On Friday night the Boiling Springs Bulldogs made history as they captured the first ever 5A Upper State football championship and punched their ticket for a trip to the 5A State Championship game in Columbia. The Bulldogs (13-1) claimed the championship by defeating region rival Spartanburg Vikings (10-4) 14-13 in front of a packed house at the Backyard at Bulldogs Stadium. During the regular season, the two teams played a nail-biting game that had to be decided in overtime and it was no different on Friday night.
The game was a true battle of great defenses as both teams held two high scoring offenses to under 300 yards of offense. The Vikings jumped on the board first just three minutes into the game when wide receiver Damyijai Foster ran the ball in from three yards out and gave Spartanburg a 7-0 lead. The rest of the first half and the third quarter was a defensive battle as neither team allowed any points and set up a great finish between the two teams going into the fourth quarter. Boiling Springs was able to get on the board with just over five minutes to go in the fourth quarter when senior linebacker LaTrez Pinckney intercepted a pass by Vikings quarterback William Yex and returned it for a touchdown to tie the game at 7-7. Pinckney after the game said about the interception return, “I just knew that we as the defense had to make a play and we did just that. I couldn’t believe it when I intercepted that ball, I just saw the ball in my hands and took off running.” With just six seconds left in the game, Spartanburg was able to give kicker Will Lawson an opportunity to win the game on a thirty-seven yard field goal but the kick was blocked by Boiling Springs’ Chris Evans and the game headed to overtime. In the overtime, Spartanburg had the ball first and was forced to start the overtime period at their own twenty-five yard line due to an unsportsmanlike penalty at the end of regulation. On the first play of overtime, Yex was intercepted by Boiling Springs’ sophomore defensive back Storm Duck. The Bulldogs’ on their first offensive play of overtime sent out senior kicker Grayson Atkins to win the game, very similar to the situation from the first game the two teams played earlier this year, but Atkins kick sailed just left of the upright and sent the game into the second overtime period. The Bulldogs got the ball to start the second overtime and after two runs by senior running back KJ Rodgers got the ball down to the three yard line, senior quarterback Mason Streater ran the ball the rest of the way and into the endzone giving the Boiling Springs a 14-7 lead. On their second possession of overtime, it didn’t take Spartanburg long to score as Foster ran the ball in from ten yards out for his second score of the game. After the score, Vikings head coach Chris Miller decided to go for two to win the game. On the two point conversion attempt, the Vikings ran a reverse pass that fell just short of its intended receiver and gave Boiling Springs a 14-13 victory. After the game Bulldogs head coach Rick Tate said of his team’s performance, “For everything that happened there in the first half I told our guys that they’ve thrown everything at us and we’re still here. We always talk about having each others back and our defense definitely had our backs tonight and came up big for us.” When asked about what this victory meant to him Tate said, “There have been a lot of great coaches and players that have came through this program and this is for each and everyone of them and it’s also for the people of this community. I hope that Boiling Springs just shuts down next Saturday and everyone is there in Columbia with us.” The Bulldogs will be playing their first ever State Championship football game at 6:30 PM on Saturday at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia as they take on Dutch Fork for the first ever 5A State Championship. Dutch Fork defeated Fort Dorchester 49-24 on Friday night. Comments are closed.
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