A pair of Easley defenders take down a Riverside ballcarrier during a recent scrimmage at Easley High School. The Green Wave will be in action twice this week, hosting their own jamboree Thursday and playing in the Pickens jamboree Friday.

By Ben Robinson
Staff Reporter

brobinson@thepccourier.com

COUNTY — School does not officially start until Aug. 19, but high school football has already kicked off for the 2014 preseason, and the action will continue to ramp up this week.

Although local teams have been hosting and traveling to scrimmages since opening practice on Aug. 1, fans got their first taste of jamboree action last Saturday night as the Foothills FCA jamboree was held at Liberty High School.

In the nightcap, defending Upper State champion Daniel dominated Greenville with a 27-0 victory in a half, one of four shutouts in five halves at the jamboree.

Other county teams in action were the homestanding Red Devils, who took a 14-0 win over West-Oak, and Pickens, which fell 28-7 to Woodruff. In the other two halves, Berea squeaked past Walhalla by a 6-0 final and Seneca blew by Pendleton 28-0.

The preseason continues this week as Easley will host its annual jamboree on Thursday night and Pickens will host its jamboree Friday.

At the Easley jamboree, Liberty will face Seneca in the first period, beginning at 6 p.m. J.L. Mann will face Pickens in the second period, then the Green Wave will take on Walhalla in the final action of the night.

A familiar face to many Pickens County fans will pay a visit to Pickens for its jamboree Friday night, as the Blue Flame will take on Clover, led by former Pickens standout and former Easley coach Chad Smith, in the nightcap.

The Pickens jamboree will open at 5:30 p.m. with a matchup of Pendleton and Walhalla, followed by Wade Hampton taking on Daniel and West-Oak playing Easley.

After getting their final tune-ups in the jamborees, Pickens and Easley will kick off the season next Friday night with the annual Meals on Wheels Sam Wyche Food Fight Bowl at Pickens. Liberty will also begin the season that night when it heads to Crescent, while Daniel will hold its annual Daniel Day Jamboree to fine-tune for its regular-season opener the following Friday.

The Daniel Day Jamboree will kick off with Palmetto and Walhalla squaring off at 7 p.m., followed by Daniel taking on Greer to close the night.

The Lions will open their season on Aug. 29 at Easley.