Hurricane Helene upended activities around Lexington County last week, including high school football. Three contests were postponed and others were moved up or back as the weather stormed through South Carolina Thursday and Friday. 

With the out-of-region season officially coming to a close, the storm’s impact could affect the remaining high school football schedule as a few teams from Lexington County have already had this week’s games postponed. 

Most notably teams from the 4A Region 4 will have to cancel or reschedule region games due to schools in Aiken County canceling events for the week. Gilbert’s upcoming game against South Aiken and Airport’s game against Midland Valley were called off, meaning those schools are guaranteed to have missed two region contests so far. 

Lexington’s big six teams from 5A Region 4 are scheduled to begin region contests this week. Those games have not been postponed yet and the weather is expected to remain clear, but many schools around the county were closed Tuesday and operated on a two-hour delay Wednesday after the chronicle’s press deadline. 

Should these games be played as scheduled, it will be a big week for football with many teams getting a chance to see how they stack up against their conference foes. 

Irmo, River Bluff, Dutch Fork, Lexington, White Knoll and Chapin enter region play a combined 26-3. None of the teams have more than one loss, and they all have picked up impressive wins. Irmo, Dutch Fork and River Bluff finished out-of-region games undefeated. 

White Knoll and Lexington were the only two teams from the conference to play last week. Both teams’ games were moved up to Wednesday night, and both teams shut out their opponents in dominant fashion. 

Lexington defeated Laurens 29-0 after a three-touchdown performance from two-way star Matthew McAuley. The win was Lexington’s second shutout of the season after beating Gilbert 24-0 in week zero. The Wildcats showed they can respond to adversity after being shut out themselves in their previous matchup against Greenwood 14-0. 

White Knoll defeated Fort Dorchester 38-0 behind a two-touchdown performance from quarterback Landon Sharpe. This was White Knoll’s first shutout of the season and the third consecutive win by 30 or more. 

Other teams around Lexington County set to start region games this week include Swansea, Pelion and Batesburg-Leesville, all of which were in action last week. 

Swansea bounced back in the win column with a 20-6 win over Columbia after the game was pushed from Friday to Saturday morning. The Tigers now sit at 5-1 and are off to their best start in over a decade. 

Batesburg-Leesville is also off to its best start in a long time after defeating Mid-Carolina 48-0 last Wednesday. It was the third shutout this season for the Panthers. The team has been dominant on both sides of the ball all year and will hope to continue that trend against last season’s region champions Strom Thurmond this week. 

Pelion picked up its first win of the season after jumping out to a 0-4 start. The Panthers defeated Eau Claire 27-12 on Saturday night. It was a season-high scoring effort for the team. Previously the Panthers’ highest scoring effort was 22 points in a 13-point loss to Columbia. 

Colin Williams had two touchdowns to help guide Pelion to victory. The Panthers will look to continue winning games now that region play is scheduled to start this week. Pelion will hit the road to take on a 1-4 Ninety Six squad as both teams look to put the out-of-region schedule behind them and start conference play with a clean slate. 

American Leadership Academy is now the only winless team left in Lexington County. The Patriots will be back in action this week with a region game against Saluda after a long hiatus due to a multi-week gap in the team’s schedule. 

Big Performances

Colin Williams scored two touchdowns for Pelion to help the Panthers secure their first win this season.

Landon Sharpe accounted for two touchdowns against Fort Dorchester, including a 40-yard dime. 

K.D. Whitt helped Batesburg-Leesville improve to 5-0 after scoring two total touchdowns and returning a punt to the four-yard line.

P.J. Larry scored a touchdown to give Swansea an early lead in the team’s win over Columbia. 

Week 5 Area Scoreboard 

Lexington: 29, Laurens: 0

White Knoll: 38, Fort Dorchester: 0

Airport  at South Aiken (Postponed) 

Midland-Valley: 42, Brookland-Cayce: 21

Gilbert  at Aiken (Postponed) 

Gray Collegiate  vs. North Augusta (Postponed)

Swansea: 20,. Columbia: 6 

Batesburg-Leesville: 48, Mid-Carolina: 0

Pelion: 27, Eau Claire: 12 

Week 6 Games to Watch

Lexington vs. Irmo

River Bluff vs. White Knoll

Chapin vs. Dutch Fork

Batesburg-Leesville at Strom Thurmond