Greenwood’s Emerald Hosts B-HP With Home Playoff Game at Stake

GREENWOOD, S.C. — Greenwood’s Emerald High wraps up its regular season Friday night, Oct. 30, at Frank Hill Stadium against Belton-Honea Path, a Region 2 rival the Vikings have yet to beat, and a win would lock up the program’s first home playoff game since 2017. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.

In the Class 3A Upper State playoff picture, the Vikings (6-3) currently project as the seventh seed, but the last round of games could drop them anywhere between fourth and ninth. The top four seeds earn a first-round bye and seeds five through eight play at home, so a victory guarantees a home game, and a loss would not automatically take one away.

Belton-Honea Path (5-3, 2-1 in the region) has won all eight games in the series. That includes a lopsided first-round playoff win over Emerald in 2023, the year the Vikings finished 1-10 early in head coach Tad DuBose’s time at the school. The seniors who will be honored Friday were freshmen on that team.

Emerald has climbed since then, going 5-6 in 2024 and 6-6 last fall, when it earned its first playoff win under DuBose.

Both teams come in off the same 41-21 score. Emerald lost at home to Powdersville after jumping out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter; the Vikings put up only seven points in the second half and gave the ball away three times. The Bears fell 41-21 at Wren on Oct. 23, their first loss since August after a five-game winning run.

Belton-Honea Path has already played two Lakelands teams this fall, shutting out Abbeville 21-0 on Sept. 14 and beating Greenwood 23-7 on Sept. 25. The Bears have scored 162 points and allowed 168.

DuBose rates the B-HP defense among the hardest the Vikings have faced, led by a big, physical front seven that can choke off the running game. On offense the Bears lean on senior running back Cam Robinson, who averages 54.1 rushing yards a game and has seven total touchdowns. Sophomore Malachi Bohler leads the team in receiving at 40.1 yards a game, and freshman Rylan Crooks is learning on the job at quarterback.

For Emerald, the coach wants his defense lined up right, the Bears’ ground game slowed and B-HP pushed into third-and-long. The offense, he said, has to hold on to the ball after three turnovers last week.

Filed under: Greenwood SC Sports News