BLYTHEWOOD – Blythewood’s head football coach, Reggie Kennedy, announced this week that he is leaving the Bengals’ program to take the job as head football coach and athletics director at Sumter High School. Kennedy has spent the last two seasons at Blythewood and led them to a 9-3 record this past season, which included a share of the region IV-4A title. In his first season the Bengals ended 7-7 with an appearance in the state semifinal game. With all the success and relationships created over the past two years the decision to leave Blythewood was not one that Kennedy took lightly.
“It was a tough decision to leave Blythewood,” he said.
Kennedy has 17 years of head coaching experience (131-81), including 14 years as an athletic director. Although he had only served as head coach at Blythewood, the opportunity to reestablish himself as an athletic director at a class 4A school was one he could not refuse.
“I was away from athletic director for two years and you know I really missed it,” he said.
Blythewood’s Principal Keith Price and athletic director Vince Lowry are now on the hunt for the Bengals’ next head football coach. Both options of promoting from within or hiring from outside are being considered. Lowry hopes to have the position filled in the next two weeks and he said he has been very pleased with the job Kennedy has done the last two seasons.
“When we hired Reggie we needed someone to establish stability and get the program going back in the right direction,” Lowry said. “And he definitely did that in the two years he was here. He has done an exceptional job.”
Kennedy is currently splitting time between Blythewood and Sumter, while he awaits on a ruling from the school district that could release him before his obligated date of July 1.
The Lady Griffins were denied the crown in the debut Breast Cancer Awareness tournament at Fairfield Central High School Saturday night as they were outmatched in the finals, 63-30, by the Lady Wolverines of Miller Grove High School (Ga.).
The Lady Wolverines broke the full-court press efforts of Fairfield Central early on with a precision passing game. The Lady Griffins, however, were not so capable, and the Miller Grove defense held Fairfield Central to just nine first-half points. Forced turnovers and transition points boosted the Miller Grove lead to 41-9 at the break, and Raven Rivers, Chelsea Seibles and Tiea Quanna Pearson all found themselves in foul trouble.
Jada Martin led the Lady Griffins with eight points. The Lady Wolverines were led by Klarissa Weaver with 15 and Katie Hunt with 12.
The boys’ squad, meanwhile, closed out the tournament Friday with a 61-41 win over Camden in the consolation bracket. Keith Workman put up 22 points for the Griffins, while Daniel Maple added 11.
Both boys’ and girls’ teams travel to Columbia High School Jan. 4 for their region opener. Girls tip at 6:30 p.m.
It took an extra frame of free basketball to sort things out Friday night, but the Lady Griffins finally managed to dispose of a tough and tenacious Hammond team, 49-47, in round two of the Breast Cancer Awareness Tournament at Fairfield Central High School.
The Lady Griffins trailed for nearly the entire game, as Hammond jumped out to an early lead against a Fairfield team that struggled to find the hoop. The Lady Skyhawks led 12-6 midway through the first half, but the full court press helped Fairfield dig out. A buzzer rebound put-back by Tiea Quanna Pearson tied the game at 16 at the break.
Fairfield went cold again to start the second half, however, and Hammond ran up a 34-28 lead with 6:36 to play. The full-court press forced turnover after turnover, but the Lady Griffins could not convert in the transition. A 3-pointer by freshman Tanise Davis with 5:47 to go cut the Skyhawk lead to 38-33 and provided the Lady Griffins with the spark they had been looking for all game long. As the game raced toward the final buzzer, Christian Thompson nailed a 3-point basket to whittle the deficit down to a single point, 38-37, with just over 44 seconds remaining.
Hammond then turned the ball over on the in-bounds pass play and Jada Martin drew a foul with 31 seconds to play. Martin’s first shot from the stripe rattled out of the rim and the fingernail chewing officially set in for the hometown crowd. But Martin’s second effort was true, and regulation would come to a close knotted at 38.
The 4-minute extra period was a seesaw struggle, with the Lady Skyhawks taking an early 42-38 edge behind clutch free-throw shooting. Martin drained a 3-pointer with 1:27 left in the period to put the Lady Griffins up 45-44, but Hammond kept pace. With 20 seconds to play, Hammond freshman Margaret Adams hit the back end of a one-and-one to tie the game at 47. Martin then hit a 2-point basket with 7 seconds to go to give the Griffins the 49-47 final. Hammond’s Amoshia Blakeney put up one last effort at the buzzer, but the ball was short of the basket.
The Lady Griffins face Miller Grove (Ga.) in the tournament finals Saturday (Dec. 29) at 6 p.m.
The Lady Griffins cruised to an easy victory Thursday evening in the first round of the girls’ bracket of the Fairfield Central High School Breast Cancer Awareness Tournament, obliterating Brookland-Cayce 52-8.
Freshman Chyna Moore led the way with 23 points, going eight of 16 from the floor and seven of eight from the stripe. Junior Jada Martin went six of 11 from the floor for 13 points and snatched three second-half steals for the Lady Griffins.
Showing the full-court press from the opening tip, Fairfield held the Lady Bearcats scoreless until the 7:20 mark in the opening half, at which time the Lady Griffins held a commanding 17-2 lead. Up 35-6 at the break, Fairfield Central allowed only a single field goal by the Lady Bearcats in the final 16 minutes of play.
The Lady Griffins face Hammond tonight (Dec. 28) at 6 p.m. at Fairfield Central High School in the semi-finals.
The Griffin boys’ squad, meanwhile, knocked Swansea out of the lower bracket Thursday afternoon, 56-49. Keith Workman led the Griffins with 20 points. The Griffins will play Camden at noon today (Dec. 28) at Fairfield Middle School.
Dillon’s Anthony Blue (3) is stopped short of the goal line as Fairfield’s Kevin Bannister (55) strips the ball free.
Fairfield Central’s championship run of 2012 came to a crashing halt Friday night, dashed against that rock-solid behemoth out of the Lower State, Dillon High School. In their first state title appearance since 1997, the Griffins fell behind early at Charlie W. Johnson Stadium in Columbia and could not claw their way out of the hole, falling to the Wildcats 21-6 in the Class 2A/Division 1 championship game.
“We just couldn’t make enough plays,” Griffins head coach Demetrius Davis said. “At the end of the day, you’ve got to make plays to win these kinds of games. If we could have made a play to get things rolling – we’d run the ball down the field, get into the red zone and then get a tackle for a loss. We just didn’t do a good job of executing today.”
Dillon was led to the Promised Land by freshman quarterback sensation Avery McCall, who threw for 128 yards and three touchdowns, including a 23-yarder on the ‘Cats’ first possession. McCall hit Ereon Hayes in the end zone on a fourth-and-3 with 7:05 to go in the first quarter to give Dillon the early lead.
The Griffins responded on their ensuing drive, taking the ball from their own 41 to the Dillon 17 in three plays. From there, Damien Bell delivered the goods, hammering his way into the end zone for six. The point after wobbled wide, and the Griffins trailed 7-6.
That’s where the score would stay until midway through the second quarter, as the two heavy hitters felt each other out on the artificial turf.
A fumble recovery by Antonio Lewis at the Fairfield 43 gave the Griffins the first of several golden opportunities to rattle Dillon’s collective cage, but Fairfield gave the ball right back three plays later when Dorian Davis intercepted a DeAndre Belton pass at the Dillon 18, returning it to the 38 before being brought to the ground. Where the Griffins could not capitalize, the Wildcats followed through. Running back Anthony Blue plowed through the Griffin defense, pushing the Wildcats to the Fairfield 33. On first-and-10, the Wildcats called the reverse-pitch-pass, with McCall eventually hitting Blue with a 33-yard touchdown.
The Griffins, now trailing 14-6, would see another promising drive end in frustration on their next possession. Carried by the legs of Belton and Bell, the Griffins surged from their own 26 to the Dillon 35 in eight plays. Bell then broke free and darted to the Dillon 17, and it appeared as if Fairfield would soon close in on the Dillon lead. But Belton was picked off at the goal line, again by Davis, who returned the ball to the Dillon 27 with 3:15 left in the half.
The Wildcats wasted little time in bringing the hammer down, driving the ball all the way to the Fairfield 18 before the Griffin defense bowed its back, forcing a fourth-and-5. With 29 seconds to play, Dillon rolled the dice, and McCall, eluding a sack, found Ezra Lighty in the end zone.
It would be the final points of the game, for either team.
“He (McCall) is a good player. I’m scared that he’s a freshman,” Davis said. “He made a throw in the last couple of seconds in the first half that I hadn’t seen in a long time. This kid is about as poised as I’ve seen in a long time. Right now, he’s just having fun. I don’t think he realized the magnitude of this game tonight.”
The Griffins had opportunities in the second half to get back in the game, but couldn’t find the power switch to what had, for most of the season, been an electrifying offense. Dillon’s defense came up big in key situations, holding the Griffins short on a forth-and-1 at the Dillon 20 with 6:53 to go in the third quarter, as well as on fourth-and-8 at the Dillon 18 early in the fourth quarter and fourth-and-3 from the Griffin 38 with 6:42 to go in the game. The Griffins could also make no hay from two Dillon fumbles in the fourth quarter.
“It’s not like we didn’t have our opportunities,” Davis said. “Our defense played good enough for us to win this football game.”
Indeed, the Griffin defense shut out the Wildcats in the second half – but the Dillon defense returned the favor.
“We just couldn’t help them on offense,” Davis said. “All we needed was to get one score to open that lid in the second half and I think we could have won that football game.”
The Griffins finish the season at 11-3, holding the Region III crown and the Upper State title. With a solid core returning for 2013, Davis is confident moving forward.
“My kids never flinched,” Davis said. “They never quit. This is a moment our kids can learn from and come back and get to work. This was a good experience for my young kids. We’ll be back.”
DHS 7-14-0-0 21
FCHS 6-0-0-0 6
First Quarter
DH—Ereon Hayes 23 pass from Avery McCall. Tara Grimsley kick. (7:05)
FC—Damien Bell 17 run. Kick failed. (5:53)
Second Quarter
DH—Anthony Blue 33 pass from A. McCall. T. Grimsley kick. (6:36)
DH—Ezra Lighty 18 pass from A. McCall. T. Grimsley kick. (0:29)
Team Stats
FC DH
First Downs 15 17
Rushes/Yards 44-216 47-319
Passing Yards 94 128
C-A-INT 10-22-3 12-18-0
Fumbles/Lost 1-0 5-3
Penalties/Yards 5-26 6-51
Time of Possession 21:42 26:18
Individual Stats
RUSHING: FC—DeAndre Belton 16-68. Damien Bell 19-65. Joseph Young 7-51. Raheim McDaniel 1-0. DH—Anthony Blue 24-202. Joe Blue 16-96. Avery McCall 5-12.
On Friday, Nov. 30 the Fairfield Central Griffins will travel to Benedict College to take on Dillon High School for the 2A state title. Because the game is at 5:30, the school district will have a dismissal time of 1 p.m. for all district schools. Because of bus routes, Fairfield Elementary and Fairfield Magnet School for Math and Science will dismiss at 12:30. An early dismissal will minimize the likelihood that we will have students and supporters rushing to arrive at the stadium by the 5:30 kickoff. We want to ensure that we do all that we can to assist students and fans with safely traveling to and from the game venue.
The State 2A Division 1 Football Championship will be played Friday at 5:30 p.m. at Charlie Johnson Football Stadium, on Two Notch Road at Reed Street in Columbia. Tickets will be sold at Fairfield Central High School during business hours.
Admission price is $10. Children 5 & under free. Parking $10.
Fairfield Central running back Damien Bell prepares to apply the stiff-arm to the Newberry defender.
Antonio Lewis (8) and the Griffin defense work to bring down Newberry’s Tyon Williams.
‘Instant classic’ may be a somewhat overused cliché, particularly among sports writers, but Friday night that’s exactly what the last two teams standing in the Upper State half of the Class 2A/Division 1 bracket delivered to the shoulder-to-shoulder crowd at E.K. McClendon Stadium in Winnsboro.
The hometown Griffins of Fairfield Central scored late in regulation on a 4-yard run by Damien Bell to tie the Newberry Bulldogs at 21-all and force overtime. On second-and-goal in the spare frame, Bell scored from 1-yard out on the Griffins’ first possession of the Kansas City Shootout, and the Fairfield defense held solid to seal the win, 28-21.
As the fans swarmed the field, reluctant to leave the battleground, second-year Griffin head coach and Fairfield County native Demetrius Summers was ecstatic.
“This is what I imagined,” Davis said, sweeping his hands across the sea of reveling fans, “to have a full house here supporting their Griffins. To give Fairfield County something to be proud of. That’s why I came back here.”
Friday night’s showdown was a brutal knockabout, a war of attrition, with the oversized Bulldogs clamping down on the Griffin running game early. Although the Griffins, on the first snap of the opening possession, set themselves up with a first-and-goal at the Newberry 9, the 75-yard pass from DeAndre Belton to Kewaun Squirewell went for naught as the Newberry defense put up a tremendous goal-line stand.
With the run shut down, the Griffins took to the air, and on their second possession, Belton hit Squirewell again, this time with a 28-yard touchdown strike.
“They’re so big, we couldn’t block them,” Davis said. “The only way we could score was to throw the ball, and that’s not our forte. We like to run the football. But we were able to make some plays.”
The Griffins did manage to accumulate 143 yards on the ground, largely behind Belton, who found his legs in the second half. Belton rushed for 84 yards in the second chapter of Friday night’s contest, running his game total to 94.
“Big-time players play in big-time games,” Davis said of his quarterback. “He was able to make some big-time plays, and we needed it.”
But it was Squirewell who had the big night, racking up 199 yards in receptions from Belton, who threw for 260 on the night. The Belton-Squirewell combo put the Griffins up 14-0 early in the second quarter, when the two juniors connected for a 63-yard score.
“If he’s not the player of the week, I don’t know who is,” Davis said of Squirewell. “He made some big-time plays when we needed them. My hat goes off to him.”
But the Dogs hadn’t made it this far in the playoffs by lying down, and on their next possession they used a short field to go 65 yards in three plays. Newberry’s Tyon Williams put the Bulldogs back in the hunt with a 32-yard touchdown run with 10:47 left in the half. Newberry tied the game on their next possession, which began on their own 20 after a missed 30-yard field goal attempt by Compton Walker. Tysheen Nance capped the drive with a 1-yard run on second-and-goal with 2:49 remaining in the second.
But as the game wore on, the Dogs wore down, with several key players – quarterback Khalil Sheppard, and running backs Williams and Eric Gallman – getting banged up and sidelined. Backup quarterback Jared Harmon came on in relief and racked up 57 yards on 13 carries for Newberry, but he too went down late in the game.
“We knew they were big and physical,” Davis said, “but we thought by playing fast and doing what we do, we could wear them down. That was our game plan, and there toward the end we were able to wear them down.”
Newberry went up 21-14 early in the third quarter on a 7-yard run by Harmon, but Bell’s late score put the teams right back where they had started nearly 48 minutes earlier.
The win catapults the Griffins into the State Championship game Nov. 30 at Benedict College against Dillon. Kickoff for the title game is 5:30 p.m.
FC—K. Squirewell 63 pass from D. Belton. C. Walker kick. (11:50)
NH—Tyon Williams 32 run. Jose Lozano kick. (10:47)
NH—Tysheen Nance 1 run. J. Lozano kick. (2:49)
Fourth Quarter
NH—Jared Harmon 7 run. J. Lozano kick. (11:54)
FC—D. Bell 4 run. C. Walker kick. (3:59)
OT
FC—Damien Bell 1 run. C. Walker kick.
Team Stats
FC NH
First Downs 14 13
Rushes/Yards 39-143 42-159
Passing Yards 260 26
Fumbles/Lost 1-0 3-1
Penalties/Yards 7-60 5-45
Individual Stats
RUSHING: FC—Damien Bell 13-43. DeAndre Belton 20-94. Larry G. Bell 3-5. Joseph Young 2-0. Tyren White 1-6. NH—Eric Gallman 3-7. Tyon Williams 12-86. Khalil Sheppard 6-(-6). Omar Sims 1-5. Tysheen Nance 7-10. Jared Harmon 13-57.
RECEIVING: FC—Kewaun Squirewell 6-199. Damien Bell 5-58. Keith Workman 1-(-1). Daniel Maple 1-5. NH—Tovaris Cureton 2-26.
PASSING: FC—DeAndre Belton 13-25 260 yards. 2 TDs. 1 INT. NH—Khalil Sheppard 1-5 10 yards. 1 INT. Jared Harmon 1-2 16 yards. Chad Davis 0-4 0 yards.
Fairfield Central head coach Demetrius Davis said he was expecting to see a different football team get off the bus from Cheraw than the team that took a lick and laid down back on Sept. 21, when the Griffins thumped the Braves 43-8. And that’s what he got.
These Braves were seasoned, hungry and relentless, and had the Griffins down 3-0 in the second quarter. These Braves found a way to put the brakes on Fairfield’s juggernaut offense, play keep-away and slow the tempo down. But the Griffins found their legs before the half and stretched out a win in the second chapter, 27-10, to advance to the upper state championship game next week.
“It’s the first time we’ve trailed since Union (Sept. 14),” Davis said. “I think to be able to play in the playoffs, you’ve got to be able to face a little adversity and still have the confidence to win. At the end of the day, you have to believe you can win and our kids believe they can win.”
After dueling to a scoreless draw in the first quarter, the Braves got on top with a 32-yard field goal by James Davis with 7:32 left in the second. The drive, which began with 28 seconds to go in the first quarter on the Cheraw 36, could have ended much differently. Having chewed up the Griffin defense to drive the ball to the Fairfield 10, the Braves lined up to go for a fourth-and-1. An illegal procedure penalty on the delayed snap cost the Braves 5 yards, however, and forced the kick.
The Griffins responded with a clock-consuming drive of their own, starting at their own 27. Riding largely on the back of Damien Bell, the Griffins marched to the Cheraw 30 before the Braves forced a crucial third-and-10. Then Fairfield quarterback DeAndre Belton hit Kewaun Squirewell with a 27-yard pass, all the way down to the Cheraw 3, setting up Bell’s 1-yard touchdown run moments later.
The Griffins had an opportunity to add to their 6-3 lead late in the half, but Belton coughed the ball up at the end of a 19-yard run at the Fairfield 45.
“(Belton) had a big fumble right there at the half, and I hate to see that,” Davis said. “He’s such a good player, I want him to be free at all times and I don’t want him to have stuff in his mind, so I went to him and told him to move on and just play. He was able to shake it off. I’m so happy he’s on my team and I get to coach him again next year.”
Stymied on a fourth-and-goal from the Cheraw 3 on their opening possession of the second half, the Griffin’s relied on their defense to hold the Braves deep. Compton Walker fielded the punt at the Braves’ 41 and returned it to the 17, setting up a three-play drive that Belton finished off with a 6-yard run. Walker’s kick put the Griffins up 13-3 with 5:37 left in the third quarter.
But the Braves were not going to collapse in round three of the playoffs the way they had in week five of the regular season, and an unusual turn of events put them right back in the ball game.
Facing a fourth-and-7 from their own 48, the Braves lined up to punt the ball away. The punt was blocked by Mitchell Crosby and rolled deep into Cheraw territory. Following a wild scramble, the officials ruled that a Griffin had, momentarily, recovered the ball, but had fumbled it back to Cheraw, giving the Braves new life on their own 17. It was the opening they needed, and the Braves capitalized, driving 83 yards in 17 plays to close the gap to 13-10 on a 2-yard run by Justin Chapman with 9:26 left in the game.
The Griffins responded once more, with Daniel Maple taking the ensuing kick at his own 35 and returning it to the Fairfield 47. Belton and the Bells drove the ball to the Cheraw 22 before the Braves forced a fourth-and-2 and Davis rolled the dice. The Braves bit on the long count, jumped off sides and gave the Griffins a first down at the 17. Still, the Cheraw defense hung tough, putting the Griffins in another fourth down situation, this time 5 yards shy at the 12. Belton rolled out in the bootleg and hit Larry G. Bell with a touchdown strike to put Fairfield up 20-10 with 4:45 remaining. Bell would hammer in the final nail one minute later with a 20-yard run against a gassed Cheraw defense.
“That’s a good football team there,” Davis said of Cheraw. “We were fortunate tonight. I’m glad our kids were prepared for a tough football game, because we were able to respond. I told them it’s tough to beat a team twice. They’ve got all the film they need just from watching the last game. We probably could have done a few things differently here and there, but at the end of the day, we won.”
The Griffins will host Newberry next week for the opportunity to represent the upper state in the title game Nov. 30. Newberry beat Central 21-14 Friday night.
FC 0-6-7-14 27
CH 0-3-0-7 10
Second Quarter
CH – James Davis 32 FG. (7:26)
FC – Damien Bell 1 run. Kick failed. (2:32)
Third Quarter
FC – DeAndre Belton 6 run. Compton Walker kick. (5:37)
Fourth Quarter
CH – Justin Chapman 2 run. Davis kick. (9:26)
FC – Larry G. Bell 12 pass from D. Belton. C. Walker kick. (4:45)
FC – L.G. Bell 20 run. Josh Bell kick. (3:46)
Team Stats
FC CH
First Downs 12 13
Rushes/Yards 40-188 37-140
Passing Yards 90 69
C-A-INT 6-7-0 9-23-0
Penalties/Yards 6-55 4-26
Fumbles/Lost 2-2 1-0
Individual Stats
RUSHING: FC—Damien Bell 23-92. DeAndre Belton 10-60. Larry G. Bell 7-36. CH—Justin Chapman 21-71. Deion Sanders 1-3. Xavier Taylor 7-24. John Cooks 2-4. Randall Watson 1-12. Robert Pitts 5-26.
RECEIVING: FC—Damien Bell 1-(-5). Kewaun Squirewell 2-80. Kevin Workman 1-3. Larry G. Bell 1-12. Javaris Cook 1-0. CH—Justin Chapman 5-36. Winston Martin 2-10. John Cooks 2-25.
Blythewood quarterback Kylin Binn (4) looks down field.
With playoff seeding and a share of the region IV-4A championship on the line, the Blythewood Bengals (9-2, 4-1) came up with a 36-17 win over the Blazers of Ridge View (6-5, 3-2) Friday night. Before the game Ridge View head coach Raymond Jennings talked about the district rivalry.
“We’re 7 miles apart,” Jennings said. “There are no surprises. We are very familiar with each other and have similar styles of play.”
Similar indeed. Each team came into the game with just one region loss; moreover, Blythewood and Ridge View’s offenses are number one and two in the region, averaging 34.5 and 31.3 points per game respectively.
Blythewood scored on their first offensive possession when Greg Huegel hit a 38-yard field goal to cap an eight-play drive. However, the lead was short lived because on Ridge View’s first offensive play Gary Bradshaw broke free for a 66-yard touchdown. The extra point went wide right and after one quarter of play Ridge View led 6-3.
With four minutes gone by in the second quarter, Blythewood was in the middle of six-play drive when tailback Dean Beckford fumbled at the Ridge View 45-yard line. On the ensuing play, Bradshaw would strike again when he stretched a run down the right sideline to go in untouched for a 55-yard touchdown. Ridge View wide receiver Tre’van Howell caught a pass to nail the 2-point conversion making the score 14-3 in favor of the Blazers.
Facing their biggest deficit of the game, down by 11, the Bengals offense responded just a minute later when they drove down the field 73 yards in five plays to score off a Devin Albert 27-yard touchdown run. The 2-point conversion failed and halfway through the second quarter Blythewood trailed 14-9.
With three minutes to play in the first half, Bengals defensive back Erik Holliday picked off a pass, his first of the year, to give Blythewood the ball at the Ridge View 19-yard line. After three straight rushing plays it would be Kylin Binn who scored on a quarterback keeper from 8 yards out. On the 2-point conversion attempt Albert was stopped short and Blythewood took a 15-14 lead at the break.
To start the third quarter, the Blazers offense was faced with a fourth-and-1 at the Blythewood 45-yard line. On a fullback dive, Bengals defensive end Terrell Vaughn came up with a huge stop to force the turnover on downs.
On Blythewood’s ensuing possession, they were faced with their own fourth down decision, which ended much differently. On fourth-and-5 from Ridge View’s 35-yard line, wide receiver Javon Smith hauled in an over-the-shoulder catch in the end zone for his second receiving touchdown of the year. After the extra point by Huegel, Blythewood extended their lead to 22-14.
With four minutes to play in the third quarter Ridge View would score their only points of the second half on a 39-yard field goal, making the score 22-17 in favor of the Bengals.
The fourth quarter was all Blythewood as they scored 14 unanswered points. With three minutes to play in regulation, on a third-and-goal from the Ridge View 20-yard line, Ben Ruiz bounced outside for a touchdown that capped a seven-play 50-yard drive. Huegel added the extra point to make the score Blythewood 29 and Ridge View 17.
But the final nail in the coffin came with 1:12 to play when Bengals defensive back Earl Wilson nabbed an interception and bolted up the sideline for a 63-yard defensive touchdown.
Blythewood outscored Ridge View 21-3 in the second half and went on for a 36-17 win to earn a share of the region IV-4A championship with Irmo. After the game Blythewood head coach Reggie Kennedy felt good about his team’s performance.
“I’m really proud of our players and the way they fought tonight,” Kennedy said. “We knew it was going to be a war and I’m just happy with the way our team responded.”
Despite losing, Ridge View made the 4A state playoffs for the first time since 2008 as a 14th seed.
“I’m happy for this team to be at the end of their season and still playing for something besides pride,” Jennings said.
Ridge View will play at Irmo (three seed) on Friday.
Blythewood earned a seventh seed and will host the 10th seed, Boiling Springs (6-5) out of region II-4A on Friday at District Stadium. It’s the first time Blythewood has hosted a playoff game since 2006 and the first time ever as a member of 4A. Kennedy is happy his Bengals made the playoffs and he is excited to start their post season run.
“At this part of the year everybody is pretty tough,” Kennedy said. “We’re looking forward to the challenge.”
To listen to the live broadcast visit www.facebook.com/bhathletics pregame coverage starts at 7:15 p.m. followed by a 7:30 p.m. kickoff.
BHS- 3-12-7-14 36
RV- 6-8-3-0 17
First Quarter
BHS- G. Huegel 38 field goal. (9:11)
RV- G. Bradshaw 66 run. Kick failed. (8:54)
Second Quarter
RV- G. Bradshaw 55 run. T. Howell 2 pass from N. Randolph. (7:51)
BHS- D. Albert 27 run. Pass failed. (6:44)
BHS- K. Binn 8 run. D. Run failed. (1:35)
Third Quarter
BHS- J. Smith 35 pass from K. Binn. G. Huegel kick. (7:55)
RV- K. Blue 39 field goal. (4:07)
Fourth Quarter
BHS- B. Ruiz 20 run. G. Huegel kick. (2:48)
BHS- E. Wilson 63 interception return. G. Huegel kick. (1:12)
Team Stats
BHS RV
First Downs 19 13
Rushes/Yards 42-237 35-215
Comp/Att/Int 15-24-1 9-29-2
Passing Yards 136 139
Fumbles/Lost 1-1 1-1
Penalties/Yards 9-100 10-102
Individual Stats
RUSHING—BHS: D. Albert 10-64. B. Ruiz 8-64. K. Binn 12-64. L. Jamison 7-30. RV: G. Bradshaw 13-151. W. Napper 6-39.N. Randolph12-22. T. Adams 2-2.
