By Thomas Grant, Jr.
After a second bye created when the SCHSL extended the regular season, the Chapin football team resumes play on the road.
It’s at a fellow Lexington/Richland School District One school. The Eagles (4-4, 0-3) face undefeated Irmo (8-0, 3-0) looking to snap its four-game losing streak.
Coming off the crushing 33-32 loss to Lexington, Chapin struggled in a 30-6 home loss to River Bluff. They face an Irmo team which has won 20 straight games dating back to the 2022 season and have a Shrine Bowl selection in quarterback A.J. Brand, who’s closing in on 10,000 career yards, and Touchstone Energy Bowl selection offensive lineman Ryan Love.
Chapin quarterback Brady Albro is ranked fifth in passing statewide with 2,074 yards to go with 20 touchdowns.
S.C. PREP FOOTBALL MEDIA POLL
Class 5A
1. Dutch Fork (17) (7-0)
2. Northwestern (1) (9-0)
3. Summerville (9-0)
4. Irmo (8-0)
5. Sumter (8-0)
6. Spartanburg (6-1)
7. Gaffney (6-1)
8. Hillcrest (7-1)
9. JL Mann (6-2)
10. River Bluff (7-1)
Others receiving votes: TL Hanna, Dorman, Boiling Springs, Catawba Ridge, Greenwood, Clover
RPI RATINGS
Division I
(Upper State)
1.Dutch Fork, 7-0, 0.86230, 2. Spartanburg, 6-1, 0.76799, 3. River Bluff, 7-1, 0.71766, 4. JL Mann, 6-2, 0.69060, 5. Lexington, 5-3, 0.64505, 6. Boiling Springs, 5-2, 0.61839, 7. Clover, 6-3, 0.60427, 8. Dorman, 5-3, 0.60012, 9. Blythewood, 6-3, 0.56370, 10. Rock Hill, 5-5, 0.55063, 11. J.F. Byrnes, 3-5, 0.50899 Mauldin, 2-6, 0.36005, 12. Wade Hampton, 0-7, 0.18146
(Lower State)
1. Summerville, 9-0, 0.79045, 2. Sumter, 8-0, 0.74792, 3. Ridge View, 5-3, 0.64150, 4. James Island, 6-3, 0.61407, 5. Ashley Ridge, 6-3, 0.59774, 6. Carolina Forest, 4-3-1, 0.56675, 7. Fort Dorchester, 5-4, 0.52885, 8. West Ashley, 4-5, 0.47636, 9. Stratford, 4-5, 0.46697, 10. Wando, 4-5, 0.43045, 11. Cane Bay, 1-7, 0.30064, 12. Spring Valley, 0-9, 0.29078, 13. Stall, 0-8, 0.24091
Division II
(Upper State)
1.Northwestern, 9-0, 0.82032, 2. Gaffney, 6-1, 0.72599, 3. TL Hanna, 6-2, 0.66066, 4. Hillcrest, 7-1, 0.65533, 5. Greenwood, 6-2, 0.61888, 6. Catawba Ridge, 7-2, 0.61365, 7. Riverside, 4-3, 0.54554 8. Indian Land, 5-4, 0.48251, 9. Eastside, 4-3, 0.46149, 10. Woodmont, 2-6 ,0.41322, 11. Nation Ford, 1-8, 0.36377, 12. Greenville, 1-7, 0.34569, 13. Fort Mill, 1-7, 0.32326, 14. Easley, 1-7, 0.32369
(Lower State)
1.Irmo, 8-0, 0.81999, 2. West Florence, 6-3, 0.60689, 3. Chapin, 4-4, 0.60022, 4. White Knoll, 4-4, 0.58711, 5. Goose Creek, 5-3, 0.58686, 6. Berkeley, 5-4, 0.53913, 7. Westwood, 5-4, 0.52112 , 8. Myrtle Beach, 4-4, 0.49774, 9. Lugoff-Elgin, 4-6, 0.45234, 10. Lucy Beckham, 4-5, 0.44693, 11. Socastee, 3-5, 0.43563, 12. North Myrtle Beach, 3-4, 0.40963, 13. Conway, 1-7, 0.30356, 14. St. James, 0-8, 0.22422
Photo by Edward Walker
