THURSDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK

Chronicle County teams played “lights out” football in the playoffs’ first week.

At River Bluff High’s stadium, the lights went out when a Chevrolet S10 truck crashed into a utility pole at the intersection of Midway and Hope Ferry Roads.

The subsequent loss of power affected over 1,000 Lexington residents and interrupted the Gators-Conway game with 3:59 left in the first quarter.

Once play resumed, River Bluff rallied from a 6-0 deficit to defeat the Tigers 35-19. It was the school’s first-ever home playoff win and improved the Gators to a school-record best 9-1 mark.

TMQB TEAM OF THE WEEK - Batesburg-Leesville

The post-season brings out the best in the Panthers. This is especially true away from Panther Stadium as they have posted a 7-1 record in road playoff games since 2015.

The latest was a 49-13 win over Columbia at Keenan High School Friday.

TMQB PLAYERS OF THE WEEK - Michael Rikard and Antonio Gantt of River Bluff

Sophomore quarterback Rikard threw 4 touchdowns and finished with 162 passing yards against Conway. Gantt carried the rushing attack in the absence of injured starter Braden Walker with 169 yards and a touchdowns.

FIRST-ROUND GRIDIRON GIANTS

Brandon Caughman (Airport) - 2 passing TDs Ron Hoff (Dutch Fork) - 54 yards, 4 TDs Jalin Hyatt (Dutch Fork) - 8 receptions, 143 yards, TD Ty Olenchuk (Dutch Fork) - 15-24 passing, 249 yards, TD Dre Cook (Gilbert) - 59 rushing yards, 2 TDs K.Z. Adams (Gray Collegiate) - 200 rushing yards, 4 TDs Akeem Nicholas (Lexington) - 142 rushing yards

STREAKING TEAMS

Dutch Fork will enter Friday’s second-round contest against West Ashley riding a 21-game winning streak. The Silver Foxes have also won 9 straight playoff games, scored 50 or more points in 9 straight games and have posted 6 shutouts the last 2 seasons.

The second hottest Chronicle County team is Gray Collegiate. The War Eagles are riding a 5-game winning streak and defeated Latta 43-21 for their first-ever playoff win. They can set a school record for victories (8) Friday against Bamberg-Ehrhardt.

Right behind them is Swansea. After an 0-7 start under interim head coach Eric Pack, the Tigers have won 3 straight games. The reward - a second-round matchup at Dillon with the winner facing Gilbert or May River in the third round.

BIG GAME RON

The post-season seems to bring out the best in Dutch Fork running back Ron Hoff. His exploits at the state title games (265 rushing yards, 4 TDs; 4 receptions, 101 yards, TD in 2 games) are well-known. In the playoffs, he has 21 career rushing TDs.

SITTERLE SEEKS ANOTHER STATE CHAMPIONSHIP

The post-public school career for former Lexington High head football coach Allen Sitterle has gone well.

In 5 years, Sitterle has lead Andrew Jackson Academy in Ehrhardt to 5 8-man football championship games. The Confederates also own a 48-game winning streak and seek a 4th 8-man title and 3rd for Sitterle after he unretired a year ago against Beaufort Academy this Friday at Calhoun Academy in St. Matthews.

BY THE NUMBERS

River Bluff improved to a school-best 9-1 this past Friday. The Gators can achieve a first-ever 10-win season this week at Berkeley...Gray Collegiate can win a school-record 8 games this Friday against Bamberg-Ehrhardt...A win Friday by Gilbert over May River would give the Indians 30 wins in three seasons under head coach Chad Leaphart. He is currently 29-6 at his alma mater. Ironically, Swansea’s overtime win over Manning was the school’s first playoff win since Leaphart was head coach in 2014.

ALL-CHRONICLE COUNTRY TEAM RECOMMENDATIONS

To all head football and volleyball coaches: Please submit your nominations for All-Chronicle Country teams as soon as possible. The recommendations can be sent to www.chroniclesports@yahoo.com.

QUOTABLE

“That was pretty funny. I’m not going to lie. Because we went in (the locker room), we talked about it and, honestly, it was just kind of at the beginning of the game. So we went out there, started the game over again and had the same focus.” - River Bluff quarterback Michael Rikard about the blackout in the 1st round game against Conway.