South Pointe-Spartanburg ready for national TV

South Pointe (Rock Hill, S.C.) coach Bobby Carroll learned some things with his Stallions playing a nationally-televised game earlier in the season.

That knowledge should help as the Stallions travel to play Spartanburg at 7 p.m. on Friday on ESPN2.

"We have to worry more about Spartanburg than cameras," Carroll said. "You get all hyped up about the nation looking at you and you don’t take care of the daily stuff."

South Pointe jumped out to a lead over rival Northwestern (Rock Hill) in the ESPNU-televised game Aug. 28 before losing 42-20.

Spartanburg hasn’t had this kind of exposure before. The school that produced NFL standouts Stephen Davis and Anthony Simmons has five state titles but has never played on national TV. This will be the school’s 1,000th game.

"I don’t know if the kids or community know what to expect," coach Freddie Brown said. "This is a driving point for a lot of kids. It’s a memory that a lot of kids won’t ever get."

Here are some more tidbits concerning South Carolina football:

2. It was announced this week that the Oct. 29 game between Byrnes (Duncan) and Dorman (Roebuck) would be shown nationally on ESPNU.

This will be a rematch of last year’s 4A Division I state championship, which Dorman won 28-17.

"Dorman and Byrnes have played some great games in recent years and we are thrilled that the nation will have an opportunity to get a firsthand look at this tremendous Spartanburg County rivalry," Dorman athletic director Flynn Harrell said in the press release.

3. Christ Church Episcopal (Greenville) quarterback Hunter Townes was the backup kicker last season and got called into action last week after the Cavaliers’ regular kicker was injured.

If he wouldn’t have scored so often, he wouldn’t have had to kick so much.

Townes threw six touchdown passes and ran for another score in the 55-14 win over Eastside (Taylors).

He kicked all the extra points through and boomed five kickoffs into the endzone for touchbacks. Coach Don Frost called Townes a "natural athlete."

4. Mark Timmons broke a nine-year school record during the first week of the season and has now already toppled his own record.

The Carolina Forest (Myrtle Beach) tailback rushed for 203 yards in the season opener, breaking the single-game rushing record of 197 yards set in 2001.

On Friday, he ran for 235 yards on 21 carries and scored twice to help Carolina Forest to a 4-1 record.

5. There are currently 27 undefeated teams in South Carolina. Each classification is represented in that number with four teams in 1A, seven in 2A and 4A and nine in 3A.

One of the biggest surprise undefeated teams is the Garrett Academy Tech (North Charleston) Falcons in 2A.

At 4-0, the Falcons are one win away from the number of games they won in the last three seasons combined. They hadn’t won back-to-back games since 2003 before this year.

STARS FROM LAST WEEK

Orangeburg-Wilkinson quarterback Cyril Davis threw touchdown passes of 12, 24, 14 and 40 yards in the Bruins’ 42-21 win over Ridge View. He also ran for a score ... Gaffney had lost three straight games to rival Byrnes by lopsided scores. Indians quarterback DeEdward Burris made sure it didn’t happen again as he went 24 for 37 for 215 yards with three touchdowns and ran for 65 yards and a score in the 26-16 win ... Irmo tailback Dewan Scott led the Yellow Jackets to an 11th straight win in the Battle of the Dam against Lexington as he rushed for 295 yards on 30 carries, including touchdown runs of 70, 67 and 26 yards.

RECRUITING NEWS

Spartanburg offensive lineman Josef Grommer (6-5, 276) committed to Maryland after visiting the school over the weekend, his coach Freddie Brown said. "I wanted to commit the first week of the season," Grommer told the Spartanburg Herald-Journal. "Every day I got calls from people wanting to know where I was going. Once I saw Maryland, I knew." ... According to Palmetto Recruiting, Scott's Branch (Summerton) tight end Jerrell Adams (6-5, 220) has said that South Carolina leads in his recruitment. He wants to visit the Gamecocks, Clemson, Auburn, Alabama and Florida.

ON DECK THIS WEEK

Greenville (4-0) at Gaffney (3-2): The Red Raiders are running the ball more this season but it will be tough to earn a fifth win to start the season against the Indians. Gaffney is coming off a big win against rival Byrnes and looks to keep going under new coach Dan Jones.

Dillon (4-0) at Marlboro County (3-1): Marlboro County has beaten Dillon the last two years but Dillon went on to win state titles each year. The two towns are 30 minutes apart on Highway 9 and lots of people know one another. Dillon has won its games by a score of 148-14 this season.

Chesterfield (2-2) at Chester (4-0): Yes, Chesterfield’s long win streak is broken, but the Golden Rams are still one of the top 1A teams in the state. Central, on the other hand, is one of the top 2A teams. Chesterfield has won three of the last four meetings in the series.

Jason Gilmer is an award-winning writer who has covered football in South Carolina for more than a decade. He does a statewide high school football blog on GoUpstate.com. You can reach him at palmettofootballtalkblog@gmail.com.