WALHALLA — Prior to Thursday night’s home playoff-opener against Ninety Six, Walhalla High School boys’ soccer coach Michael Estes made it clear to his team that the regular season is nothing but a memory now, and that a new season has begun for his team.

However, the Razors’ new season began with some spillover from the their last regular season game, as they surged past Ninety Six by a final score of 10-2 following their first-round bye on Tuesday.

Walhalla (17-4) will now advance to the third round of the Class AA Upper State playoffs this Saturday at 2 p.m., when it will host the winner of Thursday’s game between Southside and Batesburg-Leesville.

Coming into Thursday’s victory, the Razors didn’t feel as though they played to their potential in a pair of late season, non-region games, but rebounded with a blowout win in the regular season finale to cap off an undefeated season in region play, which Estes said help set a tone for the playoffs.

“We didn’t play well at the end of the year against Christ Church and Southside Christian, and the guys were a little down,” he said. “Then we played Crescent here and beat them 13-0, and that was kind of a thing.

“All the kids have stepped up, and it’s the second season now. They know it’s do or die.”

Walhalla’s offensive onslaught began early, as senior Eric Moxley made his way through several Wildcat defenders on a breakaway to put the second-seeded Razors ahead 1-0.

He struck again just over three minutes later on a cross from Daniel Guinn, who finished the night with a goal and two assists.

Salomon Garcia, Alex Flores and Gerardo Vivaldo also added goals for Walhalla in the opening half, helping to open up a 5-0 lead.

Ninety Six (9-14) managed to score before the break however, as Blake Roller connected on a free kick nearly 15 feet in front of the midfield line to cut the deficit to 5-1.

The Razors then reeled off another five goals in the second half, including four straight goals to open the half, while Ninety Six was able to add a late score on a penalty kick from David Womack, who hit the game-winning shot with three seconds left in the Wildcats’ first-round victory at West-Oak on Tuesday.

Now as Walhalla prepares for Saturday’s third-round game, Estes said he doesn’t plan on having much trouble on refocusing his team after the lopsided victory over Ninety Six, thanks in large part to some experienced personnel.

Four players remain from the Razors’ team that made it to the State Championship game in 2005, and Estes said their leadership could be key to bringing the team back down after the win, and bringing a sense of humility to the locker room.

“They know what we missed out on last year because we got overconfident,” he said. “Now they know we can’t do that and we have to come out hard on Saturday.

“I tell the kids that in the blink of an eye, you’re in State and don’t even realize it. Then the other way around, in the blink of an eye, you can be done.”

Walhalla 10, Ninety Six 2

NS 1 1 — 2

WHS 5 5 — 10

First half

W — Moxley, 34:57

W — Moxley (Guinn), 31:23

W — Garcia (Moxley), 27:50

W — Flores (Guinn), 13:41

W — Vivaldo, 2:19

N — Roller, 0:45

Second half

W — Guinn, 35:16

W — Martinez,, 30:01

W — Cruz, 27:37

W — Vivaldo, 21:27

N — Womack, 6:18

W — Martinez, 5:20