Week Two saw the final two remaining Chronicle Country teams to make their regular season debuts in action.  

Both Gilbert and W.W. King Academy were victorious in their respective season-openers. Meanwhile, Dutch Fork, Northside Christian, River Bluff, White Knoll, Irmo and Pelion all improved to 2-0 on the season, while  defending Class 2A champion Gray Collegiate remained winless.

Gilbert 49, Batesburg-Leesville 14

Before a televised audience, the seventh-ranked Indians extended their winning streak over their county rival and moved head coach Chad Leaphart closer to the school career wins mark.

Gilbert’s opening series ended with Jaden Allen-Hendrix losing the football out of bounds as he headed towards the goal line. He made amends minutes later with a three-yard scoring run to put Gilbert on the board.

Less than a minute later, cornerback Jordan Smith picked off a Tanner Watkins' pass and returned it for a touchdown to extend the lead to 14-0.

In the second quarter, the Panthers put together their lone scoring drive. A fourth down conversion pass from Watkins to Patrick Swygert set up a two-yard touchdown run by Korey Williams with 5:44 left.

Gilbert closed out the first half with 21 unanswered points. Quarterback Chance Jennings ran a keeper, spun free from a tackle, and managed to stay inbounds racing down the sidelines for a touchdown.

A five-yard touchdown run by Alias Graham-Woodberry with 1:25 left pushed the lead to 28-7. After a long interception return by Jake Torbett with less than a minute left, Gilbert faced a fourth down from the Batesburg-Leesville 26.

Jennings found Matt Edwards in the end zone for the score with seven seconds left to give the Indians a 35-7 halftime lead.

Jennings and Allen-Hendrix  each added touchdown runs in the third quarter and L.J. Williams scored on a 21-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to close out the scoring.

Up next for the Indians a Sept. 2 home game against South Aiken. The Panthers travels to Ridge Spring-Monetta.

Northside Christian Academy 28, Greenwood Christian 12

The best thing head coach Dean Howell could tell his Crusaders following the game was they were 2-0 for the first time since the program’s inaugural 2016 season.

“The good news about tonight is that we win,” he said. “The bad news is that we made way too many mistakes. Three turnovers, two on fumbles, not even in traffic, just dropped the ball and then we had a bunch of penalties. We can’t do that. They’re a good, tough team. They were without one of their better players tonight, which was fortunate for us. But, hey, it is what it is. We’ll take it.”

Jeff McCallum threw for over 350 yards and three touchdowns to Trevor Hoffman and Sam Burks, who also had a rushing score.

Up next for Northside Christian is a first-ever road matchup at Orangeburg Prep.

“Orangeburg Prep is a different animal,” Howell said. “For a long time, they were one of the biggest and baddest SCISA schools in South Carolina and they’ve got a proud tradition. It’s going to be tough going there next week.”

Dutch Fork 29, Spartanburg 27

Senior running back Jarvis Green had a career-best 306 yards and two touchdowns in the weather-delayed contest at the ninth-ranked Vikings.

It was his 67 yards on seven carries on the game’s final drive that set up Justin Welch’s game-winning 29-yard field goal. The victory extended the top-ranked Silver Foxes’ regular-season winning streak to 40 and their road winning streak to 36.

After a 2 ½ hour lighning delay, Green put Dutch Fork (2-0) on the board in the second quarter with a 33-yard touchdown run. Welch missed the PAT and Spartanburg answered with a 22-yard touchdown pass from Raheim Jeter to Que Moore to tie the game at 6-6 following its blocked extra point attempt.

A four-yard touchdown run by Landon Danley put the Silver Foxes ahead 12-6.

The two teams then exchanged scores in the final minute of the first half. Jeter found Rak’keith Kelly from 31 yards with 43 seconds left to give Spartanburg a 13-12 lead and Green answered with a 61-yard touchdown run 21 seconds left to give the Silver Foxes a 18-13 halftime advantage.

After a scoreless third quarter, Jeter scored from a yard out and ran in the two-point conversion to give Spartanburg a 21-18 lead. Dutch Fork answered with 8:05 left with a 4-yard touchdown run and two-point conversion to make it 26-21.

The Vikings took the lead following an eight-play, 73-yard scoring drive capped by a 5-yard touchdown pass from Jeter to Andrew Dantin with 4:44 left. Jeter finished with 248 passing yards.

Dutch Fork turned mostly to Green on its final drive. He converted a fourth and one with a 13-yard scamper, helped erase a first and 21 with a pair of runs and had a 21-yard carry to set of Welch’s field goal.

Along with a five-yard reception, Green finished the game accounting for all but 76 total yards by Dutch Fork. Up next for the Silver Foxes (2-0) is a matchup against Creekside (Ga.) as part of the Sept. 3 Cam Newton Classic in Atlanta, Ga.

Lexington 63, South Aiken 56

Jonah Norris rushed for a career-best 328 yards and five touchdowns as the Wildcats rallied from 14 points down to defeat the Thoroughbreds.

Quarterback Taiden Mines threw for 209 yards to go with 123 yards and four touchdowns in the game. 

South Aiken's Terrance Smith finished with 391 yards and six touchdowns. 

Lexington (1-1) will play its home opener Sept. 2 against Stratford. 

White Knoll 36, Spring Valley 9

A week after winning a season-opener for the first time since 2019, the Timberwolves and head coach Nick Pelham achieved another feat from that year with the victory over the Vikings.

After trailing 3-0 in the first quarter, White Knoll (2-0) scored 29 unanswered points. Landon Sharpe threw the first of his four touchdowns to Evan Henderson from 40 yards to put the Timberwolves up 6-3 with 1:11 left in the first quarter after the failed two-point conversion attempt.

After Tyler Stoudenmire recovered a fumble on the kickoff, Sharpe found Austin Cunningham from 11 yards with 50 seconds left to make it 13-3.

Special teams set up another score for White Knoll to open the second quarter. Spring Valley was pinned down at its own one-yard line and quarterback Grant Capers was sacked in the end zone for a safety.

Sharpe found Jaiden Kimble for a 27-yard touchdown with 4:27 left and Jeff Ross scored with 32 seconds left on a 1-yard run to make it 29-3 at the half.

A Capers’ touchdown run with a second left in the third quarter brought Spring Valley within 29-9. Midway in the fourth quarter, Sharpe hit Cunningham from 12 yards to close out the scoring.

Sharpe finished 13-16 passing for 196 yards and the four touchdowns. 

White Knoll closes out its homestand Sept. 2 against Colleton County.

River Bluff 52, Swansea 0

Cooper Johns rushed for 135 yards and two touchdowns and Parker Murray was 4-5 passing for 106 yards as the Gators matched their victory total from last season with the victory in The Swamp.

Johns opened up the scoring with a 34-yard touchdown run on River Bluff’s first drive. On the next series, Murray connected with Alejandro Ambriz for a 41-yard touchdown and Thomas Powell followed with a 59-yard scoring run two minutes later to make it 21-0.

A 21-yard touchdown pass from Murray to Stephen Collier extended the lead to 28-0 in the first quarter. The second quarter saw Johns break free for a 81-yard touchdown run and Gray Herring and Tourian Leaphart add scoring runs of 10 and 46 yards, respectively, to give the Gators a 49-0 halftime lead.

A 42-yard field goal by Brady Orr was the lone score of the second half. River Bluff held the Tigers to 133 total yards.

River Bluff plays host to Irmo Sept. 2, while Swansea has a bye.

Crestwood 37, Gray Collegiate 28

The Knights outscored the War Eagles 21-0 in the second half to drop the defending Class 2A champions to 0-2 on the season.

Gray Collegiate now heads to Atlanta, Ga. to face South Atlanta Sept. 3 as part of the Cam Newton Classic. Dutch Fork High School is also playing in the six-team event.

Chapin 45, Mid-Carolina 0

The “Bell” will remain in Chapin for the 10^th consecutive year as the Eagles posted another shutout win against the archrival Rebels.

Chapin (1-1) plays host to Spring Valley Sept. 2.

W.W. King Academy 38, Wardlaw Academy 16

The Knights travel to Oakbrook Prep Sept. 2.

Irmo 27, Lancaster 20

Quarterback A.J. Brand threw another touchdown as the Yellow Jackets improved to 2-0 for the first time since 2019.

Pelion 15, Columbia 12

The Panthers improved to 2-0 for the first time since the 2007 season.

They return to action at home Sept. 2 against Eau Claire.