from all three backs. All three Dorman RBs bring unique skill sets to the table, and behind an offensive line that is arguably the best in the Upstate, it’s a recipe for success.
JABEZ THOMAS IS WHO HE SAYS HE IS
It blows my mind continually how overlooked in the recruiting world Dorman DB Jabez Thomas is, especially when the young man continues to shine and step up to the plate in the biggest moments. He was great rushing the ball Friday night, but he shined brightest in the secondary.
Dorman's Jabez Thomas (No. 5) had 2 INTs and a rushing TD vs Byrnes on Friday.
Thomas had two interceptions last night and was all over the field. He’s a quarterback’s nightmare with his quick footwork and his near mastery of coverage disguising. He’s used as a Swiss-army knife on both sides of the ball for Dorman, listing himself as an ATH, and he has a collegiate future on either end of the field.
FINAL TAKEAWAYS
The potential for this Rebels team is undoubtedly there. The flashes of brilliance in the first half against Dorman showed that.
But the Rebels have to put together a complete game against teams of Dorman’s quality. Last season against some of the top teams the Rebels faced — Dorman, Gaffney, and Irmo — Byrnes built first-half leads against them all. Byrnes faltered late in all of those games, losing all three — two of them by double-digits.
Forty-eight full minutes of Byrnes football at its best is difficult for most teams to stack up against. If Byrnes can put those full 48 minutes together consistently, it’ll be a great season in Duncan. If it remains sporadic, that’s up in the air.
But the best of Byrnes was on display for nearly a full half Friday night. It’s early in the year, and if the Rebels can clean up the mistakes and execute, things will be alright. It’s great for Byrnes to have the early “trial-by-fire” that is its non-region schedule. The Rebels will see both Spartanburg and Gaffney before entering region play.
Needless to say, Dorman will likely be playing close to and perhaps even after Thanksgiving.
If Byrnes cleans things up, there’s no reason the Rebels can’t be playing then, too.
