High school football continues in Lexington County as teams look to end the year strong and ride into the postseason with positive momentum.   

Last week’s slate featured 10 games, with 13 of the 15 area teams taking the field. Results were mixed as the local teams went 7-6 on Friday. Three games between Lexington County rivals are included in that total. 

Chapin and White Knoll faced off in a game between two area teams from the 5A Region 4 conference. The Eagles overcame an early deficit to win a high-scoring shootout 46-36.

  It was an important win for Chapin, who grabbed its first region win and improved to 5-4 overall. The Eagles have one game left this season before the playoffs, hosting Lexington this week.   

White Knoll is still seeking that first region victory, but has two more chances to do so. The Tomberwolves have an uphill battle with games against River Bluff and Dutch Fork left.   

The Gators and Silver Foxes faced off this week, with Dutch Fork winning 42-0.   

Gilbert and Airport played in the third local head-to-head. It was also a shutout as the Indians cruised to a 52-0 victory.   

Lexington and Northside Christian were the two teams on bye. Each will be back out there this week with two games to go. 

The Wildcats (5-3 overall; 1-1 region) will travel to Chapin in a game that will have major region standing implications. 

The Crusaders (8-0 overall; 3-0 region) will play their final two contests against region rivals Florence Christian and Wilson Hall. Northside is off to its best start in team history. 

Dutch Fork wins region, others closing in 

With two weeks left to play in the season, many region championships are, or close to being, decided. That includes here in Lexington County. 

Dutch Fork became the first local team to lock up its conference, following the team’s shutout win over River Bluff. The Silver Foxes are still undefeated this season, sitting 8-0 overall. 

While the team's final game against White Knoll won’t matter in the final standings, the results could still affect the Silver Foxes' postseason positioning. No. 1 overall seeds in South Carolina are decided by team record and RPI.

The Silver Foxes are the only team to clinch a region championship so far, but others are close or still in contention. 

Northside Christian is the only other unbeaten team in the county, but the Crusaders’ final two games will be their biggest test this season. Florence Christian and Wilson Hall are the third- and second-place teams in the region. 

Together, the three teams are 8-1 against the other three teams in the region. The Crusaders will have to knock off Florence Christian first. If the team makes it through that, it could come down to Northside and Wilson Hall in a head-to-head game for the title. 

Batesburg-Leesville is the only other team coming into this week already in first place in its region. The Panthers haven’t locked it up yet, but already have wins over the teams in second, third and fourth place. 

The Panthers' last two games will be against Ridge Spring-Monetta and Whitmire, who are a combined 1-5 in the region this season. 

Teams like Gilbert, Swansea and Irmo are not currently in first place but still have an outside shot to win the region. They’ll just need some help these last few weeks. All three lost to the teams currently in first place. Both of those teams are also still unbeaten in the region, meaning to have a shot, the locals need their competition to lose the rest of their games. 

To make it more interesting, Gilbert and Swansea will also play each other this week, with the loser being eliminated from contention. 

Fight for positioning heats up 

First place and region titles might be unobtainable for most teams, but that doesn’t mean they can just stop trying to compete. 

Placing higher in the standings gets teams more favorable matchups and a better shot at longer home-field advantage. On top of that, with the new region alignment, more teams are slated to miss the postseason altogether than in years before. 

In 5A, Lexington, River Bluff and Chapin are in a close fight for second place. The Wildcats and Gators are each 1-1 in region, having lost to Dutch Fork. Chapin is a bit behind at 1-2, but depending on the final weeks' results, could finish anywhere between second and fifth. 

White Knoll is the team currently in fifth and is on the outside of the playoff picture. 

Gray Collegiate is another local 5A team but they are in a separate region. The War Eagles are in third now but could jump to second with a win over Ridge View this week. 

In the lower classifications, Lexington County teams are having a tougher time. Outside the teams in the fight for first, most of the remaining teams are in danger of missing the playoffs. 

Brookland-Cayce and Airport are 1-2 and 0-3 in the region so far. The pair each have two games to go but will also play each other this week.   

Down in 2A, Pelion and American Leadership are winless in the region. They still have a head-to-head, so one of them will get a win, but it probably won’t be enough to sneak into the playoffs without another. 

Last week’s top performances 

Jaxon Knotts threw for almost 400 yards and three touchdowns in Dutch Fork’s blowout win over River Bluff.   

Chandler Guthrie caught three touchdown passes as Gilbert shut out Airport.

Charlie Howell ran for over 200 yards and scored twice in Chapin’s win against White Knoll. 

Terrance Cook had four total touchdowns as Batesburg-Leesville got its fourth straight win. 

Tarez James recorded over 250 yards of offense and three touchdowns in Swansea’s one-point win against Lower Richland. 

This week’s games to watch 

Gray Collegiate at Ride View (Thursday)

Gilbert vs. Swansea 

Brookland-Cayce vs. Airport

Chapin vs. Lexington 

Northside Christian vs. Florence Christian 

Lexington County scoreboard

Chapin: 46, White Knoll: 36

Dutch Fork: 42, River Bluff: 0

Gray Collegiate: 37, Blythewood: 15

Irmo: 56, Midland Valley: 14

Camden: 52, Brookland-Cayce: 27

Gilbert: 52, Airport: 0