Bulldogs Welcome A Lot Of New In 2019With the start of the new school year the Boiling Springs community will be experiencing a lot more new than normal as the Boiling Springs student body will be moving into a brand new one-hundred million dollar state of the art high school. The Boiling Springs football team will also be experiencing some new this season as they had some major changes this offseason as head football coach Rick Tate had to replace both coordinator positions after the end of last season when both former coordinators left the school for new opportunities. The Bulldogs long time offensive coordinator Travis Miller left to become the head football coach at Wade Hampton High School in Greenville while defensive coordinator Bobby James left the school for a job opportunity in the college ranks. With the loss of both coaches the Bulldogs found two replacements who bring quite a lot of experience to help lead the Bulldogs football team into the 2019 season. On the offensive side of the ball the Boiling Springs offense will now be led by Ed Susi who comes over from Lancaster High School where he led a Lancaster offense last season that averaged over twenty-eight points a game. Prior to arriving at Lancaster High School Susi was the head coach at Fort Mill High School where he compiled a school record 51 wins for the Yellow Jackets from 2006-2017. On the defensive side of the ball the Bulldogs will hand over the play calling duties to Mike Sexton who comes to Boiling Springs from Erwin High School in North Carolina. Sexton was the head coach at Erwin High School from 2007-2016 before resigning to focus on his job as athletic director. During his nine years as head coach at Erwin High School Sexton compiled a 74-37 record, which were some of the most successful seasons in the history of the Erwin High School football team. Sexton has spent his entire career coaching in North Carolina until this season. “It really will help the kids having two experienced guys to make these transitions easier,” said Bulldogs head coach Rick Tate. “It’s also going to help me because it’s always good having guys with that much experience that you can count on when things happen. I know a few years ago I had to step away for a family emergency and I had a guy there that I could count on to lead the team in my absence so it’s always good to have guys like that.” While the change at coordinators were new challenges, one change the Bulldogs will be used to is having a new face at the quarterback position this year as it will be the third year in a row that Boiling Springs will have a new face leading the offensive huddles. The Bulldogs will enter the 2019 season with either sophomore Tristan Smith or junior Jaylen Dodd taking over the reins of the Bulldogs offense as they have been competing throughout the spring, summer, and the start of fall camp for the job. “I couldn’t tell you who was going to start against Westside right now,” said Coach Tate. “We’re going to see how things shake out during the scrimmages and see who responds the best once they’re under the lights. Hopefully one will separate themselves from the other.” While the Bulldogs will have a lot of new faces around the team they will have some familiar faces in the backfield that will help take some of the pressure off whoever the new quarterback will end up being. The Bulldogs welcome back junior running back Charles McFadden and senior running back Kentavious Epps who combined to rush for 687 yards and seven touchdowns while sharing carries with Trey Miller last season. They will also be adding junior Cameron Mills to the mix from the JV team who Coach Tate has said has been their player of the offseason. While Boiling Springs graduated most of their wide receivers last year, another position with some new faces, they will have senior tight end Wyatt Bartkowiak returning to help lead that group in the 2019 season. The offensive line will be a young group but a group with experience as they played a lot of young players in that group last season and the most experienced of that group is senior Clay Caldwell who has started along the Bulldogs offensive line since his sophomore season. “With breaking in new quarterbacks it’s going to be valuable to have all the experience around them,” said Coach Tate. “If we can run the ball early it will take away some pressure from those guys as they get their feet wet under the lights on Friday night.” The defense will have to replace four players from last season’s team that have went on to play college athletics at the Division I and II levels. While the Bulldogs secondary loss Storm Duck and Shamar Wilson to the college ranks they should still be a tough group for opposing offenses as they will be led by junior safeties Dre Pinckney, who led the Bulldogs with four interceptions last season, and Caden Sullivan. Senior Marquise Graves will also be returning at cornerback while junior Troy Bell will be stepping in to take the place of Storm Duck. “We may be blessed with the best group of defensive backs we’ve ever had here,” said Coach Tate. “They are a very talented group as Marquise has really stepped up as a leader and Troy has had a great offseason for us. We also have Avery Stewart who is basically another starter that we are going to be able to rotate in during the games.” In the front seven the Bulldogs will be replacing two Shrine Bowlers from last season and will be replacing them with players that have similar goals of reaching that game themselves. One of those players is junior defensive tackle Ethan Rennels who was a key piece of the Bulldogs defensive line last season. The Bulldogs will also have senior Trell Robinson plus juniors Javias Woodruff and Justin Corbitt returning to the defensive line. At the linebacker position the Bulldogs will have senior Bryson Seay joining the team who transfers in from Polk County High School where he was a three year starter. “Those guys in the front seven especially on the defensive line were very similar to the guys on the offensive line last year because we started a lot of young guys up there last year,” said Coach Tate. “Ethan is a mature junior and so is Javias as they both started as sophomores last year. Trell has also stepped up as a leader for us on that defensive line.” The special teams unit will see senior Tanner Robbins return as the kicker for the Bulldogs this season after connecting on 71% of his field goals last season with a long of forty-yards. They will have to replace Trayson Fowler who punted for the Bulldogs last season and averaged more than thirty-seven yards a punt on thirty-four punts last year. “I’d put Tanner out there to kick a fifty yarder any time,” said Coach Tate. “He’s made out of that same mold as Grayson Atkins because he also works really hard at his craft and doesn’t shy away from the weight room. We also have Chad Stark that we feel we could turn to and only wish they were in different grades because we feel like we have two quality kickers.” The Bulldogs will kick off the 2019 season at home against Westside on August 30. New Fieldhouse Just One Of Several Improvements For Bulldogs AthleticsWhen the district decided to build a brand new Boiling Springs High School part of the funds were designated to improve current athletic facilities by either building new facilities or renovating the current ones. Last season the football stadium saw the first part of those renovations when the new field turf was laid down and this season there will be new features for fans to see as well. The first renovation that fans will notice is the brand new fieldhouse that will be located behind the west end zone that will house locker rooms, offices for coaches, and an on field training room just to name a few. Behind the fieldhouse fans will also notice the lights behind it that are in place for a brand new practice field that will increase the number of practice fields for the Bulldogs athletics program and will be especially beneficial during the spring sports season. Another renovation that has occurred is the building of new restroom facilities in the stadium that will be located on the western end of the stadium next to the athletic booster club concession stand. The area around the restrooms will also have a concrete patio area behind it where people will be able to stand and watch the games. “It’s all about the kids and it’s great to see the administration recognizing the importance to get new facilities for the athletics programs, the band, and all the students of Boiling Springs,” said Bulldogs head coach Rick Tate. “I can’t thank our administration enough for seeing the need and making the investment. Now with the new facilities the expectations will be high and it will be our job to make the investment worth the while.” The renovations to the areas around Bulldogs Stadium won’t be the only improved athletic facilities that fans will be seeing this season. After debuting the brand new softball and baseball fields last season the Bulldogs will also be debuting a brand new gymnasium that will be the home for both basketball and volleyball. The Bulldogs basketball teams will open up the brand new 2,000 seat basketball arena along with a 500 seat auxiliary gym this winter and the volleyball team will hope to be in there this fall as well. The athletic program will also soon start work on a brand new weight room that will be located in the current athletic building. Former Bulldogs Highlighting College RostersWhile the 2019 Boiling Springs Bulldogs will be busy looking to succeed on Friday nights they will also be keeping their eyes on Saturdays this fall to see how former teammates are doing at the collegiate level this season. In the Athlon Sports preview for the upcoming season the Bulldogs have four different players listed on the two deep for Division I-A teams next season and others competing at many different levels of the game. Colin Reed will be entering his senior season at Appalachian St where he will be going into his second season as the starter at tight end for the defending Sun Belt championship winning Mountaineers. Reed was named second team All-Sun Belt conference in the Athlon Sports magazine and was recently placed on the John Mackey Award watch list, which is the award given to the best tight end in the country. Staying in the Sun Belt Conference, Reed will be competing against former teammates as sophomore Chris Evans is listed as the starting outside linebacker at Coastal Carolina and Najee Thompson is listed as the backup at slot receiver for Georgia Southern. Reed, Thompson, and Evans all play in the same division in the Sun Belt conference so they will all be competing against each other at least once this season. Storm Duck who started at cornerback for the Bulldogs last year is now listed as the second team cornerback at the University of North Carolina under new head football coach Mack Brown. He isn’t the only former Bulldog that will be playing for an ACC school next season as former wide receiver Will Brown will be playing for the defending national championship winning Clemson Tigers again in the 2019 season. Michael Bollinger will also be playing at the Division I-A level as he will be lacing up his cleats again this year for the Liberty Flames who welcome in new head coach Hugh Freeze. On the Division I-AA level the Bulldogs have players on two of Athlon Sports top 25 teams at that level. Chard Gardner, Jason Hill, and Donovan Anderson will be playing for the number ten ranked Wofford Terriers who won the Southern Conference last season in a tie breaker with Furman who is ranked sixteenth and led on special teams by former Bulldog kicker Grayson Atkins who set many kicking records for the Paladins last season. Atkins was recently named the Southern Conference preseason kicker of the year at the Southern Conference media days. All four players will be joined in the Southern Conference by last year’s two Shrine Bowl players from Boiling Springs as Michael McDowell and Logan Billings will be suiting up for The Citadel. Former Bulldog Ethan Ray enters his junior season at Charleston Southern where he is a two-time All-Big South long snapper and enters this season as a preseason All-Big South conference selection. He will be joined at Charleston Southern by Trayson Fowler who excelled as both a punter and linebacker for the Bulldogs last season. Phillip McDowell enters his senior season at Carson-Newman as a first team All-South Atlantic Conference selection where he has rewritten the record books for the Eagles with fifty-seven career knockdown blocks and helped lead an Eagles offense that led the nation in rushing with 347 yards a game last season. An interesting fact about the location of one former Bulldog is that former running back KJ Rodgers will once again be playing for Walsh University who play their home games at Tom Benson Stadium in Canton, Ohio which is located next door to the NFL Hall of Fame. I am trying to keep up-to-date with all the former players’ locations and accomplishments so if you know of any I have missed please e-mail me at [email protected] or tweet me @bspringsjames. I have listed below the location of all former players that I know of that are playing at the collegiate level in the 2019 season. Colin Reed – Appalachian State Najee Thompson – Georgia Southern Chris Evans – Coastal Carolina Will Brown – Clemson Storm Duck – North Carolina Michael Bollinger – Liberty Jason Hill – Wofford Chad Gardner – Wofford Donovan Anderson – Wofford Grayson Atkins – Furman Michael McDowell – The Citadel Logan Billings – The Citadel Ethan Ray – Charleston Southern Patrick Smith - Charleston Southern Trayson Fowler – Charleston Southern Chance Guest - Erskine Phillip McDowell – Carson Newman Phillip Lark – North Greenville LaTrez Pinkney – SC State KJ Rodgers – Walsh University Joseph Gregory – Limestone Caden Peeler – Limestone Shamar Wilson - Limestone Andrew Sprouse – Newberry Tyler Lindsay – Newberry Dylan Brock – Averett *If anyone has been missed please e-mail me at [email protected] and let me know the player and the school they are attending Boiling Springs 2019 Football Video PreviewComments are closed.
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