The Class 4A high school football playoff bracket in South Carolina will be released on time along with other classifications despite the uncertainty surrounding the Ridge View football program.

The postseason brackets will be finalized and shared publicly Saturday after the five regions report their qualifiers and after at-large berths for Class 4A and 5A are determined. The playoffs begin on Nov. 4.

Ridge View High School will not be included on the initial playoff bracket for 4A, according to a source with knowledge of how the schedule will be determined. That could ultimately change depending on Ridge View’s fate Monday in front of an appellate panel.

On Friday, the South Carolina High School League’s Executive Committee voted to uphold sanctions against Ridge View’s football team for what an investigation showed was the use of three ineligible players this season. Ridge View had an 8-1 overall record and was 4-0 in Region 5-4A before the committee’s ruling. They were guaranteed no worse than a No. 2 seed and a home game in the Class 4A playoffs.

But the ruling strips them of the eight wins and, per S.C. rules, the Blazers won’t have a chance at a possible at-large berth because they had to forfeit more than two games.

A.C. Flora is a No. 1 seed right now from Region 5-4A — unless they lose to Ridge View on the field and the Blazers win the appeal. The rest of the region going into Friday’s games includes: Irmo (2-2), Richland Northeast (2-2), Lugoff-Elgin (2-2) and Westwood (2-2).

The winners of the LE-Irmo and Westwood-RNE games would be in the playoffs whether or not Ridge View wins the appeal. If Ridge View loses its appeal, the region’s fourth-place finisher would make the playoffs and the fifth-place team could qualify for an at-large spot.

This isn’t the first time there’s been uncertainty with a team in South Carolina that qualified for the postseason while facing eligibility questions. One of the more notable instances came in 2012 when Goose Creek High was banned from the postseason after it was ruled that they used an ineligible player.

The Gators were the defending state champions, and a judge initially granted a restraining order to allow them to play in the playoffs. Goose Creek defeated Conway and Bluffton before the SCHSL ruling was upheld and the Gators were banned.

Shortly afterward, the appellate panel was formed to give schools an extra shot to win their appeals process. The appellate panel has overturned some rulings, giving Ridge View some hope they can still make the postseason.

If the Blazers win their appeal, the 4A bracket will have to be adjusted with one team needing to be eliminated.

October 28, 2022 | State, The: Web Edition Articles (Columbia, SC)
Author/Byline: Lou Bezjak, The State | Section: high_school