Prep notebook: History says there’s no place like home in football playoffs

Year after year, history tells us that home teams in the South Carolina football playoffs have an unmistakable advantage.

There are exceptions to the rule, of course, but those that have earned a first-round game at their own stadium did so for a reason, mostly because of decent success during the regular season.

The teams entering the playoffs this week know the numbers don’t lie when it comes to playing well at home.

Between the state’s lower three classes a season ago, 38 of the 48 games were won by the home team. That’s a win percentage of 79.2, or roughly four out of every five games.

In Class AAA, 13 of the 16 games in the opening round were won by the home team, although two of the three that weren’t involved local programs. North Myrtle Beach fell at home to Midland Valley, and Georgetown won 44-0 at Airport.

Bulldogs coach Bradley Adams said bucking the trend had a lot to do with the matchup, but also getting past the mental block.

“The whole aspect of the travel and actually playing that actual contest, there’s a lot that goes into it,” Adams said. “Sometimes you can have distraction – getting out of school a little earlier, where you’re going to have your pre-game meal, making it work getting to the stadium, if you have to go through traffic. All those things, psychologically, can play with a young man’s mind. They’re used to routine, that’s what they want.”

Of the seven area teams in the state’s lower three classes headed to the postseason, only three will be at home. Georgetown will host Darlington, Myrtle Beach will do the same against Dreher and Loris will be facing Wade Hampton.

The other four playoff-bound squads – St. James, North Myrtle Beach, Waccamaw and Carvers Bay – will be hitting the road. Carvers Bay, playing at Allendale-Fairfax, will have the longest trip of the bunch, with a two-hour, 45-minute bus ride needed to reach their first-round game. St. James (at Marlboro County) and North Myrtle Beach (at Hartsville) are looking at two hours of travel. Waccamaw’s region rematch against state powerhouse Dillon, even requires a bus ride of 1 hour, 20 minutes.

Logistically, playoff football can present some of those issues Adams mentioned before. But he also said the trick to overcoming them once the bus reaches its destination is, again, more mental than physical.

“We always find some way to motivate,” he said. “Going into Airport, they had a nice stadium. They have more things than we’ve got. We wanted to bring our country self to town, and we told our guys ‘You don’t have to have brick and mortar to be good.’ ”

MYRTLE BEACH’S OPPONENT COULD CHANGE

The South Carolina High School League announced Monday afternoon that Broome High School has filed an appeal in regards to the Class AAA playoffs.

Broome, according to an SCHSL release, believes that it, and not Dreher, should hold the final at-large bid from the Upper State contingent. Dreher was originally announced as Myrtle Beach’s first-round opponent.

The appeal will be heard as part of the SCHSL Executive Committee meeting that begins at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday. One of those two teams will be playing the Seahawks at Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium this Friday, barring any delays brought about by additional appeals.

FOOTBALL THIS AND THAT

▪ Conway and Carolina Forest won’t know their specific finalized seeds and opponents for the Class AAAA playoffs until later this week, although a game change in Columbia means the two schools will have one less day to wait. Blythewood’s game at Spring Valley, one of just two games being played in the state’s largest class this week, was moved to Thursday to accommodate a Class AAA playoff game. The results of that game will allow the rest of the field to be determined. Currently, Conway is projected to be at home in the opening round, while Carolina Forest is projected to travel.

▪ Of the seven area teams opening the playoffs this week, four are believed to be facing an opponent for the first time in school history. Those teams are Myrtle Beach (vs. Dreher), Georgetown (vs. Darlington), St. James (at Marlboro County) and North Myrtle Beach (at Hartsville).

▪ For the fourth straight year, there will be at least one Region VIII-AA rematch in the Class AA playoffs. Waccamaw will head to Dillon on Friday. Last year, Aynor, Waccamaw and Loris all faced Dillon in the Lower State bracket, meaning the Wildcats played eight consecutive games against region opponents. Jackie Hayes’ team is the favorite to win the state championship, which would be its fourth straight and sixth in the last eight seasons. Aynor and Marion also played each other in 2013, and Loris and Dillon met in the 2012 Lower State semifinals.

This story was originally published November 9, 2015 at 7:07 PM with the headline "Prep notebook: History says there’s no place like home in football playoffs."