Playoff matchups set as Bobcats settle in to embrace host role

Though Bluffton has won one Lower State title and played for two others during Ken Cribb’s tenure as coach, one thing the Bobcats never have enjoyed is to have home field throughout the playoffs.

That changes now.

With a Region 8-3A title in hand following Friday night’s 32-19 victory at Wade Hampton, the next time the unbeaten Bobcats will have to get on a bus will be if they earn a trip to the Class 3A state championship the weekend before Christmas.

“That’s so big. That’s like winning the lottery,” said Cribb, who will get his team ready to welcome Swansea next Friday in the opening round.

Battery Creek, meantime, is happy to jump on a bus for anyplace after grabbing one of the final 3A playoff berths with its 23-20 triumph over Ridgeland-Hardeeville. The Dolphins (2-8) will travel to Brookland-Cayce with a nothing-to-lose approach in which every snap is a bonus.

“We got an undefeated (opponent), but we made it,” coach Fred Hamilton said Saturday. “We’ve really had some tough times this season. This is kind of a new beginning, winning last night. It’s real exciting for everybody.”

The rest of the playoff brackets also finalized Friday evening, with four other area teams making plans for an extended season.

Beaufort’s loss to Berkeley dropped the Eagles (7-3) to third in Region 8-4A, scuttling their longshot chance at a region crown and instead sending them on the road to Lugoff-Elgin. Though the Demons are only 5-5, their second-place finish in Region 6 affords them the host role.

Hilton Head Island (6-4) also has a road trip ahead, locked into fourth despite a season high for points in a 69-34 romp over Colleton County. The Seahawks will visit Region 6-4A champion Hartsville.

Whale Branch (6-4) will host its Class 2A playoff opener for the third consecutive year after claiming second place in Region 6 with its victory over Academic Magnet. Mullins will make the trip to Seabrook for Friday’s opener.

And first-year May River, which set aside an 0-7 start to win two of its final three games, will make its playoff debut on the road against Gilbert.

Bluffton’s unbeaten regular season is its second under Cribb, now in his seventh year at the school. The Bobcats won the Lower State title in 2011, flanked on either side by losing trips to the Lower State final.

Each of those teams, though, had to go on the road at least once. In 2012, they traveled to every playoff stop, winning at top-seeded Goose Creek before falling at Northwestern.

“You talk about some football tradition,” Cribb said. “Go to Hartsville or Myrtle Beach or Northwestern or Goose Creek, and you’ll see the tradition those towns carry with their football.”

Now they’ll all be faced with coming to the state’s southernmost corner, which isn’t lost on Cribb. Swansea, for example, faces a ride of some 2 1/2 hours.

“Most teams we’ll play are going to have to travel a good ways,” he said. “That’s great.”

This story was originally published November 12, 2016 at 6:04 PM with the headline "Playoff matchups set as Bobcats settle in to embrace host role."