New season, new beginning for Chronicle Country high school playoff teams.

This was especially true for Lexington High School in its first-round playoff opener against Wando on Nov. 4.

Returning to action at home where it was routed by top-ranked Dutch Fork seven days earlier, the Wildcats returned the favor in equally dominant fashion to the visiting Warriors.

“Win or lose, we knew that we were in the playoffs last week and now it’s just taking it one step at a time,” Lexington High School head coach Perry Woolbright said. “Wando came up here a good team, but our guys came out and executed from the start. That was big.”

The 45-0 shutout win saw Lexington (9-2) hold Wando to 74 total yards. Quarterback Taiden Mines had triple that number of passing yards at 237 to go with three touchdowns. He also had a 28-yard touchdown run.

Kamadi Maxwell was the recipient of two of the touchdowns and five receptions for 177 yards. Running back Jonah Norris rushed for 97 yards and Harley Fox had a team-high seven tackles and 1.5 sacks on defense.

The Wildcats head on the road to face Summerville.

“We’ve got to stay hungry,” Woolbright said. “We talk about it every day.  Every Monday practice could be our last Monday. Every Tuesday could be our last Tuesday. Every Wednesday could be our last Wednesday. Every walkthrough could be our last walkthrough. Every Friday night could be our last Friday night. You have to live it to the fullest and let everything lay where it must.”

Dutch Fork 56, Mauldin 0

It was business as usual for the top-ranked Silver Foxes as they remained undefeated in first-round playoff games under head coach Tom Knotts.

Senior running back Jarvis Green continued his scoring tear. The James Madison commit rushed for 151 yards and two touchdowns and had five receptions for 102 yards and a touchdown.

Quarterback Aliam Appler threw for 193 yards and three touchdowns and Jaylen Hinton had 10 tackles and one of his team’s seven sacks. The Dutch Fork defense held the Mavericks to 104 total yards and posted their 20^th shutout since 2016.

The Silver Foxes improved to 13-0 in first-round games under Knotts. It was also the 20^th straight home playoff win for Dutch Fork, the last loss coming Nov. 27, 2015, in the second-round against Dorman.

The Cavaliers visit the Silver Foxes for the second-round next week. It’s the first post-season meeting between the two teams since 2019 when Dutch Fork defeated Dorman 31-27 in overtime to win the Class 5A title for the fourth straight year.

Irmo 14, North Myrtle Beach 7

A fourth quarter score by Telvin Smith with 6:34 left enabled the Yellow Jackets to advance to the second round of the Class 4A playoffs.

Quarterback A.J. Brand threw a touchdown pass to Erick Tucker for the lone score of the first half.

Irmo (8-3) next travels to James Island.

Gilbert 49, Battery Creek 0

Jaden Allen-Hendrix and Alias-Graham Woodberry each had two touchdowns and Wynn Meetze turned one of the Indians’ defenses three interceptions into a touchdown in the first-round victory.

Quarterback Drake Braddock threw for 148 yards and a touchdown and Chance Jennings threw a 19-yard scoring pass for Gilbert.

It was career win number 66 for head coach Chad Leaphart at his alma mater. He’s now three wins shy of surpassing Marty Woolbright for most wins in school history.

Up next for Gilbert (9-2) is a second-round home matchup against Manning.

W.W. King Academy wins via forfeit over Holy Trinity Classical Christian

The Knights (9-1) advanced to the SCISA 8-Man semifinals where it will at host to Faith Christian on Nov. 11.

T.L. Hanna 36, White Knoll 35

A late turnover converted into a touchdown in the fourth quarter spoiled the Timberwolves’ upset bid in the Upstate.

White Knoll (7-4) led by 12 points when the Yellow Jackets’ Sasheem Latimer scored on a six-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter to cut the lead to 35-30.

With 6:34 left, Teghan Cole intercepted Timberwolves’ quarterback Landon Sharpe and returned the football 25 yards for the go-ahead touchdown. T.L. Hanna missed the PAT.

Another interception ended White Knoll’s next drive, but the defense was able to force a punt with 5:04 left. The Timberwolves reached the Yellow Jackets’ 23, but an intentional grounding penalty forced a fourth and 15 which they were unable to convert.

Sharpe threw for 345 touchdowns and four touchdowns and rushed for a score. Austin Cunningham had eight receptions for 103 yards and two touchdowns and Hasan Lee had eight receptions for 152 yards and a score.

Sumter 33, Chapin 14

Bus problems for the Eagles resulted in a late start of the first-round matchup at the Gamecocks.

Once Chapin arrived, it jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first half. Sumter rallied to score 33 unanswered points to advance to the second round.

Carolina Forest 42, River Bluff 28

Led by quarterback Scott Saylor’s five touchdown passes the Panthers broke a 21-21 halftime tie by outscoring the Gators 21-7 in the second half.

Quarterback Parker Murray threw for 160 yards and two touchdowns and running back Cooper Johns rushed for 167 yards and two touchdowns in his final game for River Bluff.

Blaine Blose had five receptions for 102 yards and a touchdown for the Gators (7-4).

Colleton Prep 27, Northside Christian 7

Sam Burks’ 25-yard touchdown run was the lone score for the Crusaders, who finished the season 6-5.

Newberry 30, Batesburg-Leesville 20