On Tuesday afternoon the Boiling Springs Bulldogs walked away from a soggy golf course with a third place finish at the 5A State Championship tournament after shooting a team score of 664 in the two day tournament.
”I feel like we played okay but we’re really proud of what we did,” said Bulldogs head coach Shannon Turner. “Yesterday we struggled on the front nine but played well on the back nine. Today we played pretty even but they fought hard.” Boiling Springs came into the day only twelve shots behind Blythewood, who went on to win the 5A state championship, but the conditions on Tuesday seemed to give the Bulldogs trouble early. After a clear day on Monday all the teams were met with much different conditions on Tuesday as it was a soggy course which benefited the teams around the Bulldogs as they both improved their scores by double digits but Boiling Springs shot two shots higher. “The course played hard and they battled,” said Bulldogs assistant coach Macy Tate. “It was really foggy early and they had to play a club up on every hole and by the end of the round they didn’t anymore. They battled really hard.” The Bulldogs did get two really good performances over the two day tournament as MK Talledo and Madison Dixon both made the All-State team. Talledo finished the two day tournament tied for third with a score of 151 while Dixon finished just behind in a tie for fourth with a score of 153. While the Bulldogs fell short of their ultimate goal they did finish the year on a positive note shooting a school record 295 just two weeks ago at the region tournament. While it’s too early for the Bulldogs to talk about next season they did have their eye on next season with a few moves and knowing Talledo and Dixon will be back off All-State performances. “We’re losing Kylie and Gracie this year but we’ll also have MK and Madison returning,” said Turner. “We will also have Faith Nanna and Sarah Wentz coming back who both got experience the last two days in the state tournament and that’s why we chose to play them both in the fifth spot for the last two days.” Two of Gaffney’s first three touchdowns in the first quarter on Friday night came from over fifty yards as the Indians captured a 56-13 victory over Boiling Springs at The Reservation.
“They came out early and made plays and we didn’t,” said Bulldogs head could Rick Tate. “We did a poor job of getting our guys ready to play and that’s on me.” The first touchdown of the night came on a seven yard run by Gaffney's Kelvin Kirby to grab a 7-0 lead just over a minute into the game. The next score came when Stan Ellis, who committed to Appalachian St earlier in the day, took a handoff from the quarterback on a jet sweep and then completed a sixty-two yard touchdown pass to De'Mari Littlejohn to give Gaffney a 14-0 lead. On the next Gaffney possession Ellis got another touchdown but this time he caught a fifty-six yard touchdown pass from quarterback Undre Lindsey to give the Indians a 21-0 lead at the end of the first quarter. The big plays were big for the Indians in the first quarter as all the scoring plays were so quick in the first quarter that all three scoring plays took a combined one minute and twenty-one seconds. In the second quarter Gaffney was able to add to their lead four minutes into the second quarter when Lindsey found Kirby on a twenty-four yard touchdown pass on a fourth and sixteen play to put the Indians up 28-0. Lindsey found Natron Johnson just four minutes later on a twenty-eight yard touchdown pass to give Gaffney a 35-0 lead. Boiling Springs picked up their first score of the game with just over two minutes left in the first half when quarterback Jalen Dodd found Brent Fowler on a sixteen yard touchdown pass that saw Fowler break three tackles by the Indians and make the score 35-7 late in the first half. Gaffney's Undre Lindsey connected on his fourth touchdown pass of the first half when he found Stan Ellis again but this time on a thirty-nine yard touchdown pass to give the Indians a 42-7 lead with just over a minute left in the half. The Indians made the score 49-7 at halftime when Gaffney defensive back Rodney Smith intercepted a Bulldogs pass and returned it sixty-four yards for a touchdown. Lindsey had a huge first half for Gaffney as he finished the first half with 284 yards passing and four touchdowns. In the second half Gaffney got a score with three minutes to go in the third quarter when quarterback Edward Jeffries found Littlejohn for his second touchdown on a six yard touchdown pass. The Bulldogs got their second score of the game when Dodd picked up his second touchdown pass when he found Carlos Carson for a twenty-three yard touchdown in the right side of the endzone to put the final score at 56-13. ”We have a great group of kids and we’ll regroup this week,” said Tate. “We’ll play better next week and then we’ll get ourselves ready for the playoffs.” The loss ends a two game winning streak for the Bulldogs and they will look to rebound next week on senior night as they host Byrnes. On Monday afternoon Boiling Springs senior cornerback Marquise Graves was selected to participate in the 2019 North-South All-Star game. Graves was selected to the North team that will be coached by Spartanburg head football coach Chris Miller.
Graves has had an outstanding season in the secondary for the Bulldogs as he has registered thirty-two tackles and added two interceptions through the first eight games of the season. He will be joined on the North team by some other local players as Chapman’s Ben Rollins and Dante Smith, Caden Richards from Gaffney, Noah Alberry from Dorman, Thomias Robinson from Spartanburg, and Chuck Strickland and Joshua Byrd from Byrnes will also be members of the North team. The Touchstone Energy Cooperative North-South All-Star game will be played at Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium in Myrtle Beach, SC on December 14th. A complete list of both teams can be found here. The Boiling Springs golf team qualified for the state championship by finishing second at the 5A Upper State tournament held at the Waterford Golf Club in Rock Hill on Monday.
The Bulldogs backed up their strong performance at the region championship, where they shot a school record low score of 295, with another low score as they shot a team score of 301 on Monday. They trailed only Blythewood who won the tournament with a score of 296. MK Talledo, the II-5A region player of the year, led the Bulldogs on Monday with a score of 68 which was the lowest score of the tournament. Madison Dixon also finished under par for the Bulldogs on Monday as she shot a score of 70. The Bulldogs will now prepare for the 5A state championship that will be held October 28-29 at Mid Carolina In a game that saw forty points scored in a first quarter that lasted over fifty minutes it was the Boiling Springs defense that came up big to help the Bulldogs defeat Hillcrest 30-20 on Friday night. The Bulldogs defense limited Hillcrest to just thirty yards of second half offense.
"I can't say enough about that second half performance by our defense," said Boiling Springs head coach Rick Tate. "That's a very talented offense for Hillcrest and for our defense to hold them to thirty yards in a half that's pretty big for our defense." When the game got started it had the pace of a shootout and the scoring got started when Boiling Springs junior quarterback Jalen Dodd found junior wide receiver Caden Sullivan racing down the right sideline for a forty-six yard touchdown pass to give the Bulldogs an early 7-0 lead. On Hillcrest's first possession of the game the Rams were facing a third and nine at their own sixteen when Bulldog's senior defensive lineman Trell Robinson forced a fumble that was recovered by senior linebacker Bryson Seay at the Rams six yard line. On the first play after the turnover Boiling Springs' Kentavious Epps ran the ball in from six yards out giving the Bulldogs a 13-0 lead. Hillcrest jumped on the board two minutes later after capping off an eighty yard drive when quarterback Ethan Beamish took off down the left side putting the Boiling Springs lead at 13-6 with just over five minutes to go in the quarter. After a three and out for the Bulldogs the Rams once again added to their total when Beamish found Deonte Smith on a nineteen yard touchdown pass to put the Boiling Springs lead at 13-12 with just over two minutes to go. After the touchdown Hillcrest was able to recover an onside kick and just a few plays later Beamish found Smith again on thirty-two yard touchdown pass to give the Rams their first lead at 20-13 after a successful two point conversion attempt. The Bulldogs weren't done with the first quarter scoring though as Carlos Carson returned the ensuing kickoff inside the Rams redzone and after a penalty against Hillcrest set the Bulldogs up at the Hillcrest five yard line. On the very next play Kentavious Epps ran his second touchdown of the night in from five yards out tying the game 20-20 at the end of the first quarter. "We struggled some their on offense but our offense was very opportunistic tonight," said Tate. "When our defense gave us the ball in a good spot on the field we took advantage of it." In the Bulldogs first drive of the second quarter they were able to drive deep into Hillcrest territory and brought on kicker Tanner Robbins for a field goal that sailed right but he was injured on the play and picked up a roughing the kicker penalty. After the roughing call and with Robbins unable to kick at the time, senior kicker Chad Stark came on to hit a thirty-one yard field goal giving the Bulldogs a 23-20 lead that they held all the way to halftime. Both teams were unable to score in the third quarter leading to a back and forth battle in the fourth quarter as both teams were waiting for the other to blink. The big play finally happened on a Hillcrest third and eight at the Boiling Springs thirty-two yard line when Bulldogs junior defensive lineman Ethan Rennels forced a Hillcrest fumble that was recovered by fellow lineman Trell Robinson who returned it to the Hillcrest twenty-one yard line. Boiling Springs was unable to get the ball into the endzone on the ensuing possession after going for it on fourth down from the two yard line and failing but left the Rams with a long field in front of them. Hillcrest was unable to move the ball and after failing to convert on a fourth and eight from their own five yard line Boiling Springs took back possession of the ball and didn't waste their opportunity. After a false start penalty on the Bulldogs put them at their own six yard line on third down, Kenatvious Epps was able to score his third touchdown of the game giving Boiling Springs a 30-20 lead with just two minutes to go. "It has been great having Kentavious back and it was great seeing him to do that after coming back from injury," said Tate. "We have three really good backs and I believe no matter whose number got called they would have gotten the job done. Those guys thrive off of each other and they're very unselfish players who just make each other better," The Bulldogs have now won two games in a row in region play and will look to keep that trend rolling when they travel to Gaffney next week for another region matchup. Boiling Springs was unable to overcome some key runs by Byrnes as they fell to the Rebels 3-0 on Thursday night in the regular season finale for both teams. In set one both teams battled back and forth as there were ten lead changes between both teams with the last lead change coming when the Rebels took a 18-17 lead. After the final lead change Byrnes went on an 8-2 run to capture a 25-19 win over the Bulldogs in set one. The second set was another close one as both teams were tied four different times in the match with the last time being at 19-19 before Byrnes went on a 5-1 run. With the Bulldogs trailing 24-20 they were able to score three straight points with one being an ace serve from Madison Gregory before the Rebels captured the final point winning the set 25-23 to go up 2-0 in the match. "I felt like in game one and game two we had some good momentum but we just couldn't get consistent and Byrnes just kept chipping away," said Bulldogs head volleyball coach Allyson Elliot. "Byrnes really battled us tonight and we couldn't get things to fall our way like they did Tuesday night." The third set was all Rebels as they started the match leading 3-0 before the Bulldogs tied it up at 3-3. The Rebels then outscored the Bulldogs 22-12 the rest of the match to win the set 25-15 and win the overall match 3-0. While the Bulldogs season didn’t end how they wanted they still have hopes for the 5A playoffs that begin on October 24th. Bulldogs Tennis Wins Regular Season FinaleOn Wednesday afternoon the Boiling Springs team honored their lone senior Erica Krechko and sent her out with a victory as they defeated Broome 6-0 in their final regular season game.
Krechko picked up a win for the Bulldogs on senior night as she defeated Jarden Carroll (6-2, 6-1) while Madison Ball won (6-1, 6-2) in number one singles. Sydney Braswell was the only Bulldog to win in straight sets (6-0, 6-0) as she picked up a victory in number two singles. Lydia Sparks (6-2, 6-2) and Emily Krechko (6-3, 6-0) also picked up victories in number three and number four singles for the Bulldogs. Boiling Springs finished out their victory over Broome on Wednesday night with a win by Emma Kotzur and Victoria Leonard (6-2, 6-0) in doubles play. With the graduation of only one senior this year the Bulldogs are prepared to be returning their top four singles players for next season as well as all members of their doubles teams. The Boiling Springs Bulldogs volleyball team picked up a 3-0 victory over Gaffney on Tuesday night as they honored their five seniors in their last regular season home game. The Bulldogs honored seniors Lauryn Henderson, Creighton Sparks, Jordan Scharpenberg, Meghan Scharpenberg, and Carley Szustak who all have been key contributors to the Bulldogs program.
"The five seniors we have here are very unique and have really invested into the younger players," said Bulldogs head coach Allyson Elliot. "Being here for a few years I see those leadership come out in our older players and this group hasn't been any different. It has been really exciting to have this group of seniors with us this year." The Bulldogs grabbed a victory in game one as they defeated the Indians 25-14 as they scored the last three points of the match and finished it off when sophomore Savannah Page killed the ball into the right back corner off an assist from junior Madison Gregory. In game two the Bulldogs went on an 8-0 run to start the game as Madison Gregory got seven straight points serving during the run and ended up getting an ace serve to win the game 25-13 putting the Bulldogs ahead 2-0. "Madison when she gets on a role is really strong at serving," said Elliot. "She is pretty mentally tough and started us out on the right foot by giving us good serves and setting the ball well to help get us going." In the final game the Bulldogs fell behind early but fought back to take the lead at 20-19 and never looked back and it was only fitting that the final three points came off the serves from senior Meghan Scharpenberg with the final point coming when fellow senior Creighton Sparks spiked the ball to the left of side of the Indians defense giving the Bulldogs a 3-0 victory. "The girls came in here tonight really pumped and excited," said Elliot. "Sometimes you have teams that peak early in the season and I feel like we didn't do that. We're peaking here late it the season which is the best time to be peaking." In their final home match Carley Szustak led the Bulldogs in blocks with five while Meghan Scharpenberg co-led the Bulldogs in aces with two tied with Madison Gregory. Savannah Page led the Bulldogs in kills with eighteen while Madison Gregory led the Bulldogs in assists with thirty-three. Alex Fyfe led the Bulldogs in digs with sixteen and was followed closely by Zoe Hughes who picked up ten digs. Senior Creighton Sparks also finished the night in second place for kills with eight on Tuesday night. Boiling Springs will finish up their regular season on the road at Byrnes but the Bulldogs hope it won't be their last match as they continue to battle for a playoff position. "We have a big game Thursday against Byrnes for our playoffs," said Elliot. "I told the kids lets control what we can and I expect our girls to bring the same energy and excitement over to Byrnes on Thursday." The Boiling Springs girl’s golf team set a school record on Tuesday afternoon on their way to their fourth straight region championship. The Bulldogs set a new school record low score of 295 defeating their next closest opponent by thirty-eight shots.
”We set a school record with the 295 today,” said Bulldogs head coach Shannon Turner. “It’s an amazing accomplishment for the girls and I couldn’t be more proud of how they played today.” Boiling Springs came in to the tournament with a lot of confidence as the tournament was being played at Woodfin Ridge which is the home course for the Bulldogs. Coach Turner said that with the tournament being played on their home made this one a little more special for the Bulldogs. ”I think the girls were very confident today with it being their home course,” said Turner. “They have been looking forward to this tournament all season and we really improved on our putting today which is something we’ve been working on.” Boiling Springs also had four players make All-Region on Tuesday as Madison Dixon (73), Kyleigh Antley (77), and Gracie Greene (81) joined the region player of the year MK Talledo on the team after Talledo shot a tournament low sixty-four. Coach Turner was also named the Region II-5A Coach of the Year. ”I’m really proud of the girls as we had three of our lowest scores of the season today,” said Turner. “I’m just so excited for the girls.” Boiling Springs with the win qualified for the 5A Upperstate Tournament that will be held at Waterford Golf Club in Rock Hill on Monday. They will be joined at the tournament by fellow region members Byrnes, Dorman, Spartanburg, and Mauldin who all qualified on Tuesday as well. It took three overtimes to get it accomplished but Boiling Springs was able to extend their winning streak over the Vikings to six straight games when the Bulldogs defense held Spartanburg on fourth down to come away with a 44-37 victory on Friday night.
"I can't say enough about our kids tonight because we came out on fire and then we had a lull but they just fought back," said Bulldogs head coach Rick Tate. "This is probably one of the biggest wins I've ever been a part of." The Bulldogs got the scoring started on their first drive when senior kicker Tanner Robbins kicked a fifty yard field goal to tie former Bulldog and current Furman kicker Grayson Atkins, who was in attendance at the game, for the longest field goal in school history. Boiling Springs added to their lead when junior quarterback Jalen Dodd found junior running back Cam Mills on a thirteen yard touchdown pass that deflected off another Bulldogs player before finding Mills to give the Bulldogs a 10-0 lead at the end of the first quarter. "They told me it was a fifty yarder before we lined up for the kick and I told them I knew because I have all the confidence in the world that Tanner could make that kick," said Tate about Robbins fifty yard field goal. Spartanburg got their first score of the game just a minute into the second quarter when running back Shaqur Anderson-Mullins ran the ball in from eleven yards out to make the score 10-7 in favor of Boiling Springs. The Bulldogs struck back just two minutes later when Dodd found junior wide receiver Carlos Carson on a crossing pattern and then he outran the Vikings defense for an eighty yard touchdown giving Boiling Springs a 17-7 lead. The Vikings found the endzone on their next possession when Quinton Holbert ran the ball in from one yard out and made the score 17-13 after a missed extra point attempt. Spartanburg chipped into the Bulldogs lead again when kicker and Shrine Bowl selection Henry Bishop booted a twenty-seven yard field goal to put the Boiling Springs lead at 17-16 when the halftime buzzer sounded. Both teams went scoreless in the third quarter with both defenses making key plays to hold the other teams offense off the scoreboard. In the fourth quarter the Vikings grabbed their first lead of the game when Anderson-Mullins got his second touchdown of the game this time on a four yard run to put Spartanburg ahead 23-17. After the Bulldogs were unable to move the ball on their next possession Spartanburg went on a six minute drive that ended in a missed field goal giving Boiling Springs just over three minutes to tie the game. After the missed field goal the Bulldogs had just over three minutes and eighty yards to go to keep their hopes of a win alive. The drive was led by quarterback Jalen Dodd who went six of seven for fifty-nine yards on the drive and completed the drive with a nine yard touchdown pass to Carlos Carson to tie the game at 23-23 and sent the game into overtime.. In the first overtime the Bulldogs got on the board first when Dodd found junior running back Charles McFadden on an eight yard touchdown pass to the right side to go up 30-23. The Vikings answered back on their possession in overtime when Anderson-Mullins ran the ball up the middle on fourth and one to tie the game at 30-30 at the end of the first overtime period. Spartanburg got on the board first in the second overtime when Anderson-Mullins scored again on a two yard touchdown run to give the Vikings a 37-30 lead. On the Bulldogs possession they were sacked on third down before getting a big play on fourth down when Dodd found McFadden in the left corner of the endzone on a fifteen yard pass to tie the game at 37-37 at the end of the second overtime. In the third overtime Boiling Springs grabbed the lead first when Dodd found Carson on a twelve yard touchdown pass on third and twelve to give the Bulldogs a 44-37 lead. On the ensuing Spartanburg possession the Vikings were facing fourth and ten when Boiling Springs senior defensive lineman Trell Robinson came up with a sack to seal the victory for the Bulldogs. Jalen Dodd finished the night going fifteen of twenty-one for 214 yards passing while adding six touchdowns through the air. Carlos Carson led the Bulldogs in receiving with six catches for 130 yards and three touchdowns while Charles McFadden led the Bulldogs on the ground rushing the ball twelve times for sixty yards. "I'm so proud of how Jalen played tonight and how he grew up tonight, I'm just so glad I was here to see that and he just played his butt off," said Tate. "We also got Charles back tonight and it just added a whole different dynamic to the offense." On the defensive side of the ball the Bulldogs were led in tackles by Austin Henderson and Bryson Seay who both registered seven tackles on the night and they were followed closely by Cam Philson who registered six tackles with two tackles for loss. "Our defense came up with some big stops for us tonight to give our offense a chance to get back on the field," said Tate. "I just can't say enough about their effort tonight." The Bulldogs will look to build on the win against the Vikings when they travel to Hillcrest next week in another region matchup. The Boiling Springs tennis team defeated the Gaffney Indians 4-2 on Thursday afternoon in a region matchup.
Boiling Springs fell in number one singles but picked up big wins in the number two, four, and five singles to help get the victory. Sydney Braswell picked up the win for the Bulldogs in the number two singles without dropping a game (6-0, 6-0) and Erica Krechko completed the feat as well in number five singles (6-0, 6-0). Emily Krechko picked up the win in number four singles (6-2, 6-0) and the Bulldogs got the deciding victory when Victoria Leonard and Emma Kotzur won (6-2, 6-4) in doubles play. The Bulldogs will return to action on Tuesday at Byrnes in another region matchup before hosting Broome on Thursday afternoon for senior night. |
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