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. Comments are closed.
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