BOILING SPRINGS, SC - For many people in the state, Region II-5A is considered the best region in the state and on Friday night Boiling Springs and Byrnes proved why as it took two overtimes to decide the winner of the game as the Rebels came away with a 38-31 victory over the Bulldog.
For the Bulldogs, it was the second straight week that they came up just short of a big win and it's something that Boiling Springs head coach Matt Reel hated for his players because he has seen the effort his guys have brought each week. "I'm always proud of this group because they always show up and always play hard," said Reel. "The last two weeks have just come down to two or three plays and there's nobody that wants it more for these kids than me and this staff because we've seen the work they've put in the last 365 days. I told our guys the breakthrough win is coming. A lot of teams would have folded up camp being down two scores, but these guys never did, and I just love this group of kids." Boiling Springs got the game started with a big 35-yard run that started a 69-yard drive that ended with a 28-yard field goal by junior kicker Michael Dueck to give the Bulldogs a 3-0 lead five minutes into the game. The Rebels answered with a drive of their own that ended on a two-yard scramble up the middle by Byrnes quarterback Andrew Stevens to put them up 7-3 over the Bulldogs at the three-minute mark of the first quarter. The drive was started on the Boiling Springs side of the field after the referees consulted and deemed that a Byrnes punt had deflected off of a Bulldogs blocker, a decision that wasn't a popular decision from the home crowd. Bulldogs running back RyShaun Morgan answered the Byrnes touchdown with a four yard run up the middle to give Boiling Springs the lead back at 10-7 just two minutes into the second quarter. Byrnes took advantage of getting the ball last in the second quarter and first in the third quarter as they scored 17 points in that period of time to take a 24-10 lead just two minutes into the third quarter. They got two touchdown passes from Stevens as he connected on a two-yard pass to Chamarryus Bomar and a 90-yard pass to Ethan Morris along with a 21-yard field goal from Jacob Coman. With the Bulldogs trailing by 14 points, the team responded with a flurry of points of their own, as they made up the deficit to the Rebels. It all started when Boiling Springs junior quarterback Lincoln Huskey found senior tight end Dekari Sterling on a six-yard touchdown pass to the right side of the field to cut the Byrnes lead to 24-17. Boiling Springs got the ball back at the eight-minute mark of the fourth quarter after the Bulldogs defense forced a fourth and nine play on their side of the field that was stopped when Boiling Springs junior linebacker Campbell Johnson sacked the Byrnes quarterback at the Bulldogs 33-yard line. Just two minutes later, the Bulldogs were celebrating tying the game up at 24-24 when Huskey ran the ball around the left side of the defense for a 16-yard touchdown run, as it was one of 14 runs by Huskey that saw him total 76 yards on the ground. Both teams made attempts at trying to find points before the end of regulation but neither defense allowed another score in the fourth quarter sending the game into overtime. Boiling Springs got the first shot in overtime from the ten-yard line and on the second play, after a six-yard run to the right by Huskey, Javen Chhim ran around the left side for a four-yard touchdown run to put the Bulldogs up 31-24 over the Rebels. Byrnes responded with a five-yard touchdown pass to the left side from Stevens to Morris to tie the game up at 31-31 before Stevens connected again on the second play of the second overtime for a nine-yard touchdown pass to Morris again to take a 38-31 lead. On the Bulldogs second offensive possession of the overtime period, the game came down to a fourth and ten play from the ten-yard line and when a Huskey pass bounced off a Bulldogs receiver the game came to an end with the Rebels surviving for the win. While the Bulldogs didn't come away with the victory, they can take a lot of pride knowing that the 31 points they scored against the Rebels was 20 more than their average this season as the previous most points the Rebels had allowed was 17 to Chapman. Boiling Springs quarterback Lincoln Huskey ended the game going nine of 21 for 133 yards and a touchdown while adding 76 yards and a touchdown on the ground. The Bulldogs combined for 168 yards on the ground as Chhim had 16 carries for 76 yards and a touchdown while RyShaun Morgam had eight carries for 14 yards and a touchdown to go along with Huskey's yards. \ Kyle Patterson led the Bulldogs wide receivers with two catches for 55 yards while Dekari Sterling had one catch for six yards and a touchdown. Byrnes was led by quarterback Andrew Stevens who went 23 of 30 for 273 yards and three touchdowns along with a rushing touchdown. Ethan Morris was his top receiver getting seven receptions for 128 yards and three touchdowns. Tre Segara led the Rebels rushing attack with 14 carries for 58 yards. Boiling Springs will be back in action next week as they travel to Gaffney for another big region matchup against the Indians who defeated Spartanburg 19-14 on Friday night. Comments are closed.
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