Photo by Ken Ruinard

Abbeville running back Gavagio Enwright dashes between Pendleton defenders Anthony Eubanks, left, and C.J. Gleason, right, in the second quarter Friday in Abbeville.

Photo by Nathan Gray

The D.W. Daniel High School football team defeated the Belton-Honea Path High School football team on Friday night 24-7 at Daniel High School. Friday night was senior night at Daniel.

These Friday rain forecasts are really starting to drown the buzz of Friday night football. (In a drought, I love the rain as much as the next person, but does it all have to come on Friday night?) But what the rain tries to wash away, playoff fever is more than making up for.

Unfortunately, it hasn’t been a bang up year for most local teams. Anderson County squads, for example, are a combined 23-33, the worst collective season easily since the 1990s. Pendleton is the only Anderson area team above .500, and only Palmetto is at .500 among the other six teams.

So barring a colossal turnaround, most area teams will be starting the playoffs on the road, if they make it, as they’re currently fighting for third and fourth spots in most of their regions.

So it’s up to undefeated D.W. Daniel and Abbeville to carry the local flag into the playoffs, which is good because they have two of their best teams in years. And that carries some weight for the tradition-rich programs.

So barring an upset in the next two weeks, we can whet our playoff appetite by looking ahead to potential playoff matchups.

While Belton-Honea Path fans were clamoring for a rematch after last week’s 24-7 Daniel win, which all but locked up the Western 3A title, the Bears’ offense simply isn’t diverse enough to secure a third-round meeting. Even with that stellar defense.

The more realistic matchups for the Lions on their path to Death Valley are Greer or J.L. Mann. A potential Greer meeting is interesting on several levels.

If they meet in the third round, it’d be a rematch of last year’s season opener, a 35-21 Daniel win. That game started the Daniel resurgence under then-second year coach Randy Robinson, in part because the Lions picked off three passes that game, a flurry of interceptions that was the identity of that season.

The Yellow Jackets’ have only lost once (to Byrnes) and are a bit of a Cinderella story following their late summer practice rules violation that first led to probation, then was rescinded. They’re also coached by Will Young, a Daniel alumnus, and childhood friend of Daniel offensive line coach Jamie Wilson.

J.L. Mann is another team ranked in the top five of most polls where Daniel is No. 1. The Patriots are 7-1 (lost to South Pointe), and have had only three of their seven wins decided by a touchdown or less.

To find the best competition for Abbeville, take a trip to the Lowcountry. Outside of Woodruff and Chesnee, the best AA teams next to Panther Nation hail from Timberland, Central, and Strom Thurmond, two of which moved from AAA this season.

All are undefeated and have yielded no more than 54 points (less than a touchdown per game). But since Abbeville will have to tangle with the Upstate’s finest to get to Death Valley, the Wolverines and Eagles are plenty formidable. And the good news for Panther fans is they probably won’t have to handle both since they hail from the same region, and play on Halloween.