Three area football teams learned their playoff fates over the weekend, with Byrnes earning a first-round bye while Greer and Blue Ridge look to survive and advance.
As the Upper State’s three seed in 5A, Byrnes will await the winner of sixth-seed Hillcrest and 11th-seed Chapin.
The Rebels (8-2 overall, 5-0 region) have already taken down Hillcrest, 49-21, on Oct. 2 and enter the playoffs on a five-game winning streak with no game closer than 21 points.
Byrnes head coach Reggie Shaw said the team is doing typical bye week preparation, working Tuesday through Thursday to give players and coaches time to rest, recharge, and refocus.
“It’s the third and most important segment of the season,” Shaw said. “The focus this week is going to be on us. Continuing to work on fundamentals, addressing any problems or issues that need to be fixed, and giving our younger players an opportunity to compete.”
In Class 4A, the Greer Yellow Jackets enter the bracket as the Upper State’s seven seed, and will host 10th-seeded Greenville in the opening round.
The teams met in the region opener on Oct. 2 where Greenville won 61-28, but later forfeited the game due to the South Carolina High School League ruling the Red Raiders used an ineligible player. The game is officially a 2-0 Greer victory in the record books, and moved the Yellow Jackets (7-3 overall, 4-1 region) into second place in Region 2-4A.
Like Byrnes, Greer has plenty of momentum heading into the postseason, riding a three-game winning streak, including last week’s 55-40 shootout victory over Riverside.
The winner will travel to second-seeded Westside on Friday, Nov. 13.
“Obviously, we’re really excited to be able to prepare in the playoffs,” Greer head coach Will Young said. “All of our focus is on Greenville at the moment. They’re an excellent football team.”
The Blue Ridge Tigers (4-6 overall, 3-1 region) earned a home playoff game in Class 3A as the Upper State’s No. 6 seed, hosting No. 11-seeded Palmetto in the opening round.
"We've just come off our bye week so it was nice to get back to some fundamentals and working on cleaning up some things on our end without game planning," Blue Ridge head coach John Boggs said. "It's kind of rare to have that opportunity this late in the year."
After starting 1-6, the Tigers reeled off three straight wins to end the regular season, taking down Region 3-3A foes Broome, Union County and Christ Church to bring an enormous amount of momentum to the postseason.
"This week we've been prepping hard for Palmetto," Boggs said. "We've been out of school so being able to work first thing each morning has been great for our players and coaches."
The winner of Friday’s game will head to third-seeded Chapman in the second round.
