PREP FOOTBALL '11 BUNDY :If we had to pay, here's where we'd go

Each year, we here in the sports department are given total access to high school football teams across the Pee Dee.

When we cover games, we’re not paying customers and we’re not there to cheer for one side or the other.

From the press box, the sidelines and the locker rooms, our job is to bring the game to life for readers the next morning.

But if we were paying customers, here is a week-by-week look at this year’s games we’d shell out some bucks to see: 

Week 0

Dillon at Cheraw

Aug. 19

As far as season openers go, this is a dream matchup for fans of small-town football.

Dillon’s Wildcats have played for the Class 2A state championship each of the past three years, winning in 2008 and 2009, and they’re ranked No. 1 in the Morning News/WBTW Preseason Top 10 poll.

Cheraw’s Braves played for the Class 2A state championship four straight years from 2004-2007, winning in 2006 and 2007.

With running back Jabo Lee, the Morning News Preseason Player of the Year, and receiver Kwinton Smith, a USC commitment, on its roster, Dillon looks poised for another deep playoff run.

Cheraw is coming off a 4-8 season, but returns 24 seniors and figures to be better.

There’s a lot of pride involved here, and Cheraw’s Meiklejohn Stadium is one of the top five places to watch high school football in the Pee Dee.

Alternate game: Timberland at Carvers Bay. 

Week 1

Dillon at Lake View

Aug. 26

Sure, this county rivalry has been one-sided with Dillon winning 13 straight in the series, including a 31-0 victory last season. But Lake View has long been a Class A power, winning its share of state championships, including one as recent as 2006. And with games at Wild Gator Stadium often being standing room only, the electric atmosphere there is worth the price of admission alone.

Alternate game: Darlington at Wilson. 

Week 2

Myrtle Beach at Byrnes

Sept. 2

If there is but one game to see this season, this very well could be it.

Myrtle Beach is the defending Class 3A state champion and ranked No. 2 in the Morning News/WBTW Preseason Top 10 poll, while Byrnes is the defending Class 4A Division I state champion. The two teams met at the beach last year with Byrnes winning 21-14.

And as if that weren’t enough enticement to buy a ticket, Byrnes’ stadium is arguably the best high school stadium South Carolina has to offer. This matchup in that stadium is as close as we get to Friday Night Lights in this part of the country.

Alternate game: South Florence at Wilson. 

Week 3

Wilson at Dillon

Sept. 9

Having not had a winning season since 2007, the former Pee Dee power Wilson Tigers are hoping for big things this season behind a big offensive line and with experience on their side. Dillon will certainly be a litmus test as to where the Tigers are. In the last 14 meetings between the two schools, Dillon is 13-1, including a 35-7 win last year.

Alternate game: Myrtle Beach at West Florence. 

Week 4

South Florence at Myrtle Beach

Sept. 16

If we didn’t know just how much South Florence had turned its program around, we found out when the Bruins nearly knocked off Myrtle Beach in a 28-27 loss in their fifth game of their season last year.

That game was arguably the best game in the Pee Dee last year, and you know the Bruins will be fired up to try to get their first win in five games in the series on Myrtle Beach’s home turf.

Alternate game: Conway at Marlboro County. 

Week 5

Myrtle Beach at Conway

Sept. 23

In one of the best rivalries in all the Grand Strand and the Pee Dee, Myrtle Beach will look to extend its five-game winning streak against Conway. But the game is in Conway, which is always a tough place to play, and the Tigers won 10 in a row in the series prior to Myrtle Beach’s streak.

Alternate game: Central at Chesterfield. 

Week 6

Wilson at Myrtle Beach

Sept. 30

Two weeks after South Florence gets a shot at glory at Myrtle Beach’s Doug Kinsmore Stadium, Wilson’s Tigers get a shot at the Seahawks.

Adding to the intensity is the fact that this is the Region 8-3A opener for both schools and Wilson will be looking to avenge last year’s 42-0 loss at home to the Seahawks.

Alternate game: Lake View at Carvers Bay. 

Week 7

Camden at Hartsville

Oct. 7

Hartsville’s Red Foxes won eight of their last nine games last year and return 14 starters, including the entire offensive line. Expectations are high as Hartsville’s No. 3 ranking in the Morning News/WBTW Preseason Top 10 poll indicates.

If the Red Foxes and coach Jeff Calabrese are to get all they want out of this season, a win over Camden in perhaps their toughest Region 6-3A game appears to be a must. Hartsville won 17-13 at Camden a year ago, giving the Red Foxes five wins in the last six games in the series.

Alternate game: Scott’s Branch at Lamar. 

Week 8

Carolina Forest at South Florence

Oct. 13

This Thursday night matchup will be a key contest in the outcome of Region 6-4A.

South Florence is ranked No. 5 in the Morning News/WBTW Preseason Top 10 poll and is looking for back-to-back winning seasons since 2000-01.

With 15 starters returning and having won the Fourth of July Shootout passing league at Myrtle Beach, Carolina Forest is ranked No. 8 in the poll.

Two of the three meetings between the two schools have been decided by two points or less.

And making this even more of a game to watch is the fact that this will be Carolina’s only regular-season trip to the Pee Dee this season, meaning it will probably be the only chance for a lot of folks around here to see Harold Atkinson – the Panthers’ highly-recruited junior running back – in action this year.

Alternate game: Johnsonville at Hemingway.

Week 9

Marlboro County at Hartsville

Oct. 21

Hartsville’s Calabrese and Marlboro County’s Dean Boyd – two of the top coaching brains in the Pee Dee – trying to outsmart each other? Yeah, we’d pay to see that any Friday night.

And, by the way, this is one of the harder fought series in the Pee Dee with Hartsville holding a 10-9 advantage.

Alternate game: South Florence at Conway.

Week 10

Timmonsville at Lamar

Oct. 28

These two rivals located within 10 miles of each other will wrap up the regular season with their second meeting of the season. The two teams will have already played Sept. 2 at Timmonsville.

While Lamar hasn’t lost to Timmonsville since 2001, taking some of the heat out of the rivalry, both teams are always jacked up to play in one of the best slobber knockers the Pee Dee has to offer.

Alternate game: Mullins at Marion. 

Week 11

South Florence at West Florence

Nov. 4

Like the Lamar-Timmonsville rivalry, there’s no love lost here.

This will be the second game between South and West. The two teams will have already knocked heads on Aug. 26, but this one will mean even more as it counts in the Region 6-4A standings.

Adding fuel to the fire is the fact South dominated both meetings between the two schools a year ago, outscoring West by a combined 91-17.

Alternate game: Any Class 3A, Class 2A or Class A state playoff game.

–––

So there you have it. A week-by-week look at the games our sports staff would pay to see.

Too bad we must “work” for a living.