BLYTHEWOOD, SC - Friday night was one that Blythewood head coach Jason Seidel was waiting for since he was hired to rebuild the program in 2018.
The Bengals shut out Boiling Springs 40-0 to not only win their first playoff game since 2016, they also recorded their first playoff shutout in school history. Kicker Ryan Hart even managed to kick a school-record four field goals in a single game, which helped the Bengals as they struggled against Boiling Spring’s main strength, a defensive line that hardened once Blythewood reached the 20-yard line. “I give Ryan a lot of credit, he had a great night,” Seidel said. “But we made some mistakes there and if we want to beat a team like Byrnes or Dorman, to have a chance, we can’t kick field goals. That’s the biggest thing we’re going to harp on this week.” Harrison Collins was 11-for-12 in passing for 91 yards and two touchdowns, and David Herden was 3-for-4, but Blythewood passed for just 132 yards total. Deondre Williams led all rushers with 89 yards on 18 carries, but every time the Bengals got close to the goal line, something went wrong. Blythewood fumbled the opening kickoff, but the defense held off the Bulldogs (2-9) for the first of five first-half possessions. Harrison Collins finished the first quarter throwing touchdown passes of 7 and 13 yards to Chris Thomas and Josh Gary. Up 14-0, the Bengals got a third score when Thomas returned a punt 62 yards for a score midway in the second quarter. Hart kicked the first of his field goals on the night, a 28-yarder, with 19 seconds left in the first half to put Blythewood up 24-0 at the half. Hart made good on kicks of 30,32, and 26 yards in the second half. Gary capped an 11-play, 51-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. The Bulldogs defense struggled because the offense couldn’t stay on the field, which ultimately hurt an otherwise strong defensive effort. “Our heel has been not been getting the ball in the end zone,” Boiling Springs head coach Matt Reel said. “Our defense has played really hard all year and they’ve gotten worlds better from Week Zero to where they are right now. They’re just trying to buy in to what we’re doing, trying to learn our defense.” While Blythewood moves on to play Byrnes Friday, Boiling Springs will have to wait another year to turn the corner. “The kids have fought hard all year,” Reel said. “They’ve been resilient, but we just didn’t make enough big plays tonight and they made some big plays tonight.” The Bulldogs will now start preparing for the 2023 season with s lot of their team returning as they only graduated 13 seniors this year. No.1 seed Blythewood (9-2) now plays host to No.4 Byrnes (8-3) Friday in the second round. The Rebels, led by former Bengals head coach Reggie Shaw, edged No.2 Hillcrest 31-28 Friday night. (Story via Worthy Evans from The Voice of Blythewood) Comments are closed.
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