The Whale Branch Warriors climbed to No. 6 in Class 2A, and May River is ranked eighth in Class 4A in the South Carolina Prep Media Football Poll released Tuesday.
The Warriors are off to a 2-0 start and have outscored their first two opponents 85-0 heading into Friday’s road test at Baptist Hill, which received votes for the top 10.
The Sharks (2-0) are coming off a 56-6 rout of rival Bluffton and host Beaufort High (1-0), which hammered James Island 48-6 last week and received more votes than any team left out of the top 10.
We’ll have our preview podcast up by Friday, along with our weekly primer previewing all the area games.
South Carolina Prep Media Football Poll
(First-place votes in parentheses)
Class 5A
1. Dutch Fork (13)
2. Gaffney
3. Fort Dorchester
4. Dorman
5. Byrnes
6. Sumter
7. T.L. Hanna
8. Carolina Forest
9. Goose Creek
10. Northwestern
Also receiving votes: River Bluff, Spring Valley, Ridge View, Berkeley
Class 4A
1. Myrtle Beach (13)
2. South Pointe
3. Greenville
4. A.C. Flora
5. Greenwood
6. North Myrtle Beach
7. West Florence
8. May River
9. Westside
10. Greer
Also receiving votes: Beaufort High, Hartsville, Wilson, Irmo, Laurens, Catawba Ridge, York
Class 3A
1. Dillon (12)
2. Wren (1)
3. Chapman
4. Daniel
5. Camden
6. Chester
7. Belton-Honea Path
8. Gilbert
9. Oceanside Collegiate
10. Strom Thurmond
Also receiving votes: Aynor, Lake City, Union County, Hanahan, Fairfield Central
Class 2A
1. Abbeville (12)
2. Barnwell
3. Newberry
4. Saluda (1)
5. Gray Collegiate
6. Cheraw
7. Timberland
8. Chesnee
9. Batesburg-Leesville
10. Wade Hampton
Also receiving votes: Andrews, Pageland-Central, Latta, North Central, Kingstree, Christ Church
Class 1A
1. Lamar (7)
2. Lake View (5)
3. Southside Christian
4. Green Sea Floyds (1)
5. Blackville-Hilda
6. Whale Branch
7. Bamberg-Ehrhardt
8. (tie) Williston-Elko
Ridge Spring – Monetta
10. Wagener-Salley
Also receiving votes: McCormick, C.E. Murray, Carvers Bay, Branchville, Baptist Hill, Johnsonville
Voters: Jed Blackwell, Spartanburg Herald-Journal; Kennington Lloyd Smith, III, Anderson Independent Mail; Geoff Preston, Greenville News; Chris Dearing, The State; Lou Bezjak, The State; Travis Jenkins, Chester News & Reporter; Chris Burgin, 100.1 The Fan; Ian Guerin, MyHorryNews.com; Kyle Dawson, Aiken Standard; Scott Chancey, Florence Morning News; Wes Kerr, LowcoSports.com; Dennis Brunson, Sumter Item; ; David Shelton, Charleston Post and Courier; Skyler Rolstad, Greenwood Index-Journal; Chris Clark, Orangeburg Times & Democrat; Cole Bryson, ESPN Upstate; Alex Zeitlow, The Herald; Justin Mathis, upstateprep-cast.net; Jamie McBee, The Boiling Springs Sports Journal