2022 Bulldogs Look To Build ProgramWhen the final horn sounded at District Three Stadium in Rock Hill, SC after the Bulldogs playoff loss to Northwestern last year, it not only signaled the end of their season but also was the beginning of changes in the Boiling Springs football program heading into the 2022 season. The most significant change was the retirement of long-time head coach Rick Tate and the introduction of new Boiling Springs head football coach Matt Reel who came to the Bulldogs after some impressive seasons leading North Myrtle Beach High School, including a run to the 4A state championship in 2020. Reel took over the Bulldogs program in the last week of January, due to a large snowstorm and some other factors that delayed the announcement, and because of that put him behind in assembling his coaching staff but when we spoke with him recently, amongst a week that saw upper 90's temperatures, he was pleased with the process he'd seen in his new team. He's been proud of the way that both his coaches and players have bought into the vision that he has for the program. "It has been a whirlwind over these first six months but after being able to get the staff situated it has just fell into place," said Bulldogs head coach Matt Reel. "From our coaching standpoint the buy-in has been instantaneous with them being on board with the vision for the program. The players have been great as well as we sat down and talked on the first day about what our expectations were going to be to build a program and while they're still adjusting, they're doing a lot better than they were that last week in January." One of the first areas that Reel wanted to attack when he arrived was in the weight room and he said he's been proud of how the kids have worked in there in the six months he has been at the school. "One of my biggest fears when I got here was how the kids were going to respond and if they were going to be able to do what we were going to ask of them to do every day. I knew the program we were going to install in the weight room because it was the same one that we've installed at other places and been successful with," said Reel. "The kids have been great in their work ethic and have wanted to be challenged. When I look at our weight room it's one of the top five in the state and I think to myself, who wouldn't want to go in there and work. Seeing the numbers from where our kids were in January to where they are now are crazy, as each kid has improved anywhere from ten to twenty percent in their maxes. I've seen some old coaches who have told us how much better our kids look physically just in these last six months and that's a great compliment as our kids have just really worked hard." Reel said that the importance of the work the kids are doing in the weight room aren't just about getting stronger but also about staying healthy throughout the season. "In the last few years guys being hurt has been a problem from what I understand so from the weight room standpoint, we of course want to make them stronger, but we also want to keep them on the field," said Reel. "While we want to make them stronger a lot of what we're doing is stuff to keep our guys healthy as we tell them all the time the best ability is that they have availability." Some more changes in the program will see them having two new leaders at the coordinator positions as Jeremy Smith, formerly offensive coordinator at Sumter High School, takes over as offensive coordinator replacing Curtis Nash for the Bulldogs who took an administrative role in another district. On the defensive side of the ball, Rashad Graham, who was the linebackers coach at North Myrtle Beach, takes over as the defensive coordinator replacing George Pierson who is now at Wren High School. On offense this season one of the keys for the Bulldogs will be to establish themselves in the ground game as they want to establish an identity of being a physical football team, while using their passing game to help in that task. "I talked about this a lot when I first got hired, on offense we want to have a physicality and to establish our own identity, which we'll do by running the football as we want to be the most physical team on the field," said Reel. "The teams that win in the playoffs are the ones that can run the football. Coach Smith is doing a tremendous job at setting that tone and developing those schemes with our offensive guys." With the Bulldogs looking to establish a running game it will help that they'll have senior running back Kam Williams leading the way this year. As a junior Williams led the Bulldogs rushing attack last season with 743 yards on 149 carries with five touchdowns along with two games of over one-hundred yards rushing. He also has put a lot of time in the weight room, as a video on Twitter recently showed the running back squatting 500lbs in the Bulldogs weight room. Reel says that he's glad to see the work Williams is putting in this offseason, as they're going to use him a lot this season to carry the load. "Kam was one of the first guys to reach out to me after I was hired and told me he was a leader of this team and if there's anything I needed before I got here to let him know and he'd handle it, which has been his mentality the whole time I've been here," said Reel. "He joined the track team to get faster and he's just done everything you can ask of a kid to do to get ready for their senior football season. We're going to give him the football because he's earned that opportunity and if we do our job upfront, there's no reason he shouldn't have a good year. We also have guys behind him that we think will contribute a lot as well." At the quarterback position the Bulldogs have seen a battle between two sophomores during the spring and summer as quarterbacks Lincoln Huskey and Zy Landrum have been splitting reps to see who will earn the starting job. While Huskey had a start on the varsity level last season, Landrum had some big games at the JV level last season. Reel said that the winner of the battle will be the quarterback that shows the most consistency and shows the ability to lead the team. "Both guys have progressed well in learning reads as we've done a lot of film work with those guys, which I'm not sure they've done a lot of before now," said Reel. "A big thing I've challenged them with a lot recently is just leading our team and when they're on the field making that team respond to them." The wide receiver spot is a place the Bulldogs will see some change from last season as the Bulldogs lost their leading receiver from last season, Charkei Singleton, to graduation but it's a spot that Reel believes has a lot of young talent along with some veteran players. The Bulldogs will look to count on sophomores like Javen Chimm, Tajh Nesbitt, David Mobley, and Graham Guest while also looking to get key contributions from senior Spencer Eison. "Spencer has the type of playmaker ability and when he runs the routes like we know he can, he's as dynamic as anyone we have," said Reel. "Javen and Tajh we've clocked in the high 4.4's as sophomores and we believe could be playmakers for us. Mobley and Guest catch everything around them and have proven that we can count on them to make big catches." On the offensive and defensive line, the Bulldogs will see a mixture of experience and youth, but Reel says that through the summer that his team has been working on players learning both sides of the ball as they'll need guys to contribute on both sides of the ball throughout this season. He says as they get closer to the season they'll start to figure out where each player fits in best on each side of the ball. "Our biggest issue has been trying to figure out who's going to be on the offensive and defensive line," said Reel. "We're going to have some younger guys that are going to have to step in early, but we still have a lot of questions of who those guys are going to be going into the season. As we get closer to the season, we hope to be able to figure out the places those guys help us best." The Bulldogs on the defensive side will return some experienced players throughout the defense as they were young in 2021 and will be switching to a 4-3 defense from their 3-4 set that they ran last year. Reel said that bringing Coach Graham with him to Boiling Springs from North Myrtle Beach was big because it was someone that knew what Reel wants to accomplish on the defensive side of the ball and relates well with the players. "When I was at North Myrtle I had a great defensive coordinator, but I knew he had thirty years of coaching in North Carolina, so I brought Rashad there to be our next defensive coordinator," said Reel. "When I got this job, it was just a natural fit to bring him here with me to Boiling Springs. He's also a guy who is just really great with the kids." One player that Reel says has had a great offseason and will benefit greatly from the switch to the new defensive scheme is junior defensive end Calvin Jackson Jr, who had 29 tackles last season with 11 of those for a loss, including five sacks as a sophomore. "With our new scheme I'm really excited about what kind of season Calvin Jackson Jr could have because in his position he could dominate," said Reel. At linebacker the Bulldogs return two of their top returning tacklers as seniors Luke Compton (32 tackles) and Hudson Wilson (30 tackles) both will be patrolling the middle of the field for the Bulldogs. Reel says that Wilson is one of the best natural reacting linebackers on the team. "Huddy is the best linebacker we have at naturally just reading what's happening on the other side of the ball," said Reel. "He diagnoses things well and instinctively just does what we teach our guys to do, so there's not a lot of teaching we have to do there." The Bulldogs will also look to get key contributions from junior linebacker Jameilion Miller, who they think could play multiple positions in the Boiling Springs defense. In the secondary Boiling Springs return senior Spencer Eison (20 tackles) and junior JoJo Barrett (17 tackles and two sacks) who both had strong seasons for the Bulldogs last year individually. Eison will play both on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball at both wide receiver and in the secondary. Reel adds that Barrett is the type of guy that he preaches to his team to be, a guy who never gives up. "JoJo is such a high energy guy and the ultimate competitor," said Reel. "You may beat him but he's not going to quit. He possesses that type of mentality that we preach to our guys to have every day." Reel said another player in the secondary that has impressed is junior Amayjai Boyd who has become a playmaker in the secondary. "Amayjai is a guy who has really been a bright light in our secondary," said Reel. "He does what he's asked to do every time and has become a playmaker for us." On special teams the Bulldogs will have to replace two-year starter Kaillou Touch, who was both the kicker and punter for the Bulldogs last season. The Bulldogs expect junior Holden Pace to take over the field goal and kickoff duties while he'll battle sophomore Kyle Patterson for the punting duties. "Holden right now will be our kicker on both field goals and kickoffs," said Reel. "As far as punting we're going to have a battle over the next few weeks to see who comes out on top there while we may mix some quarterback punt options in there as well." Reel said that he's looking forward to getting the season started and is looking forward to the excitement of the first game. He also feels that how his team performs in the first game could bring out a big crowd for the first home game in week two as he says that he believes the community wants to see a team that represents the people of Boiling Springs. "I think if we go out and are competitive against TL Hanna in that first week, we'll have a great crowd here that following week for the first home game," said Reel. "I think our community wants to see a team that represents the hard-working, blue-collared community of the people that live here and if we do that, they'll be here every Thursday and Friday night that the lights are on. With the number of people, I expect will be here that first Friday night, it'll be good for our kids because those fans are here to see them and if knowing that doesn't get you going to play a football game, I'm not sure what will." Boiling Springs will kick off their football season on August 19th in a road matchup at TL Hanna. Prior to that the Bulldogs will compete in the McDonald's Jamboree at Gaffney, where the Bulldogs will face Southside at 7:00 PM. Bulldogs 2022 Schedule Has Strong Competition Along With The Return To A Familiar RegionThe 2022 football schedule for the Boiling Springs Bulldogs will be filled with lots of familiar faces, especially compared to recent years, along with a very competitive group of teams from different classifications throughout the state. Before the start of their four-game region schedule, the Bulldogs will see some strong competition that starts with the opening game at TL Hanna, one of the top 5A schools in the state, and a game Coach Reel believes can be a great measuring stick to see where his team stacks up early. "For me that first game is a great measuring stick for us as both coaches and players," said Reel. "As a player to get to play at TL Hanna, one of the most historic programs in the state, if you can find a way to win that one you can send shockwaves throughout the state and in that first game you have that opportunity. For me as a coach, it's going to test our team and how tough and disciplined we are from the start. It's a great opportunity for our team." After the trip to TL Hanna, the Bulldogs will have home games against Mauldin and Hillcrest along with road trips to rival Chapman and 4A power Greer. The Bulldogs last game before region play will be a trip they got familiar with a lot over the last two years, a trip to former region mate Clover. After two seasons spent in Region III-5A with schools in the Rock Hill area, the Bulldogs will return to see some familiar faces after the latest high school realignment brought Boiling Springs back to Region II-5A for at least the next two seasons. In the new region the Bulldogs will be competing against a team they've competed with a lot the last two years in Gaffney, the defending 5A state champions, while returning to face familiar faces in Byrnes, Dorman, and Spartanburg. While Gaffney is the defending 5A state champions, the new region also includes Spartanburg who was Upper State runners-up last season after falling to Gaffney in the last seconds of the Upper State championship game last year. It will also include a Byrnes team who has won multiple 7-on-7's this offseason and a Dorman team in a similar situation as the Bulldogs replacing a long-time head coach with a successful younger coach from the 4A ranks who is moving up to the 5A ranks. Coach Reel said that coming from a tough 4A region at North Myrtle Beach he understands playing tough competition and say he would disagree with anyone that says this new region that the Bulldogs are returning to isn't the best in the state of South Carolina. "If people don't consider this the toughest region in the state, they're crazy," said Reel with a laugh. "I came from what I consider to be the toughest region in 4A and this is a whole different level. The big thing about this region is that all the teams are so well coached, and I have nothing but respect for all those coaches we'll be playing against." Reel says that his team this year is playing a very tough schedule and sees it as a great opportunity for his team in his first year with the Bulldogs. "Looking at the early rankings we saw that a lot of the teams we play are ranked to start the season," said Reel. "We're playing as tough of a schedule as anybody and to be competitive in those games we're going to need our guys to be efficient every snap we go out and play. We have an opportunity ahead of us this year but we're going to see as players and coaches if we can grow and compete to rise up to those opportunities." Former Bulldogs Playing College BallWith so many players having extra years of eligibility due to the extra year of Covid eligibility, we have done our best to compile our annual list of Boiling Springs players playing football at the college level for the 2022 season. We compiled this list so that you can keep up with the location of former Bulldogs and follow their progress throughout the upcoming season
Najee Thompson – Georgia Southern Chris Evans – North Greenville Dre Pinckney - Coastal Carolina Storm Duck – North Carolina Michael Bollinger – Liberty Caden Sullivan - Appalachian St Wyatt Bartkowiak - Wofford KJ Rodgers – Walsh University Jalen Dodd – Carson Newman Kylick Lynch – Carson Newman Cameron Mills – Carson Newman Ethan Rennels - Campbell Justin Corbitt – North Greenville Caden Peeler – Limestone Shamar Wilson – Limestone Tanner Robbins – Limestone Carter Sloand - Limestone Patrick Smith – Charleston Southern Trayson Fowler – Charleston Southern Marquise Graves – Ramah Academy *If anyone has been missed, please e-mail me at [email protected] and let me know the player and the school they are attending Comments are closed.
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