Lexington County high schools have a tough week 6 on the gridiron

South Congaree, SC (Paul Kirby) – Lexington County’s high schools posted only 3 wins against 5 losses during week 6 of the season with one of those games a LCHS record wash because it pitted a Lexington County vs. Lexington County school. The bright spots seemed to come from the smaller schools who appeared to be cranked up like the little train that could, they thought they could and they did.

Batesburg-Leesville’s beloved purple and gold Panthers defeated Silver Bluff to pull them to 3 wins and 3 losses on the year. Although their fanbase prefers winning, the people of B&L have always been supportive of their Panthers no matter what letter of the alphabet (W or L) ends up hanging around their record after the game is over. I’ll have to say that the crowd does love to see that L after last night when they left some disheartened Silver Bluff Bulldogs whimpering down in Aiken County. Right now, at 3 all, their season could finish on either side of the board.

The Chapin Eagles beat the White Knoll Timberwolves in a tight one at the Eagle’s Nest in Chapin last night. Anyone who’s ever been to that stadium knows what a tough home crowd they are, and Dean Howell and the Wolves have nothing to be ashamed of with a 4-point loss. This gives Chapin a 4 & 2 record on the year. The Eagles are heading into a tough two game run as they take on River Bluff next week in Lexington followed by the Lexington Wildcats the following week at home. Those games will have a lot of bearing on whether the Eagles will see much post season play this year.

Gray Collegiate, a public charter school in West Columbia, continues to impress as they won last night against a Midlands’rust belt school, Columbia High. Although Columbia High School is nothing like the school it once was, and probably never will be again, the War Eagles from Gray are a true Cinderella story to most. They’ve transformed from cocoon to butterfly in the world of high school sports in a very short period of time. Their record this year stands at 3 & 4 on the season, but they look respectable for a team that didn’t exist a handful of years ago. They don’t shy away from the big boy games and could very easily draw even next week after taking on Calhoun at home.

The Pelion Panthers got to hold their heads up and growl a little at their homecoming dance after smacking down Edisto by 13 points. Dan Holland has been trying to rebuild a program that had almost dried up and blown away over the years. He’s got some farm teams feeding into him now in a community where kids that wanted to play football not long ago had to have folks willing drive to Lexington, Midland, or Pineview. There was so little interest in playing football in Pelion at that point that the pee-wee seasons were often cancelled because of a lack of participation. Maybe there’s hope for the little school that’s been beaten, battered, and bruised, but not yet broken. Last night’s game gives them a 2-win, 5 loss record as they go into a tough local rivalry game playing another in-county school, the Swansea Tigers.

Two of our county’s better teams, Lexington and Gilbert, had the night off last night and if they had played and won, Lexington County schools could have at least broken even on the week. Next Friday Lexington takes on River Bluff, a powerful rivalry if there ever was one, and Gilbert will be pitted against Strom Thurmond. As of now, Lexington County sports fans could easily have the opportunity to enjoy some post season play from at least of a few of their teams. Each week will reveal a little more of what might be expected after the final regularly scheduled games are done.

Here are the final scores from last night:

• Airport 10 ​​​vs. ​North Augusta 28

• Batesburg-Leesville 33 ​vs. ​Silver Bluff 9

• Brookland-Cayce 35 ​vs.​ South Aiken 40

• Chapin 21 ​​​vs. ​White Knoll 17 **

• Gilbert​​​ - bye week

• Gray Collegiate 42​​ vs. ​Columbia 6

• Irmo 14 ​​​vs.​ Blythewood 21

• Lexington - bye week

• Pelion 34 ​​​vs. ​Edisto 21

• River Bluff 14 ​​vs. ​Dutch Fork 56

• Swansea 21 ​​vs. ​Strom Thurmond 41

** Denotes Lexington County vs. Lexington County teams​