The number of Chronicle Country undefeated teams currently stands at seven.

River Bluff, Northside Christian, W.W. King Academy, White Knoll and Gilbert were all victorious in their Week Two matchups. Dutch Fork will face Creekside (Ga.) at the Cam Newton Classic in Atlanta, Ga. Saturday looking to join the Gators, Crusaders, Timberwolves and Pelion at 3-0 on the season.

Both the Knights and Indians are 2-0 this season. 

Friday night also saw Airport and Batesburg-Leesville break into the win column for the first time for its new head coaches Andre Cook and Greg Lawson.

River Bluff 49, Irmo 7

A familiar face was back on the River Bluff sidelines Friday night in The Swamp.

For the first time this season, head coach C. Blair Hardin witnessed his Gators up close and personal. Still recovering from surgery on his left knee and wearing a brace, Hardin was able to move around with a cane and a vehicle.

He picked the right night for his return. The Gators scored 42 unanswered points to turn a one-point game in a matchup of unbeatens against Class 4A seventh-ranked Irmo into a rout.

"I was a little nervous, I'm not gonna lie," Hardin said. "I've been through a lot, but it was just good to be around the coaches, good be around the players, good to be on the turf. Just see our awesome community come out and support our kids. So it was great. My family's here. So just taking it a day at a time, but it was awesome."

Parker Murray accounted for three touchdown passes for River Bluff. Cooper Johns also had three scores, two rushing and one receiving.

It was the first loss of the season for the Yellow Jackets, who were without starting quarterback A.J. Brand. He was nursing an ankle injury and was replaced in the starting lineup by Mason Burnette.

Irmo employed a ball control offensive strategy which enabled it to hold the football for 17 minutes in the first half. The Yellow Jackets could only muster two field goals and trailed 14-6 at halftime as Johns scored on a 75-yard touchdown run and Murray found Stephen Collier for a 22-yard touchdown in the second quarter.

In the third quarter, Murray threw touchdown passes to Blaine Blose and Johns to extend the lead to 28-6. Johns’ score was set up by an interception by University of South Carolina baseball commit Thomas Powell.

As time expired in the quarter, Gray Herring broke free for a 51-yard touchdown run. He finished with 109 rushing yards.

The fourth quarter saw both Johns and Toriaun Leaphart rushing for touchdowns to close out the scoring. Johns led the Gators with 135 rushing yards.

River Bluff next travels to South Aiken, while Irmo returns to action Sept. 16 at home against Hartsville.

Lexington 28, Stratford 14

Taiden Mines threw for 206 yards and had three touchdowns and Chris Frye returned an interception 33 yards for a fourth quarter score in the Wildcats’ home opener.

Lexington (2-1) had a 14-0 halftime lead as Mines threw touchdown passes to Jarrod Mewburn and Kamodi Maxwell. 

The third quarter saw Stratford quarterback Jalen Berry score two touchdowns, including a rushing score following one of three Wildcat turnovers, to tie the game.

Mines regained the lead for Lexington with 4:34 left in the third quarter with a 40-yard scoring run.

Up next for Lexington is a home game Sept. 16 against Blythewood.

Northside Christian Academy 41, Orangeburg Prep 36

Second-year head coach Dean Howell has the Crusaders off to their best start in score history.

Northside Christian jumped out to a 21-7 lead and withstood a late rally by the Indians and quarterback Luis Fernandez, who threw for 333 yards and four touchdowns.

The Crusaders had four rushing touchdowns and an interception return for a score. They return home for a Sept. 9 against New Hope Leadership Academy.

White Knoll 35, Colleton County 14

Jesse Ross had three touchdowns, two rushing, and Landon Sharpe threw two touchdowns as the Timberwolves continued their best start in thee years.

White Knoll jumped out to a 35-0 lead at halftime. Colleton County did not score until the fourth quarter.

White Knoll heads on the road for the first time Sept. 9 at Westwood.

Gilbert 66, South Aiken 21

Indians’ head coach Chad Leaphart entered Friday’s contest having achieved a career milestone.

A recount of his career wins showed him with 100 following last week’s victory over Batesburg-Leesville. It also placed him 10 wins shy of surpassing Marty Woolbright for most wins (68) in school history.

The backfield duo of Jaden Allen-Hendrix and Alias Graham-Woodberry helped Leaphart claim his 60th victory at his alma mater. Both accounted for three touchdowns each and combined for 396 of the team’s 548 total yards on the ground. 

Graham-Woodberry had a career-best 257 yards and Allen-Hendrix had 139 yards. Quarterback Chance Jennings finished with 124 total yards and a touchdown and Jevonte Adams closed out the scoring with the team’s second straight game with an interception return for a score.

Placekicker Lauren Ansell went 2-2 on PATs and Daniel Augustin was 6-6 on extra points and had a field goal.

This marks the second straight week South Aiken has allowed 60-plus points to a Chronicle Country team. It gave up 63 points last week to Lexington and plays host to River Bluff Sept. 9.

Gilbert (2-0) returns home to face 3-0 Pelion Sept. 9

OTHER CHRONICLE COUNTRY SCORES  

W.W. King Academy 58, Oakbrook Prep 12 

Chapin 28, Spring Valley 10 

Northwestern 65, Brookland-Cayce 31 

Airport 21, Butler (Ga.) 6

Batesburg-Leesville 28, Ridge Spring-Monetta 19