High school football state semifinals preview: video, game capsules and brackets

Nation Ford (9-4) at Northwestern (12-1)

Last week: Nation Ford beat Westside 35-28 in overtime; Northwestern beat Westwood 49-21

Playoff run so far: Nation Ford beat York (40-21) and Westside; Northwestern beat Lauren (49-6) and Westwood.

Last meeting: Northwestern won 48-25 on Oct. 23

The winner plays: The winner of Spartanburg-Lexington in the 4A Division II state championship game Dec. 12 at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia.

Playoff history: NFHS - It’s all new territory for the Falcons, a program that had never won more than seven games in a season before this fall. NHS - Northwestern has played in 17 state semifinals in its 40-plus year football history, winning 10. The Trojans haven’t lost a state semifinal game since 2007, winning their last five, two of which led to state championships.

Key players: NFHS - Sr. DB Greg Wilson, Sr. LB/WR Jordan Helms, Jr. OL Damian Peeples, Jr. LB Corbin Tesimale, Sr. WR Hank Tuipulotu (North-South all-star). NHS - Soph. WR Jordan Starkes, Sr. DT Winston Daniels, Sr. DE Trae’von Hinton (Shrine Bowl), Sr. DB Miles Corpening (Shrine Bowl), Jr. QB Gage Moloney, Fr. WR Jamario Holley.

Need to know: Northwestern calls the red zone - the chunk of the field inside the opponent’s 20-yard line - the “green zone,” because it doesn’t want the offense to stop just because it’s gotten that far. That part of the field was in fact the red zone for Nation Ford during the two teams’ regular season meeting; Nation Ford scored on just two of its six visits inside Northwestern’s 20, while the ruthless Trojans converted on 6-of-7 (they’ve scored on 84 percent of their “green zone” trips this season). Three of the Falcons’ empty trips came in the first half; a turnover on downs, a missed field goal and the end of the half meant Nation Ford trailed 14-7 at the intermission, instead of leading. Northwestern’s defensive ability to bend but not break was the difference in an otherwise close game (a 2-point game with 8 minutes left got out of hand late).

Union County (7-6) at South Pointe (12-1)

Last week: Union County beat Chapin 51-21; South Pointe beat Seneca 24-17

Playoff run so far: Union County beat Belton-Honea Path (27-24), Greer (39-22) and Chapin. South Pointe beat Daniel (55-28), Richland Northeast (34-24) and Seneca.

Last meeting: South Pointe won 17-14 on Oct. 1

The winner plays: The winner of the 3A Lower State championship, Myrtle Beach and Midland Valley, in the state title game Dec. 12 at Williams-Brice Stadium.

Playoff history: UCHS - Union County is 13-6 in the playoffs. The current school opened in 2007 and lost in the 2012 3A state final to Hartsville. The school’s predecessor, Union, was 51-20 all-time in the playoffs, with five state championships at the 4A and 3A levels. SPHS - The Stallions are 18-1 all-time in 3A playoff games and have won 28 straight games overall against 3A competition since losing the 2010 final to Myrtle Beach.

Key players: UCHS - Jr. WR Doug Brannon, Jr. WR Shi Smith, Sr. QB De’airrius Smith, Sr. DT Deshawn Thompson. SPHS - Sr. OL Lamon Bryant, Jr. LB Bryson Cooper, Jr. DB Ken’darius Frederick, Sr. DB Nick McCloud (North-South all-star), Sr. DB Chris Smith (Shrine Bowl).

Need to know: Since losing to Greer to fall to 0-4, Union County is 7-2 with four wins in a row headed into this Friday’s 3A Upper State semifinal. South Pointe is the third straight No. 1 seed that the Yellow Jackets face. Steve Taneyhill’s team won’t be overawed by the Stallions, a team they easily could have beaten in the regular season meeting after coughing up a 14-0 lead late in the game. Union County has shown great resilience to get to this point; the Yellow Jackets have trailed early in the third quarter in each of their three playoff games, only to out-score their opponents 79-17 in the second halves of those games. The same could be said for South Pointe, which has quietly cruised along, winning games in a variety of manners thanks to a variety of different players. Union County has pronounced advantages up front on both sides against the Stallions, but it’d be a foolish bet to pick against South Pointe at this stage of the season.

This story was originally published December 3, 2015 at 2:24 PM with the headline "High school football state semifinals preview: video, game capsules and brackets."