With a little more than 11 minutes left in the first half of last week’s game against Greenville, the horizon looked bleak for Westside.

The Rams had lost the last two games by one point, including a stinging setback to Mauldin in overtime. Now they were down 14-0 at Greenville, staring a 1-4 start between the eyes.

“When we got down Friday night it didn’t seem to bother them,” Westside coach Ted Luckadoo said. “I turned around, walked up the sideline and (there) wasn’t a great deal of panic. We’re better than this, let’s get something going.”

Then somehow, they pulled a 180 and stunned the Red Raiders with 26 points in the second and third quarters to inch closer to .500.

“We’ve been building off of every week,” senior center Cameron McCarley said. “We had a real positive week last week, a big win, that’s exactly what we needed. Our practice habits haven’t changed, I think they’ve been more intense. Having the two tough losses, (and) having a big win like that, that builds a lot of morale.”

Now, the Rams (2-3) try to sustain the momentum they started in last week’s second quarter. Tonight, they welcome defending state champion Clover (3-2), not the typical homecoming opponent, in a stark contrast to pass-happy Greenville. The Rams will also be aware that a win tonight would give Luckadoo No. 200 in his career, the last 24 seasons with the Rams.

“We want to win regardless if that’s his 200th win or 500th win,” McCarley said. “Winning is winning, you can’t beat winning. But I think it’ll be a little sweeter if the win comes this week.”

The Blue Eagles utilize the Wing-T offense, which helped them knock off Beaufort for the state title last season, the same team that eliminated Westside in the second round. Clover returns six starters from the title team, but it’s the offense, as extreme as possible from Greenville, that concerns Westside.

In film preparation, Luckadoo noted nine running backs for Clover that help zap the clock.

“They don’t let you have the ball,” Luckadoo said. “And that’s going to be something that’s going to be a big challenge for our defense to stop them, and get the ball back to our offense, and when we get it, we’ve got to do something with it.”

Clover, which lost to Northwestern and Byrnes last season, reeled off seven straight wins before celebrating in Williams-Brice Stadium. During that streak, they allowed more than 14 points only once.

But before last week’s open date, the Blue Eagles lost to South Pointe (35-7) and Rock Hill (20-13).

“Seeing that Clover’s beatable,” McCarley said. “We can do it knowing that other teams have done it.”