By Thomas Grant Jr.<\/i><\/p>\n
Ten Midlands high school football teams are featured in this week’s S.C. Prep Football Media Poll<\/strong> as the regular season enters its final week.<\/p>\n Both Swansea<\/strong> and North Central<\/strong> reentered their respective classifications after key wins.<\/p>\n Swansea climbed back into the Class 3A<\/strong> rankings at No. 10<\/strong> after bouncing back from its first loss of the season with a 24–13 victory over Fox Creek. The Tigers travel to third-ranked Newberry<\/strong> on Friday for the Region 4-3A championship<\/strong>. A Newberry win would clinch the title, while a Swansea victory could force a three-way tie if Silver Bluff defeats Fox Creek.<\/p>\n In Class 2A<\/strong>, North Central<\/strong> returned to the poll at No. 9<\/strong> following a 17–7 win over Andrew Jackson. The Knights are currently in a three-way tie for first in Region 4-2A<\/strong> and can claim the region title outright with a win Friday against Central.<\/p>\n One of the state’s most anticipated matchups will take place Friday at W.C. Hawkins Stadium<\/strong>, where Class 5A No. 1 Irmo<\/strong> hosts third-ranked Dutch Fork<\/strong> for the Region 4-5A title<\/strong>. Meanwhile, Zemp Stadium<\/strong> will host a Class 4A Top 10 showdown<\/strong> Thursday between A.C. Flora<\/strong> and Camden<\/strong>. The winner clinches second place in Region 3-4A behind top-ranked South Pointe. Irmo (18) (9–0)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Northwestern (1) (8–1)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Dutch Fork (7–1)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Greenwood (8–1)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Summerville (7–2)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n James Island (8–1)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Indian Land (9–0)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n TL Hanna (8–1)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Sumter (8–1)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Dorman (7–2) South Pointe (18) (8–1)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n South Florence (1) (8–1)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n A.C. Flora (8–1)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Gray Collegiate (7–2)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Daniel (8–1)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n North Augusta (8–1)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Hilton Head Island (8–1)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Seneca (8–1)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Camden (7–2)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Wren (7–2) Belton-Honea Path (13) (9–0)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Oceanside Collegiate (5) (7–2)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Newberry (1) (9–0)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Loris (9–0)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Woodruff (8–1)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Orangeburg-Wilkinson (9–0)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Mountain View Prep (8–1)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Dillon (6–3)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Powdersville (7–2)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Swansea (8–1) Strom Thurmond (13) (8–1)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Clinton (5) (7–3)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Central (1) (7–1)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Philip Simmons (7–2)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Hampton County (6–3)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Fairfield Central (6–3)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Timberland (7–2)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Batesburg-Leesville (6–3)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n North Central (7–2)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Chester (6–4) Bamberg-Ehrhardt (18) (9–0)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Abbeville (7–2)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Cross (8–1)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Ware Shoals (1) (9–0)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Carvers Bay (9–0)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Latta (7–1)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Lamar (7–2)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Lewisville (6–3)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Johnsonville (6–2)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Hunter-Kinard-Tyler (7–2) Voters this week: Mac Banks, Fort Mill Prep Sports; Lou Bezjak, The State Newspaper; Jed Blackwell, SC Prep RedZone; Dennis Brunson, High School Sports Report; Cole Bryson, The Fan Upstate; Scott Chancey, Florence Morning News; Tyler Cupp, WRHI; Jordan Ferrell, Fox Sports Spartanburg; Rob Gantt\/The Berkeley Independent and Summerville Journal Scene; Thomas Grant Irmo News\/Cola Daily; Ian Guerin, SC Prep RedZone; Justin Jarrett, LowcoSports; Travis Jenkins, The News & Reporter; Wes Kerr, LowcoSports; James McBee, Boiling Springs Journal; David Shelton Post and Courier\/High School Sports Report; Brett Shugart, Fox Sports Spartanburg; Brandon Stockdale, SC Prep RedZone; Pete Yanity, WSPA<\/p>\n Friday, Oct. 31<\/strong><\/p>\n Dutch Fork at Irmo<\/strong> – Region 4-5A title showdown<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Swansea at Newberry<\/strong> – Region 4-3A championship<\/p>\n<\/li>\n North Central vs. Central<\/strong> – Region 4-2A title on the line<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Thursday, Oct. 30<\/strong><\/p>\n A.C. Flora at Camden<\/strong> – Battle for Region 3-4A second place<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Gilbert at Gray Collegiate<\/strong> – Region 5-4A showdown<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Thomas Grant Jr. Ten Midlands high school football teams are featured in this week’s S.C. Prep Football Media Poll as the regular season enters its final week. Both Swansea and North Central reentered their respective classifications after key wins. Swansea climbed back into the Class 3A rankings at No.Continue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7770,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[52],"tags":[570,238],"class_list":["entry","author-john-griggs","post-7767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-high-school-football","tag-high-school-sports"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/gpstrianglenews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Irmo-Football-1_2025_630x350.jpg?fit=630%2C350&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7767","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7767"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7767\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7769,"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7767\/revisions\/7769"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7767"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7767"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7767"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
It’s the second straight year the rivals have met for the region crown. Dutch Fork has won the last seven meetings, while Irmo rides a 27-game home winning streak<\/strong> into the contest.<\/p>\n
Also on Thursday, third-ranked Gray Collegiate<\/strong> hosts Gilbert<\/strong> in another key region battle.<\/p>\n
\nS.C. Prep Football Media Poll (Released Oct. 28)<\/h3>\n
Class 5A<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Others receiving votes:<\/em> Ridge View, Stratford, Gaffney, Carolina Forest, White Knoll, Byrnes<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\nClass 4A<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Others receiving votes:<\/em> Midland Valley, May River<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\nClass 3A<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Others receiving votes:<\/em> Crescent, Silver Bluff<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\nClass 2A<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Others receiving votes:<\/em> East Clarendon, Saluda, Andrew Jackson, Liberty, Mid-Carolina, Manning, Cheraw<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\nClass A<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Others receiving votes:<\/em> Scott’s Branch<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
\nSidebar: Midlands Games to Watch<\/h3>\n
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