HOPKINS – Westwood and Blythewood competed in Lower Richland’s second annual Diamond Hornet 7-on-7 Shootout on Thursday, June 30. Westwood is set to open their 2022 football season at Spring Valley on August 19. Blythewood will play at Ridge View on Aug. 19.
BLYTHEWOOD – Desmond Boatwright blasted through Fairfield Central defenders Monday night. Backup quarterback David Herndon had enough touch on the ball to throw three touchdown passes. Together, they and the rest of the Blythewood football team closed out a 22-6 victory over 3A rival Fairfield Central Monday night.
Boatwright had 169 yards on 22 carries on the night. Herndon started in lieu of sophomore Harrison Collins, who broke his hand before the season opener. The 6-0 junior threw TD passes of 6, 30, and 23 yards, along with a 2-point conversion pass in the first half to give the Bengals a 20-0 halftime lead.
“I’ve got to give our O-line credit and Desmond did a great job,” Blythewood head coach Jason Seidel said. “We left some points off the board though, and you have to give Fairfield credit, we had some drives but we shot ourselves in the foot. It was a typical first game.”
Herndon coming in on short notice was a concern going in, but the signal caller relied on receivers Jake Parker, Josh Gray, and Johnathan Harper to take in touchdown passes and give Blythewood a good cushion going into the second half.
“I was proud of him,” Seidel said. “It’s gonna take some time. He’ll miss a couple of plays here and there because he’s still learning the signals, but it happens.”
For the Griffins, who had seen their fall practice practically erased by COVID, came in without the pleasure of having scrimmaged opponents in the preseason. That lack of practice showed, head coach Demetrius Davis said.
“The one thing we couldn’t afford to do we did,” he said. “I was hoping we would be able to come through and even if it was the first time we went live, be able to overcome some of the mistakes. Playing a team of this caliber in your first game you’ve got to be able to come out and play mistake-free and create some turnovers. And we couldn’t get that done.”
The Bengals defense limited the Griffins to 160 total yards on the night, 87 rushing and 73 passing.
“Our defense was great, and I love the special teams,” Seidel said. “Our punter (Will Rowe, three punts and a 47.0 average on the night) did a great job of changing field position.”
Blythewood turned the ball over on downs deep into Fairfield Central territory on its first drive. The Bengals second drive paid off as they ground out the clock with Boatwright runs and scored on Herndon’s 6-yard touchdown pass to Parker with 18 seconds left in the first quarter.
Up 6-0, the Bengals defense made a key stop. Fairfield Central went backwards on the next possession, punting from the15-yard line and setting up Blythewood at the Griffins’ 30-yard line. Three plays later Herndon struck again with a 30-yard touchdown strike to Gary at the 10:41 mark.
Herndon’s third TD pass of the half came with 4:38 left as he found Harper from 23 yards out. After having missed an extra point and failed on a 2-point conversion on its first scores, Herndon made good on the third attempt, a pass to Chris Thomas for two points to give Blythewood a 20-0 lead at halftime.
Blythewood spent the third quarter running the clock out on Boatwright runs, then pinning Fairfield Central back deep in its own territory. Doing so led to a safety when Jordan Clark tackled Tyderian Grier in the end zone at the 9:03 mark of the fourth.
Fairfield Central finally managed a small drive in the final minutes of the game, an 11-play 40-yarder capped with Semaj Young’s 2-yard TD run with 20 seconds left.
“I feel like we won the second half,” Davis said. We did a better job in the second half than in the first one. Our defense pretty much shut them out. We did some good things on defense, and the only points they got was on that safety, and that was on me, that wasn’t a great call.”
Blythewood travels to Westwood for the latest Battle of the Woods—and the right to wield the Jeanne Schmidt Memorial Trophy Friday. Covid-19 forced last year’s meeting to be cancelled. Westwood beat Blythewood 14-7 in the rivalry in 2019.
“It’s a quick turnaround,” Seidel said. “We’ve got to make sure we’re ready to go. This happened to us two years ago, we played on a Monday and went to Westwood and lost. A lot of our kids remember that.”
Fairfield Central plays host to Lancaster Monday night.
“A team makes the best strides between week one and week two, so hopefully we can get this film,” Davis said. “This is the first chance we’ve been able to go up against some guys. Hopefully we’ll do better next week.”
Fairfield Central – 0-0-0-6 — 6
Blythewood – 6-14-0-2 — 22
First Quarter
B – Jake Parker 6 pass from David Herndon (kick failed) :18
Second Quarter
B – Josh Gray 30 pass from Herndon (pass failed) 10:41
B – Johnathan Harper 23 pass from Herndon (Chris Thomas pass from Herndon) 4:38
Fourth Quarter
B – Team safety 9:03
F – Semaj Young 2 run (kick failed) :20
FC Blythewood
First Downs 10 12
Rushes-Yards 30-87 37-157
Passing Yards 73 82
Att-Com-Int 20-7-0 8-5-0
Fumbles-Lost 2-1 2-1
Penalties-Yards 6-30 7-45
Punts-Avg. 5-36.6 3-47.0
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: FC– Stephon Gadsden 16-70, Semaj Young 5-16, Donovan Watkins 3-20, Kensley Copeland 2-5, TyDerian Grier 1-14, Team 1-(-38). Blythewood – Desmond Boatwright 22-169, David Herndon 9-(-26), James Lyles 2-0, Curtis Hilton Jr.3-14.
PASSING: FC – Stephon Gadsden 7-20-0. Blythewood – David Herndon 5-8-0.
RECEIVING: FC – Trent Boyd 1-0, Kensley Copeland 1-21, Semaj Young 2-5, TyDerian Grier 2-38. Blythewood – Jake Parker 3-29, Josh Gray 1-30, Johnathan Harper 1-23.
BLYTHEWOOD – The Blythewood Soccer team kept the pressure on Rock Hill Friday night, and when the kicks were complete at District 2 stadium, the Bengals finished off a 9-0 shutout over the Bearcats, giving head coach Kathy Knight her 100th win.
“It was a great surprise, I haven’t even been keeping tally,” said Knight, in her eighth year coaching the Bengals. “To find that out at the end of the game, it was just the icing on the cake for it to be tonight.”
Knight entering triple digits would have come a year earlier, were it not for the global pandemic and the public health emergency that followed closing down the 2020 athletic season after six games.
Rock Hill, bringing just 11 players to the game, felt the pressure of the Bengals right from the kickoff. The Bearcats eventually became an 11-person goalkeeper against Blythewood, which kept the ball on the Rock Hill side throughout the game.
Blythewood took 14 shots on goal by the final minutes of the first half, and Rock Hill keeper Abby Vaulk and her team fended off all of them—except Lauren Hendry’s shot at the 2:50 mark. Hendry took a pass from Madison Powell and powered it past the reach of Vaulk to put the Bengals up 1-0, a lead they held going into intermission.
“In the first half they (Rock Hill) did a really good job packing the back and stepping to the ball first before us,” Knight said. “At halftime we had to make a lot of adjustments to get the ball moving, taking just those quick one-two touches and passing quickly in order to keep them moving.”
Hendry struck again two minutes into the second half, this time from Maya Moran’s corner kick. Moran got the assist.
“We had a lot of missed opportunities in the first half,” Hendry said. “It was good to have a goal in the last three minutes, it lifted up our spirits and gave us confidence for the second half.”
Once Hendry’s goals were in the net, the Bengals kept finding scoring avenues.
Meredith Stone put one in at the 28-minute mark, with Hendry getting the assist.
Nine minutes later, Rock Hill suffered an own goal when one of the players inadvertently kicked the ball in on Stone’s corner kick.
“We just decided to play our game by then, and opened up and making sure that we were technically sound,” Stone said. “I think that helped us a lot, focusing on moving the ball around a lot instead of panicking.”
Emery Christensen struck the back of the net with 12:40 to go, after taking the rebound when her previous shot was kicked away. Olivia Harris took the assist on that play, which put Blythewood up 5-0.
Four goals in the final 10 minutes sealed the win.
Maya Moran headed in a shot with Megan Moran getting the assist. After Lydia Daniels’ goal came off of Michaela Bosmans’ assist, Macy Moran came out of the net as goalkeeper and put on a field jersey to score a goal with 2 minutes left.
“It was nice to see every senior score, even our goalkeeper,” Knight said. “She (Macy Moran) plays on the field as well, but in her club.”
Daniels closed things out with a goal with about a minute to play.
All four seniors honored on senior night scored for the Bengals – Hendry twice, Stone, and Macy and Maya Moran. Daniels also scored twice.
“It’s crazy,” Stone said. “It feels incredible. Everything you’ve worked for for the past four years is just good to see it pay off.”
Blythewood (10-2, 6-0) defeated Spring Valley (7-8, 6-2) 3-0 Tuesday night to clinch the Region 4-5A championship. Emery Christensen scored a goal and had an assist, and Hendry and Evelyn Wright had goals. Meredith Stone had two assists.
Blythewood is at Ridge View Friday.
BLYTHEWOOD – Coming off a 2-1 nail-biter victory over Spring Valley last Friday, Blythewood went up early on Ridge View Tuesday night, scoring six runs in the first en route to an 11-1, 5-inning victory over the Blazers.
Kevin Steelman got the win for the Bengals (15-2, 7-0), scattering three hits over 4 2/3 innings of work. He struck out six and walked two.
Zac Cowan led off the game with a single and scored on Ty Dooley’s double. Caleb McCants drove in Dooley on a triple to rightfield to make it 2-0 Bengals.
McCants then scored on a wild pitch as Alex Nevils batted. Nevils singled and his courtesy runner, Ryan Hunter, scored on Watson Saunders’ single to centerfield to make it 4-0 Blythewood with nobody out.
After Camden Watts grounded out and Justin Flemming walked, Saunders stole home to make it 5-0. Landon Penfield grounded out at first, but it was enough for Flemming to cross the plate and make it 6-0.
Justin White closed out the first inning flying out to centerfield.
Blythewood scored two more runs in the second inning, and after giving up a run in the fourth, the Bengals got three more runs in the fifth to close out the game on the 10-run mercy rule.
Against Spring Valley Friday night, the game was much closer.
The Bengals clung to a 1-0 lead going into the top of the sixth, when Ethan Rumpel’s 2-out single to score Wynn Ravan and tie the game.
Watson Saunders led off the the bottom of that frame with a single, moved to second on a passed ball, and moved to third on Nevils’ sacrifice bunt. Watts then laid down a bunt to the pitcher that enabled Saunders to score.
With Watts at first, Kevin Steelman doubled and moved Watts to third with one out for Flemming. As it turned out, Watts got picked off third and Flemming struck out to end the inning.
It was all the Bengals needed. Cowan, on the mound since the top of the sixth, struck out one and got two batters to ground out get the 2-1 win.
Blythewood plays host to Ridge View for a double header Friday.
Blythewood – 6-2-0-0-3-X – 11-12-1
Ridge View – 0-0-0-0-1-X – 1-3-0
WP: Kevin Steelman. LP: Noard
Hitters: Alex Nevils 3-3, 2B. Watson Saunders 3-3, 2B. Caleb McCants 3B. Ty Dooley 2B.
Spring Valley – 0-0-0-0-0-0-1 – 1-6-0
Blythewood -1-0-0-0-0-1-X – 2-5-3
WP: Zac Cowan.
Hitters: Zac Cowan 3B. Alex Nevils 2B. Kevin Steelman 2B.
BLYTHEWOOD – The Blythewood softball team scored 34 runs
against Region 4-5A rivals Spring Valley and Ridge View in the last week.
The Bengals (11-2, 4-0) solidified their hold at the top of the region with a
16-4 rout at Spring Valley Friday, and a 18-1 drubbing at Ridge View Tuesday.
Lauren Hardy, who got the victory in the circle for the Bengals Friday, drove in four runs on two hits at the Blazers Tuesday. Other big hitters Tuesday were Josie Smith, who drove in three runs and went 3-for-3 with a double; Haley McCoy, who had 2RBI on a double and a triple; and Callie Baucom, who went 2-for-3 with a triple and three RBI.
Against Spring Valley Friday, Blythewood gave up three runs to the Vikings in the bottom of the first, but scored three in the top of the second to take a 6-3 lead. Blythewood’s 5-run fourth and 5-run fifth closed out the win over the Vikings.
Keley Swanier went 3-for-3 with a home run and 3 RBI to lead the Bengals. Hardy had two hits and tripled, Josie Smythe had two hits and doubled, Anna Fridrikson had two hits and Haley McCoy doubled.
Blythewood is at Lexington for a non-region matchup Friday.
Blythewood – 1-6-7-4 – 18-13-0
Ridge View – 0-0-1-0 – 1-4-3
WP: Josie Smith.
Hitters: Anna Fridriksson 2-2. Lauren Hardy 2-2. Callie Baucom 2-3, 3B. Haley McCoy 2-3, 2B, 3B. Josie Smythe 3-3, 2B.
Blythewood – 3-3-0-5-5 – 16-13-1
Spring Valley – 3-0-0-0-1 – 4-7-2
WP: Lauren Hardy.
Hitters: B – Kaley Swanier 3-3, HR. Lauren Hardy 2-3, 3B. Josie Smythe 2-2, 2B. Anna Fridriksson 2-2. Haley McCoy 2B. SV – Raina Palevich 2-2. Cydney Cooper 2B.
WINNSBORO – The Blythewood softball team picked right up where they left off after winning the Soda City Classic April 3.
In their first game since that Spring Break Tournament, the Bengals exploded for a 17-run first inning en route to a 21-0 Region 4-5A victory over Rock Hill Tuesday night.
Blythewood banged out 11 hits including Haley McCoy’s grand slam home run and Maya Van Zyl’s triple Van Zyl went 3-for-3 with six RBI.
Josie Smythe needed to pitch only three innings because of the 15-run mercy rule. She gave up a hit, struck out six and walked one.
Blythewood (9-2, 2-0) is at Spring Valley Friday and at Ridge View Tuesday.
Rock Hill – 0-0-0 – 0, 1, 2
Blythewood – 17-4-X – 21, 11, 0
WP: Josie Smythe.
Hitters: Maya Van Zyl 3-3, 3B. Anna Fridriksson 2-2. Haley McCoy HR (Grand Slam).
BLYTHEWOOD – The Chief Communications Officer for Richland School District Two provided documents on Tuesday confirming that Blythewood head football coach Jason Seidel received a one-week suspension and was reprimanded by the District as punishment for violating the school’s recruiting policy.
The Voice obtained the documents through a Freedom of Information Act request.
Richland Two launched an investigation in late January of Seidel’s interaction via Twitter with several football players at Ridge View High School in December of last year and January of this year after it was reported to Richland Two District office by Ridge View High Principal, Brenda Mack-Foxworthy. Seidel exchanged numerous tweets with the players over that time frame, encouraging them to transfer to Blythewood to play for the Bengals, according to a statement issued by Richland Two.
The District did not at that time disclose what discipline it had meted out to Seidel.
Seidel was missing from the sidelines of his team’s game against Fairfield Central High School on Friday, Sept. 6, and there was speculation at the time that it was the likely result of his punishment.
Kevin Rohletter was the Bengals acting head coach for the team that evening in their 35-21 victory over the Fairfield Central Griffins.
Documents provided Tuesday verified that Seidel received a one-week suspension in which he would be “prohibited from any activities with the team during that week, including any games the team played that week.”
The specific week the suspension would be served was not disclosed.
Complaints against Seidel also accused him of directing players to cover up his interactions. In one tweet, Seidel mentioned to one player to “delete our convo…” In another conversation with a player, he said about the player’s mother “I would like to meet her when she can. I want you both comfortable. But you and your mom can’t say we met either.”
According to District Two policy, “Recruiting of prospective students for athletic purposes is a serious ethical violation of the philosophy and ideals of interscholastic athletics and will be treated as such.”
District Two went public on the matter only in mid-August, when local television news station WIS received word of the issue and aired a story on Seidel’s contacts on Aug. 16.
After District Two had investigated and addressed the situation in March, Mack-Foxworth filed an appeal March 19 with Keith Price, the District’s assistant superintendent for middle schools and high schools and requested that the District send the issue to the South Carolina High School League (SCHSL), which oversees public school sports in the state. The SCHSL later said that “no violation within the S.C.H.S.L occurred” because none of the students in contact with Seidel transferred to Blythewood.
Seidel was notified of his discipline by Richland District Two in May.
The South Carolina High School League, which governs public school athletic programs, passed on making a decision because there was no evidence that any student transferred based on Seidel’s actions.
BLYTHEWOOD – The Blythewood High School (BHS) Athletic Hall of Fame announced its inaugural induction class.
Created in 2019 to recognize the outstanding contributions to Blythewood High School athletics, the Hall of Fame will honor five inductees at a banquet on Thursday, Oct. 31. The inductees will also be recognized at Blythewood’s final regular season varsity football game on Friday, Nov. 1.
The first Bengals inducted will be Nicole Quinlan Durig (2008) – volleyball and track; Grayson Greiner (2011) – baseball; Vince Lowry – first BHS Athletic Director; Richard Mounce (2008) – football and baseball;, and Jeff Scott – first BHS varsity football coach.
Tickets to the Induction Banquet, held at Columbia Country Club, are available to the public for $25. Ticket inquiries may be directed to Buzzy Myers (buzzmy- ers@live.com) or current BHS Athletic Director Barry Mizzell (bmizzell@richland2.org).
BLYTHEWOOD – Blythewood head football coach Jason Seidel was missing from the sidelines of his team’s game against Fairfield Central Friday, the likely result of his being punished by Richland District Two.
Kevin Rohletter was the Bengals acting head coach in their 35-21 victory over the Griffins.
When asked about the possibility that Seidel’s absence in the game Friday was a part of District Two’s discipline of the coach, District Spokesperson Libby Roof declined comment.
Seidel’s interaction via Twitter with several football players at Ridge View and Richland Northeast high schools in December of last year and January of this year drew the attention from the media. Seidel exchanged numerous tweets with the players over that time frame, encouraging them to transfer to Blythewood and play for the Bengals.
Further, Seidel directed players to cover up his interactions. In one tweet, Seidel mentioned to one player to “delete our convo…” In another conversation with a player, he said about the player’s mother “I would like to meet her when she can. I want you both comfortable. But you and your mom can’t say we met either.”
According to District Two policy, “Recruiting of prospective students for athletic purposes is a serious ethical violation of the philosophy and ideals of interscholastic athletics and will be treated as such.”
District Two went public on the matter only in mid-August, when local television news station WIS received word of the issue and aired a story on Seidel’s contacts Aug. 16.
The contact, explained in detail in the Voice’s Aug. 22 cover story, involved students at Ridge View and Westwood High Schools. Ridge View principal Brenda Mack-Foxworth reported the contact Jan. 19, according to the District’s timeline of events.
Later, after District Two had addressed the situation, Mack-Foxworth filed an appeal March 19 with the District’s assistant superintendent for middle schools and high schools and requested that the District send the issue to the South Carolina High School League (SCHSL), which oversees public school sports in the state. The SCHSL later said that “no violation within the S.C.H.S.L occurred” because none of the students in contact with Seidel transferred to Blythewood.
Seidel was disciplined by Richland District Two in May. The Voice has submitted a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to the District to acquire Seidel’s personnel record, which is public.
The South Carolina High School League, which governs public school athletic programs, passed on making a decision because there was no evidence that any student transferred based on Seidel’s actions.
Three more non-region games are on the slate for Blythewood (2-1).
The Bengals travel to North Augusta Friday, play host to Dutch Fork Sept. 20, and travel to Beaufort Sept. 27 before opening Region 4-5A play at Irmo Oct. 11.