With a young team last year the Boiling Springs football team was able to find their way into the 5A playoffs and the Bulldogs are counting on using that experience from last season to propel them into a deeper run in the playoffs as they look to be one of the two playoff participants from their new region in the 2020 season. “We had a lot of growing pains last year with young kids having to play significant time but that’ll be a positive for us this year with that experience coming back,” said Boiling Springs head coach Rick Tate. “With all the kids had to fight through last year with injuries and different things we believe it’s only going to make us stronger this year.” On the offensive side of the ball the Bulldogs went into last season with a quarterback battle but this season the job will be in the hands of senior Jalen Dodd, who started the final few games of last year for Boiling Springs. Dodd, in an offense that started off very run based, ended up the season throwing for 725 yards on fifty-six completions and twelve touchdowns. Tate says that having a senior quarterback like Dodd in control of the offense is very reassuring for the team especially with an offseason that has been anything but normal. “It’s great for the players and the coaches to have a guy like Jalen there leading the team with his experience,” said Tate. “Jalen has come back in such great shape knowing this is his team to lead. He’s throwing the ball very well and I’m just so proud of the work he has put in during the time we were gone. I feel fantastic about our quarterback situation this year.” The Bulldogs will be returning a lot of talent around Dodd as well as they’ll have two senior running backs in Charles McFadden and Cam Mills both back as they combined with former Bulldog Kentavious Epps to run for over 1,000 yards and ten touchdowns last season. That duo will be joined by Mon'tavious Perry-Dillard and they will be running behind a very experienced offensive line this year that will be returning Jacob Ridlehoover, Kylik Lynch, Carter Sloand, Elijah Hyatt, Jarod VanMaanen and Eric Lopez. “We feel like it’s the most experienced offensive line we’ve had coming back in a long time,” said Tate. “All of them worked hard before they left us and worked hard while they were gone. Some of the guys have come back stronger than they were when they left us.” At the wide receiver position the Bulldogs will be looking to get production from a group of experienced players mixed with youth as they look to get production from Charkie Singleton, Tedron Barber, Jacob Hamrick, and Jai’quez Thompson. On the defensive side of the ball the Bulldogs will have a lot of experience returning next season including their leading tackler from last season and two safeties that have committed to Division-I colleges. The defensive line will be led by senior Ethan Rennels who recorded thirty-one tackles last season along with fellow seniors Caleb Mobley, Justin Corbitt and junior Malik Harper. The defensive line has six different players that the Bulldogs feel they can rotate throughout a game. “Between our offensive and defensive line we probably have fifteen of the most athletic linemen we’ve had in a long time,” said Tate. “We really feel good about those groups this year.” At the linebacker position the Bulldogs will see the team returning their leading tackler from last season as senior Austin Henderson will return at middle linebacker, after leading the Bulldogs with ninety-three tackles last season. “Austin was our team MVP last year and he’s just a great tackler,” said Tate. “He averaged almost fifteen tackles a game last season and will be joined by a good group with Shantez Durham Whiteside and Matthew Slaten along with some really good kids off the JV team that are battling for some spots.” In the secondary the Bulldogs will be returning senior safeties Dre Pinckney (Coastal Carolina commit) and Caden Sullivan (Appalachian St commit) along with senior cornerbacks Avery Stewart and Troy Bell as the group will also be adding junior Kameron Meadows, who had forty-three tackles at linebacker last season while also contributing on the offensive end with five receptions. Pinckney and Sullivan combined to grab five of the Bulldogs seven interceptions last season as the group as a whole looks to make passing a tough option for opposing offenses. “Our defense is a group that has been together a long time and have worked hard,” said Tate. “We’ve had a lot of players come back to the team bigger and stronger than they were when they left here and that’s a testament to how focused these guys are to accomplishing their goals this season.” While the rules from the pandemic have created many changes for the team this season, those aren’t the only changes the team will be facing as the Bulldogs will be joining Region III-5A this season with Clover, Fort Mill, Gaffney, and Nation Ford. While it’s a new region it’s also one that’s not completely unfamiliar to the team as they were the original champions of the region back in 2016 but one thing that will be different for them and every other team will be opening up their season starting region play. “We’re real familiar with a lot of those teams as we’re used to seeing Gaffney and we’ve seen Clover and Nation Ford recently,” said Tate. “Fort Mill is the only one we haven’t seen in a while but we open up with Gaffney and we’ve built a pretty good little rivalry with them. We start our season off there with them and if you’re a kid wanting to make a name there’s not a better place than at The Reservation. I think the kids are just ready to play football so starting out with region it won’t be as big of a deal for them as it probably will be for us coaches.” Pandemic Changes Recruiting ProcessAs with any seniors going into their final year of high school, the senior football players of the Boiling Springs Bulldogs are busy trying to make decisions about their futures past this season but there’s one big difference from normal years, with an active pandemic it’s hard to visit many campuses to help make those decisions. After talking with four seniors recently the one common factor in their decisions was that they all wanted to find a place that “felt like home” and while two of the players have already committed saying they’ve found that spot the other two are still waiting to make sure they make the right choice for them. As senior Ethan Rennels said, “I’m not just making a choice for the next four years but a choice for my next forty years.” When talking with seniors Dre Pinckney (Coastal Carolina) and Caden Sullivan (Appalachian State) they both said that early visits with their schools sold them on their choices and that the recruiting since the pandemic began has only reaffirmed their decisions. “Prior to the pandemic it was really cool getting to visit the campuses and seeing the atmosphere around the campus along with getting to see what it’s like on a day-to-day basis but once Covid-19 hit it was a huge adjustment,” said Pinckney. “We were forced to miss camps because of the pandemic but luckily I had visited Coastal before this all started. Throughout it all the coaches made me and my family feel good about my decision while going through the recruitment process.” Caden Sullivan had a very similar story as Pinckney, saying that an early visit along with constant contact from the coaches only helped him solidify his decision to commit to Appalachian State. “It was definitely a stressful time but thankfully I was able to make a few visits before the shutdown,” said Sullivan. “The most stressful part was making the actual decision but I feel really good about the decision I did make. My visit to Appalachian State prior to the pandemic had a lot to do with my decision because I got to know the coaches and find out what kind of people they really were. I got to see all the championship trophies the school has won and that visit really locked the door on my decision and made me feel comfortable I had made the right choice.” On the other end of the spectrum are senior players Ethan Rennels and Charles McFadden who both say that while both have narrowed down their possible destinations that the inability to visit some of the schools during the pandemic has kept them from making a decision just yet. Rennels said that while he has his favorites he really wants to be able to see all the campuses to make sure it’s the correct decision for him now and in the future. “I’ve been really undecided just yet because I want to be able to meet some of the coaches in person and see the campus,” said Rennels. “You get to talk to the coaches but I want to make sure I fit in with their program because you may like the coach but you’ve got to make sure the whole situation is right for you. It’s really hard to make a decision to go somewhere you have never been and I want to make sure I’m making the right decision for myself forty years from now, not just the next four years.” McFadden says that while taking part in the recruitment process during the pandemic has been tough it has also been an interesting experience. “The recruitment process during the pandemic has been really interesting because you see the teams that are really interested in you because the process is more difficult with the pandemic,” said McFadden. “Since the pandemic has started I’ve pushed back making some of these decisions because I want to be able to focus on the upcoming season here at Boiling Springs. I’m really looking for a place that makes me feel like family and I think once we get back to being able to visit campuses that’s something I’ll recognize when I get there. I want to see what the coaches are like in person and not just the coaches but the whole campus because besides being an athlete you’re also a student.” While the pandemic has been a tough process for everyone, it has been a tough one for these four athletes along with all their fellow 2021 classmates as they make one of their biggest life decisions without a lot of the knowledge many of us were able to have when making the decision. Hopefully as we enter 2021 things will soon get better and we’ll all be able to celebrate the 2021 class and their accomplishments. Bulldogs Making Names At The Next LevelAs the college football season slowly starts up amidst the Covid-19 pandemic there are a lot of Boiling Springs kids taking part in this season while there are also quite a few that are having to wait until hopefully the spring to have their season. With the ACC and Sun Belt conferences already starting their seasons some former Bulldogs have already started their seasons and made big impacts before their alma mater has taken the first snap in a live game. North Carolina will be a big place for Bulldogs fans to keep their eyes on as there are two former Bulldogs starting for the seventeenth ranked Tar Heels as Storm Duck is starting at cornerback and Grayson Atkins (who was a graduate transfer from Furman) is the starting kicker. Both players had big games to start the season as Atkins went three for four on his kicks against Syracuse and Duck had four tackles and two pass breakups in the Tar Heels 31-7 win. Former Bulldogs wide receiver Will Brown will once again be competing for the number one ranked Clemson Tigers where he hopes to add to his collection of championship rings. He has started the season with receptions in both of the first two games against Wake Forest and The Citadel. Two members of the Bulldogs community are participating in the Sun Belt conference this season, who went 3-0 against the Big 12 last week. One of those wins came from a great performance by the Coastal Carolina defense, that includes former Bulldog Chris Evans, who defeated Kansas 38-23 to start the season and improved to 2-0 after defeating Campbell this week. The other member from Boiling Springs competing in the Sun Belt is wide receiver Najee Thompson who is one of the top receivers for Georgia Southern this season and a key player on the special teams. They started the season with a home win over Campbell. Michael Bollinger and the Liberty Flames team got their season started on Saturday as they defeated Western Kentucky 30-24 where Bollinger got lots of playing time including a ten yard kick return. The only other members of the Boiling Springs community that are also scheduled to play this fall are Michael McDowell and Logan Billings who will be competing with The Citadel in four games this fall since the Southern Conference postponed their season until later this year. As of Saturday they have competed in two of the four games (USF and Clemson) with only Eastern Kentucky and Army left on their fall schedule. In the planned spring season there will be numerous Bulldogs competing all over the country and we have included a list of those players along with the ones talked about above in the list below. We wish them all the best of luck and a safe season no matter when their schedule is set to begin. Will Brown – Clemson
Grayson Atkins - North Carolina Storm Duck – North Carolina Najee Thompson – Georgia Southern Chris Evans – Coastal Carolina Michael Bollinger – Liberty Chad Gardner – Wofford Donovan Anderson – Wofford Wyatt Bartkowiak - Wofford Michael McDowell – The Citadel Logan Billings – The Citadel Ethan Ray – Charleston Southern Patrick Smith - Charleston Southern Trayson Fowler – Charleston Southern Chance Guest - Erskine KJ Rodgers – Walsh University Joseph Gregory – Limestone Caden Peeler – Limestone Shamar Wilson - Limestone Tanner Robbins - Limestone Andrew Sprouse – Newberry Tyler Lindsay – Newberry Dylan Brock – Averett Marquise Graves - Ramah Academy Comments are closed.
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