By Justin Jarrett
So your favorite high school football team played a football game, and you’re feeling some type of way about it. Maybe your squad slaughtered a sacrificial lamb for their home opener, and you’re dreaming of a state championship. Or perhaps your boys got beat up by a bigger school loaded with next-level talent, and you’re already daydreaming about basketball season.
Chill. Out.
A football season is more marathon than sprint, and the clock just started ticking. Nothing is ever as bad — or as good — as it seems in August. None of these early-season games actually carry any stakes of substance, and winning or losing this time of year has no impact on the team goals that were determined well before we could play a full game without a mandatory water break forced by the dreaded “wet bulb.”
And in many cases, the apples are doing battle with so many oranges that it’s hard to get a read on what any of it means, anyway. In August, most teams are either punching way above their weight in games they have no chance of winning, which usually makes them better in the long run, or punching down on weaker opponents, which usually doesn’t.
Take the Bluffton Bobcats, for example. We know their offense is going to be electric, as evidence by the fact that North Carolina commit Carnell Warren, one of the top-rated receivers in the state, did not score one of the Bobcats’ seven touchdowns in a 49-0 rout of Whale Branch on Friday night. After a sluggish start, Kordell Holley ran all over the Warriors’ defensive front, and Aedan McCarthy carved up the secondary, especially after fatigue took its toll in the second half and allowed Bluffton’s superior depth to take over.
But can we glean anything from it about how the Bobcats will match up against Region 6-4A? Not really.
Neither can we tell how Hilton Head High’s defense will hold up against the Bobcats’ spread-out airshow or May River’s signature Slot-T rushing attack based on the Seahawks’ 59-12 dispatching of Stall on Friday. Sure, B.J. Payne’s boys gave up a couple scores, but second- and third-string defenders were on the field when the Warriors found the end zone, so Payne probably isn’t terribly concerned.
On the other hand, there’s no need to panic about a team like Beaufort High dropping its opener, even with a tepid offensive performance in Monday’s 17-6 loss to Fort Dorchester. Lest we forget, the Eagles managed only six points in a season-opening loss to the Patriots three years ago — and they didn’t lose again on their way to a Class 3A state title.
Hilton Head Christian Academy has taken a couple big ol’ bites out of its early-season sandwich, and the Eagles’ 1-1 record against a challenging schedule indicates Ron Peduzzi’s crew is poised to contend again in SCISA 3A. The Eagles went toe-to-toe with SCISA 4A power Porter-Gaud for three-plus quarters in a season-opening loss, and they showed more mettle late in Friday’s 36-20 win over Class 3A Battery Creek, a team that boasts plenty of size in the trenches.
Peduzzi could have scheduled down and piled up wins, but would it have helped his team get over the hump against Hammond or Pinewood Prep next month? Not likely.
Every football coach in America will gladly trade a loss in August or September for one more win in October or November, so don’t overreact to one or two games. The kids will keep playing, and we’ll keep showing up to see what happens. Everybody wins.
Justin Jarrett is the sports editor of The Island News and the founder of LowcoSports.com. He was the sports editor of the Island Packet and the Beaufort Gazette for 6½ years. He has a passion for sports and community journalism and a questionable sense of humor.
