The coaching staff is installing a few tweaks to Greer’s offense to help the Yellow Jackets meet the challenge of playing a strong Camden team on the road in the first round of the 4-A playoffs this Friday night.

"We got close enough to score enough times to beat Daniel last week, but we couldn’t punch it in," said Head Coach Will Young of Greer’s five opportunities that fizzled. "Even though this is week 11, we are working on some things to help us get the ball in the end zone," he explained.

The Yellow Jackets will need everything they can find at Camden, a team that is 7-3 overall and finished third in Region 3 with a 4-2 region record after losing 42-28 to A.C. Flora last week. "That’s one of the toughest regions in the state," Young noted.

The Yellow Jackets have met Camden three times in a century of football and lost on all three occasions: in second round of playoffs in 1988 (14-10) and in 1990 by a score of 35-7; and again in 1992, falling 10-3 in a first-round playoff match-up.

Young said the Bulldogs are comparable "to all of the good teams we have played this year," which includes Byrnes, Daniel, Belton-Honea Path and Seneca.

"Camden runs out of a base spread offense like we do. They have an H back and wide receivers like us, and they also use a wildcat guy, Tylin Drakeford. He’s a great athlete who has been selected to play in the Shrine Bowl." Young said the Bulldogs "also use pods and will run the water bucket at the goal line to mix things up."

The Bulldogs are led by junior quarterback Greyson Rimpf, the son of head coach Brian Rimpf. He has thrown for 25 touchdowns this season while running back Navier Boykin, a 220 pounder, is averaging 90 yards rushing a game. "Drakeford also is their best receiver by far. And they have several other good receivers in Zy’Marcus Stover, Bernard Green and Isaiah Smith."
Young said Camden’s defense is made up of all seniors. "They will line up in both odd and even fronts with two tackles that are in the 300-pound range. They also are good in the secondary with Kham Holman at safety and Kavon Edwards and Denari Halley at cornerback."

Young said the Yellow Jackets should be near full strength this week with only quarterback Dawson Fowler, who has missed the last four games with an injury, on the doubtful list. Freshman wide receiver Zay Moseley, who rolled an ankle in the Daniel game, will be available, Young said.
 

Senior Night on Friday will cap Greer’s regular season when the Yellow Jackets host Daniel at Dooley Field with a shot at winning the Region II, 4-A title.

A Greer win would throw the race into a three-way tie with the championship to be determined by defensive points allowed plus head-to head results. Daniel, 8-1 overall, is undefeated and in the driver’s seat in the region while Greer and Seneca both have one region loss. The worst Greer could finish is third place making a road trip likely for the first round of the playoffs that start next week.

An open date last week has allowed the Yellow Jackets to heal somewhat, Coach Will Young reported. "We are still waiting to see if Dawson Fowler (sophomore quarterback) will be cleared, but Zy Foster and Noel Sitton (defensive backs) were full speed at practice on Monday."

Daniel has buried the Yellow Jackets under an avalanche points the last three seasons by scores of 48-21, 48-20 and 51-21. The worse news is the Lions are continuing to put tons of points on the scoreboard again this year, although Coach Young points out, "Daniel is scoring about the same number of points that we have against common opponents including Seneca, Pickens, Berea, Blue Ridge and Travelers Rest. Daniel had to come from behind to beat both Seneca and Clinton and they lost to Stratford."

Young said the Lions operate out of a spread offense. "They run the inside and outside zone and counters, and they do a good bit of run-pass options. Their quarterback, Jace Grass, is a solid player who transferred from Pendleton who has thrown 22 touchdown passes this season. Daniel has two good running backs in Daimen Curry, a junior, and Kingsten Bibb who is a freshman averaging 51 yards a game rushing and 45 yards a game as a receiver. He leads the team in touchdowns with 12. Their top receivers are Trey Wimbley, a 6-1 sophomore who is a big kid and their leading receiver averaging 87 yards a game, plus Anthony Scott and Grady Tucker, both seniors."

The Lions are exceptionally strong defensively, Young said. "They line up in a 4-2-5 and and are very fast in the box. Dexter Johnson, a senior defensive end, is an outstanding player who is superfast. The rest of the defensive line is strong, and they have a very good secondary with outstanding cornerbacks in Christian Chancellor and Cayden Fruster." Cade Spencer at middle linebacker is the Lions’ leading tackler, averaging 9.4 per game

The Yellow Jackets’ 14 seniors will be honored during halftime ceremonies.

Momentum could carry Greer to a road win at Belton-Honea Path on Friday night. Last week, the Yellow Jackets rallied in the second half to nearly knock off Boiling Springs and built momentum in the process.

"Our kids fought back and played much better in the second half. Teams that don’t quit always have a shot," noted Coach Will Young. "It reminded me of the second half against Hillcrest last year, and after that we started winning."

"I think we will improve this week, especially if we can clean up some of the ridiculous stuff that cost us a lot in the first game," he said. "Eliminating penalties will help a ton because we can’t be starting drives with first-and-15 or first-and-20 like we did. Stat wise we looked pretty good last week, and our defense kept Boiling Springs under wraps for the most part."

Belton-Honea Path will be an uphill climb, however, "because they always have one of the top 3-A teams in the state and this one is no exception," Young said. The Bears opened with a convincing 49-9 win over Broome, "and haven’t changed anything they like to do. They are tight end orientated offensively, running the power and buck sweep, which they have been doing for years. And they are good at it," Young said.

"Belton-Honea Path has a lot of big bodies up front, although they are not as big as in the past," Young continued. "They have a really good quarterback in Noah Thomas, a senior, and running back M.J. Earl, also a senior. Their top receiver is Tajeh Martin, a senior, and their top tight end is Nick Sargent."

He said the Bears run a 4-3 defense with the linebackers outside to shut down the passing game. Leading up to the game, Greer will be focused on finding ways to run the ball more effectively, Young said. "We will introduce a couple of new concepts in practice, and see how that goes. We need to take advantage of the things Tucker Hudson and Zay Moseley can do, and we will use D.J. Hicks more as a wide receiver instead of a tight end.

"We also have to work on the kicking game after missing three extra points and a field goal. We didn’t have a single bad snap on a kicks in pre-season, but we had three in the first game," Coach Young noted.

"For the most part, our pass protection was not terrible against Boiling Springs. Our quarterback, (sophomore Dawson Fowler) tries to do too much at times, and we need to get him more comfortable in the pocket. Dawson will be better player this week. He impresses me every day, how he is growing in his understanding of the game. I think he will keep getting better and better. Good things are coming for that kid," Young concluded.

Wide receiver Elias Jackson will be somewhat limited after suffering a fractured thumb against Boiling Springs, and Aiden Jones remains sidelined with a pre-season injury.

The Region II 4-A football race has boiled down to a final sprint to the finish line when
"The next two games will take our best effort, and if we get that we have a chance to win
it all. But if we we keep getting penalties like last week, we have no chance," declared Greer
Coach Will Young. Both Greer and Daniel are unbeaten in the region, and Seneca has only one
loss that was to Daniel. All three teams still have their hopes alive, depending on the outcome of
games during the closing stretch.

Greer’s focus is breaking out of the penalty box after the Yellow Jackets were flagged for
a school record 237 yards, not counting several offsetting penalties, in their 62-21 win over Blue
Ridge. "We had 23 penalties which is an astronomical number. Imagine what the game would
have been like without all those penalties. I’ve never seen that before, and it was very
disappointing," Coach Young said.

Young confessed to being mystified by the penalties. "I hope I can come up with an

answer. The kids either want to win, or they don’t, and if they continue to get penalties they
won’t win." He said there are consequences for players that are penalized. "They have to run
sprints on Monday for simple penalties, and they have to run every day for unsportsmanlike
conduct penalties."

Going forward, Coach Young plans to post each player’s penalties in the locker room
"where all can see them, because the running has not helped. Other players need to hold them
accountable, but so far, they have not done that.""From now on if a kid gets an unsportsmanlike penalty he is going to come out of the game, and we will just take our lumps if his replacement can’t hold up," Young promised.

The Yellow Jackets will be missing senior defensive back Noel Sitton who was ejected
from the Blue Ridge game, and are dealing with some significant injuries. Quarterback Dawson
Fowler and defensive back A.J. Jackson may be sidelined for a second week. Back-up
quarterback Xavier Sammet suffered a minor injury at Blue Ridge and is expected back this
week as is back-up offensive lineman Braxton Potter who missed the last two games with a foot
injury. The good news, Young said, is "we are playing well, especially on offense, and our defense is starting to come around."

Seneca, 7-1 overall and 3-1 in the region with only a loss to Daniel, will test Greer’s offense. Young said the Bobcats defense "is comparable to Hillcrest. They are very good in the box, and in the secondary, Jaylain Acker, a senior, is especially good at cornerback as is Noah Hamm, another senior, at safety."

Young said Seneca employs a spread offense, "maybe the most spread we have played
this year, although they showed a little tight end against Berea last week." He reported that the
Bobcats "really like to sling the ball around. Gavin Thoma, a senior, is back at quarterback, and
they have fast receivers in Elias McGee and Jeremiah Hunter who are new. They also have a
good running back in Amari Verner, a senior. It will be a test for our defense," he concluded.

Not only will it be a clash of big rivals, the outcome will be vital in determining the Region II, 4-A champion when Greer battles Blue Ridge on Friday night.

A three-game region winning streak momentum carries Greer into the toughest part of the region schedule. Greer Coach Will Young is not looking past the Tigers, however, saying "this is the only game I am worried about. We are still taking them one game at a time and trying to improve each week."
Blue Ridge is worrisome for several reasons, especially the fact that the current Tigers are the best in several years with a 4-2 start and 1-1 in the region. Noting that Blue Ridge is averaging scoring 35 points per game, Coach Young said, "They are especially good on offense. Blue Ridge has a really good quarterback in Gavin Forrester (who has accounted for 10 touchdowns) and a good running back in Jakorey Dodd (averaging 69 yards a game). Their offensive line does a good job. Blue Ridge is definitely better than the teams we have played in recent weeks."

He said the Tiger’s offense is similar to Greer’s schematically, "except they use the buck sweep a lot, which is their go-to formation with two pulling guards. It puts a lot of stress on our outside linebackers, corners and safeties." Young said the Tigers employ a 3-4 defense and have one or two linebackers blitzing on every play. "Aiden Crump at defensive end, Aidan Babb at tackle are two really good defenders as is Brylon McCoy, who is the brother of our running back Calvin McCoy, at linebacker."

As for the Yellow Jackets, now 3-4 overall, Young saw improvement in the win over Pickens. "Our defense was flying around a little better than earlier in the season, and we had fewer penalties – only one on the offense after the first series of the game. So that was an improvement. But we need to play better this week." The bad news is that Greer quarterback Dawson Fowler was injured and sat out the second half last week, while defensive back A.J. Jackson sprained an ankle. Young said Jackson is expected to be able to play this week, but Fowler is questionable and will be replaced by freshman Xavier Sammet.
Although the Tigers have the home crowd and home field advantage, Coach Young said "everyone still has to play the game. Once the ball is kicked, it gets down to execution and hopefully we can do that well. "
Young said the rivalry factor between the two schools "is somewhat different these days because everyone does their trash taking on the internet. We will try to get our kids to turn that off and just enjoy a great game in a great atmosphere."
 

Greer introduces a new look, the air raid, to kick off the 2025 football season this Friday night when the Yellow Jackets host Boiling Springs at Dooley Field.

"For the first time in my career, and maybe ever at Greer High, we will be throwing the football more than running it," declares Head Coach Will Young. He explains that the Yellow Jackets have difficulty running the ball behind a small and inexperienced offensive line. "We have to take advantage of the thing we can do, which is throw and catch. We have a good quarterback and a solid crew of receivers. Our line did not give up a sack against a good defense when we went up against Shelby last Friday night. We had an 80-yard scoring drive without running the ball once," Young said.

The Air Raid will face plenty of anti-aircraft flack during a four-game murder’s row just ahead. Boiling Springs, first up, shelled Greer 43-0 last year, "and will be good again," Young warns. "They graduated a bunch of kids on offense, but a good many are back on defense, and they are really good."

Another hill to climb is an earlier start to school earlier with the first game a week sooner than in the past. "By the time we play Friday night, we will have had only 14 practices and that includes three scrimmages," Young explains. "And some practices have been forced indoors because of the weather. That’s asking a lot of the kids. I don’t think any team is ready to play yet." Young said the Yellow Jackets scrimmaged Gaffney to cap the first week of practice, "and played pretty well. Then we went to Powdersville three days later and did not play well at all. We had no energy." Greer wrapped up pre-season by battling Shelby, NC, to a 14-14 draw in the Chapman Jamboree last Friday night "We had a decent game except for one busted play on defense, and a bad snap on a punt. We had a chance to win on the last play but missed a field goal. We have work to do on our kicking game."

Greer’s probably starting offensive lineup will be sophomores Trey Abercrombie and Garren Keeley a center and left guard, respectively; juniors Nathan Huff and Josh Hultquist at right tackle and right guard, respectively, and senior Dallas Williams at left tackle. Dawson Fowler, a sophomore, opens at quarterback with Calvin McCoy, a junior, at running back. There are a fleet of senior wide receivers" Quantez Miller, Elias Jackson, Tucker Hudson, A.J. Jackson and Noel Sitton, plus junior D.J. Hicks. Freshmen Zay Moseley and Tyler Janson will see duty when an H back is employed.

Defensively, Greer will be without starting senior tackle Aiden Jones who has been sidelined with an injury. That leaves senior Lewis Bussey at nose with senior Paden Armstrong and junior Anius Smith at tackles. Linebackers will include senior Sammy White, juniors Qua’von Mille, and Tyler Spinner, and freshman Tyler Janson. Cornerbacks include juniors Jakobi Ballenger, Chase Free, and Artavious Gwinn. Safeties will be Elias Jackson and Noel Sitton.

"I think it’s important for the kids to come to play, like we did at Gaffney and against Shelby," Young said of the opener. "We can’t afford to drop passes. That will be deadly because we don’t have the ability to just line up and pound you."