On Thursday night the Boiling Springs Bulldogs were on the wrong side of the Jamario Holley show as they fell 54-35 in the first round of the 5A playoffs. Holley, a South Carolina football commitment, accounted for five of Northwestern's eight touchdowns on the night with the first one coming on the opening kickoff as he returned the ball ninety-four yards to give the Trojans an early 7-0 lead.
"Holley is a big-time player," said Boiling Springs head coach Rick Tate. "I think the plays him and some of those other guys were able to make in the open field was really the difference in the game." While Holley did return the opening kickoff, Boiling Springs' senior Caden Peeler wasn't going to be outdone as he returned the ensuing kickoff himself for a ninety-eight yard touchdown run to put the game at 7-6 in favor of Northwestern with less than a minute gone in the game after the extra point was blocked. At the midway point of the first quarter a play that left many in the stands and on the sidelines scratching their heads saw Boiling Springs recover a Northwestern fumble and return the ball to the Trojans five yard line that was later ruled to be another fumble into the end zone eventually ending in what the referees decided was a touchback for Northwestern much to the displeasure of the Bulldogs fans in attendance. After the craziness of the previous play Northwestern took advantage of their good luck as quarterback Dustin Noller connected with Holley on a sixty-eight yard touchdown pass to extend their lead to 14-6 with just over two minutes left in the first quarter. Boiling Springs was able to get the score closer right before the quarter ended as sophomore running back Charles McFadden ran the ball in from three yards out to put the game at 14-12 Northwestern at the end of the first quarter. Northwestern extended their lead to 21-12 early in the second quarter when Holley scored his third touchdown of the game this time on a two yard touchdown run. On the Bulldogs next possession they were able to get a forty yard field goal from junior kicker Tanner Robbins to make the Northwestern lead 21-15. The Bulldogs weren't done scoring in the first half though as just before the half ended junior quarterback Aaron Thomas found senior running back Trey Miller on a forty-seven yard screen pass to give Boiling Springs a 22-21 halftime lead. As with each quarter before it, the third quarter started the same way with as the rest had with a touchdown by Northwestern's Jamario Holley as he was able to find the end zone two minutes into the second half on a fifty-two yard touchdown pass from Holler to give the Trojans a 27-22 lead. At the midway point of the third quarter Northwestern would extend their lead to 34-22 when running back Antonio Heath ran the ball in from seven yards out for a touchdown. The Bulldogs were able to cut into the Northwestern lead just before the end of the third quarter when Charles McFadden scored his second touchdown of the night on an eighty yard touchdown run to put the score at 34-28 in favor of the Trojans at the end of the third quarter. Holley would open up the fourth quarter just like he had the previous three when he ran the ball in from five yards out for a touchdown to give Northwestern a 40-28 lead. Northwestern's Antonio Heath would extend the Northwestern lead to 47-28 when he ran the ball in from thirty-one yards out for his second touchdown run of the night. With just over four minutes to go in the game the Bulldogs were able to get another score when quarterback Aaron Thomas ran the ball in from seven yards out to put the score at 47-35 in favor of Northwestern. The score was setup by a seventy-two yard kickoff return by Charles McFadden. Northwestern would add a final score with just over a minute to go in the game when Marquez Cherry scored from one yard out to give the Trojans a 54-35 victory over the Bulldogs in the first round of the 5A playoffs. The Trojans will face the winner of Spartanburg and TL Hanna on Friday night. Boiling Springs on Thursday night ran for 224 yards and were led by Charles McFadden who had ninety-eight yards with two touchdowns on six carries and by Trey Miller who ran for ninety-two yards on fifteen carries. "I'm really proud of how the guys kept fighting tonight," said Coach Tate. "We just made too many mistakes tonight and you just can't do that during the playoffs." Comments are closed.
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