Published: Sunday, Nov. 08, 2009 / Updated: Sunday, Nov. 08, 2009 07:59 AM

Playoffs set for area Class AAAA teams

Clover, Lancaster, Northwestern, Rock Hill and South Pointe earned berths in the Class AAAA playoffs that begin this week.

Coaches from around the state met in Columbia on Saturday morning and set the pairings. The processes included counting points to see which 32 of the classification's 48 teams qualified, splitting the field in half according to the school's enrollments and seeding the teams that finished first and second in their region.

Division I includes the teams that made it with the largest enrollments. Division II has the next 16 teams. Several of the larger schools didn't qualify, which required moving teams up a division. They include Clover, which is the state's 22nd school in enrollment.

The Blue Eagles were moved up and the jump created one of the best first-round pairings on Friday. The Blue Eagles, third in Region 3-AAAA, have a road game at Dorman.

Rock Hill also moved up. The Bearcats knew before the season began they would be in Division I since they were the first team in line to move up. They did so in August after Boiling Springs was put on probation and declared ineligible for the playoffs.

The Bearcats won the Region 4-AAAA title and finished 11-0, but based on points, received a No. 4 seed. Northwestern won the Region 3-AAAA title and was earned the No. 2 seed in Division II. Because the Trojans, 6-5, are seeded higher than Rock Hill, they get the choice of playing on Thursday or Friday at District Three Stadium, which the Trojans and Bearcats share.

Northwestern chose Friday, as expected, and hosts South Florence. Rock Hill hosts Spartanburg on Thursday.

South Pointe is the No. 5 seed in Division II and begins its defense of last year's state championship at home Friday against Richland Northeast. Lancaster got an at-large berth and travels to Goose Creek on Friday.

South Pointe and Northwestern are in the eight-team lower bracket. If both win their first two games, they would meet in the semifinals and play for a trip to the state championship game at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia. Last year, the Stallions beat the Trojans 35-14 in the title game at Clemson.

Lancaster, which lost to Northwestern in last year's semifinals, is in the top bracket.

Rock Hill is in the upper bracket in Division I and has an interesting road to the championship game. If the Bearcats beat Spartanburg, they play either Blythewood or Sumter. Rock Hill beat Blythewood 50-21 two weeks ago in the regular season. Sumter beat the Bearcats in last year's semifinals and lost to Byrnes for the title.

Byrnes is in the bracket with Rock Hill and Sumter and is heavily favored to make it back to the championship game. The semifinal game likely will pit the Rebels against the winner of the Rock Hill-Sumter game.

Playoff pairings

Division I

Upper Bracket

White Knoll (16) at Byrnes (1)

Mauldin (9) at Fort Dorchester (8)

Spartanburg (13) at Rock Hill (4)

Blythewood (12) at Sumter (5)

Lower Bracket

Lexington (15) at Summerville (2)

Stratford (10) at Gaffney (7)

Hillcrest (14) at Irmo (3)

Clover (11) at Dorman (6)

Division II

Upper Bracket

Aiken (16) at Berkeley (1)

Beaufort (9) at Greenwood (8)

Lancaster (13) at Goose Creek (4)

Conway (12) at North Augusta (5)

Lower Bracket

S. Florence (15) at Northwestern (2)

T.L. Hanna (10) at Hartsville (7)

James Island (14) at Wren (3)

Richland NE (11) at South Pointe (6)