50 questions about the 2024 South Carolina high school football season in the Upstate

With the Upstate high school football nearing its regular-season opening night on Aug. 23, here are 50 questions that will be answered in the coming months.

1. With the move up to Class AAAA, will defending AAA champion Daniel be able to maintain dominance that produced three state titles and a 51-1 record in the past four years?

2. Can back-to-back Class A state champion Christ Church (27-3) maintain that kind of excellence after moving up two classifications to Region 2-AAA?

3. Can Gaffney give retiring coach Dan Jones a second state championship in four years and a third overall to match Phil Strickland, for whom Jones took over in 2010?

4. How will Byrnes navigate a season in which the Rebels play on the road every week while a new stadium is being constructed?

5 How will the move from Broome to start-up school Mountain View Prep affect Jaylen McGill, the state’s No. 1 running back for the 2026 class by 247Sports?

6. Will J.L. Mann be able to contend for a Class AAAAA state title after reaching the semifinals last year in what was the Patriots’ best season since 1984?

7. How quickly can Greenville’s first-year starting quarterback Banks Bouton, a junior, learn to master operate the up-tempo offense of new coach Jaybo Shaw?

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8. How much will the graduation of 39 seniors hurt a T.L. Hanna team that went 10-2 and lost by three points in the Class AAAAA playoffs to eventual state champion Dutch Fork?

9. With Class AAA state champion Daniel now in AAAA, does Belton Honea Path (13-1 last season averaging 48.7 points) have a clear runway to its first state title since 2004?

10. Is Riverside wide receiver / tight end Mikkel Skinner (6-foot-3, 220), a four-star recruit committed to Cincinnati with an offer from South Carolina, the best player in the state?

11. Is South Carolina commit Jaquavious Dodd of Eastside (13 sacks, 12 quarterback hurries, 24 tackles for loss) the best pass-rusher in the state?

12. How will J.L. Mann use running backs Nacyus Morrison (963 yards, 20 TDs) and Obadiah Jones (7.0 yards per carry and four 100-yard games) after the transfer from Greer of Ladainnian Martin (state’s No. 1 running back by 247Sports)?

13. How will Westside use Byrnes transfers Armoni Weaver and Chamarryus Bomar, who are highly ranked defensive backs (Appalachian State commits) but could fill voids at receiver?

14. Does Gaffney have the Upstate's best offensive line duo in senior South Carolina commit Shedrick Sarratt and junior Scottland Dover, who has an offer from Tennessee?

15. Is it possible for Belton-Honea Path running back and Clemson commit Marquise Henderson to score 40 rushing touchdowns?

16. Is Blue Ridge senior KB Henderson (1,332 rushing yards 6.3 per carry, 17 touchdowns, no college offers) the most underrated running back in the Upstate?

17. Will Hillcrest junior quarterback Kalab Sutton be able to take another big step in his progress like last season, when he seemed to improve each week after transferring from Easley?

18. Can Paul Sutherland in his fourth season at Class AA Liberty (17 years at Pendleton) and son Ty Sutherland, second season at Class AAAAA Woodmont, both make the playoffs?

19. Can Boiling Springs all-state lacrosse player Lincoln Huskey make a similar impact as a football quarterback after throwing for 1,707 yards and 14 touchdowns last season?

20. Will the promotion of Sam Houston from defensive coordinator to head coach give Easley a boost it needs in moving up to Class AAAAA?

21. How much improvement under second-year coach Andre Cook will Mauldin make in its rebuilding process after going 1-20 during the past two seasons?

22. How much will it help second-year coach Jake Morris and Dorman to have stability in that position for the first time since Dave Gutshall retired in 2021?

23. Will Christ Church wide receiver Jackson Repp be able to dazzle in Class AAA the way he did last year in Class A (1,510 yards, 24.0 per catch, 27 touchdowns)?

24. Can Spartanburg (6-6) improve its offense enough to flip things around from last season after not allowing more than 24 points in any of its losses?

25. Can new coach Reuben Wright, former defensive coordinator at Class AAAAAA Wharton in Tampa, Florida,  make Wade Hampton competitive in the brutal Region 2-AAAAA?

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL POSITION RANKINGS: Greenville subscribers: | Offensive line | Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver | Defensive back | Linebackers | Defensive line

26. Can third-year program Fountain Inn under coach Brett Nichols and quarterback Sam Holliday go from a winless debut season to 3-7 last year to making the Class AAA playoffs?

27. Can Southside rebound from a winless 2023 and get back toward the level that had the Tigers in the Class AAA playoffs five times in the previous six seasons?

28. How will Class AAAA state champion Westside and quarterback Cutter Woods, a South Carolina commit, look with a talented but different group of wide receivers?

29. Can Wren (6-6, 4-1 Region 2-AAA) and quarterback Colton Bagwell (1,534 yards passing with 1,166 yards rushing and 28 total TDs) continue to impress after moving up to Class AAAA?

30. With four returning starters on the offensive line, does Greer have the strength up front to go unbeaten again in Region 2-AAAA despite the loss of key position players?

31. What does a healthy season for Pickens running back Carter McCollum look like after he missed 2022 and rushed for 1,396 yards last year despite torn ligaments in his thumb?

32. Will first-year program Mountain View be able to leap straight to the top of Region 3-AAA with established programs like Broome, Chapman, Union County and Woodruff?

33. Can Byrnes (10-2, 4-0 last season) win the power-packed Region 2-AAAAA again and have its best playoff run since beating Gaffney for the Upper State in 2018?

34. How will Travelers Rest do after moving up to Class AAAA under new head coach Chris Goodman, who was 30-9 in three years at St. Joseph’s?

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL POSITION RANKINGS: Spartanburg subscribers: | Offensive line | Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver | Defensive back | Linebackers | Defensive line

35. Will Pendleton senior wide receiver Abijah Webb (80 catches for 1,146 yards with 15 touchdowns last season but still no college offers) become one of the state's most sought-after wideouts?

36. How will Gaffney quarterback Jayvon Gilmore (Arkansas commit) handle Region 2-AAAAA after transferring from SCISA program Ben Lippen?

37. Can Carolina break an eight-year streak and be able to celebrate a region victory?

38. Can Palmetto in the second year under coach Ryan Norton have its first winning season since its Region 2-AAA championship in 2020?

39. Will Powdersville (5-6) get back to the level of 2021 and 2022, when the Patriots went a combined 25-3 and made a Class AAA state championship game?

40. How will Southside Christian and St. Joseph’s do after moving up two classifications, following rival Christ Church to Region 2-AAA?

41. Was it a sign of things to come for Woodruff and breakout quarterback TJ Morris when he passed for 1,206 yards and 14 touchdowns in the last four games in 2023?

42 How will Broome’s high-powered offense (48.7 points per game) replace a quarterback who graduated and a top prospect running back who transferred?

43. How long can Chapman extend its impressive winning streak -- seven years, 31 games -- against region opponents?

44. How much can new Union County coach Quinnon Isom, former defensive coordinator at Crest (N.C.), improve a team that allowed more than 50 points per game last season?

45. How will St. Joseph’s athletics director Eric Nash, former longtime Wofford offensive line coach, do in his first season as a head coach?

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL POSITION RANKINGS: Anderson subscribers: | Offensive line | Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver | Defensive back | Linebackers | Defensive line

46. Can Crescent build momentum and keep it better than last season (5-2 start with 6-5 finish) to take advantage of BHP's departure from the region?

47. Can Blacksburg continue to build on a season during which the Wildcats had more wins (three) than in the two previous seasons combined?

48. Can Berea continue to build in its third season at the Class AAAA level (previously there in 2018-19) after the offense improved more than 10 points per game last season?

49. Will new coach Brent Chappell be able to bring immediate success to Chesnee after his 11 years, five region championships and 94 victories at Pisgah (N.C)?

50. How much will Landrum’s offense improve after its best scoring season (29.3 points per game) in a decade under second-year coach Brent Bridges, former Broome offensive coordinator?

Todd Shanesy is an award-winning senior writer who now covers high school athletics for the Greenville News, Spartanburg Herald-Journal and Anderson Independent Mail in the USA TODAY Network. Contact him by email at todd.shanesy@shj.com . Follow him on X, formerly called Twitter, at @ToddShanesySHJ .

This article originally appeared on Herald-Journal: 50 questions about the 2024 South Carolina high school football season in the Upstate