Kyle Wright (10) fights for yardage. (Photo/Kristy Kimball Massey)
BLYTHEWOOD (Nov. 21, 2015) – Blythewood almost let its first home playoff appearance since 2012 fall into the loss column Friday night.
Almost.
The Bengals built a 26-13 lead after a 13-7 first-quarter deficit, but two late-game North Augusta touchdowns put Blythewood down 27-26 with 1:45 to go at District 2 stadium.
Blythewood took the ball at midfield and drove to the North Augusta 3-yard line with 3 seconds to go. Cody Turner, who was good on field goals of 38 and 28 yards in the game, kicked a 20-yarder through as time expired for the Bengals’ 29-27 victory.
“That was one heck of a football team we played,” Blythewood head coach Dan Morgan said. “We made mistakes, but the biggest thing was that we kept pushing on as a team. We about cracked there, but they’ve got to keep believing in one another no matter what adversity they face and I was real proud of them.”
The Bengals (9-3) travel to Lexington Friday, as the Wildcats were 45-14 winners over Fort Mill.
North Augusta finishes the season 7-5.
Blythewood had built a 26-13 lead on North Augusta before the Yellow Jackets found the end zone in the fourth quarter.
A Rashad Byrd-to-Jaylon Patton touchdown pass with 4:07 left in the game cut Blythewood’s lead to 26-20.
When Blythewood took over deep in its own territory, Byrd then intercepted a David Isreal pass at the Blythewood 20-yard line.
Patton then caught a 6-yard Landon Washington TD pass with 1:45 left to go, putting the Jackets up 27-26.
After the kick, Blythewood launched their do-or-die bid at the North Augusta 45-yard line. In short order, Isreal connected with Derambez Drinkard on a pair of 14-yard passes that brought the Bengals within Turner’s field goal range.
Isreal kept moving, however, rushing Blythewood to the Yellow Jackets 3-yard line with 3 seconds to go to set up Turner’s game-winning shot.
“I always go back to my fundamentals in practice: always be smooth, always be focused, don’t try to over-kick, don’t do stuff that you can’t do,” Turner said. “I’ve kicked a thousand of those. It’s just second nature to me.”
Friday’s game was not the best in terms of statistics for the Blythewood offense, which had just 267 total offensive yards on 67 plays.
With leading rusher Osei Thomas out of Friday’s lineup, it was up to Isreal and Kyle Wright to make up yardage. Through the first half, they managed just 11 net rushing yards.
Isreal’s passing was inhibited by the athleticism of North Augusta’s Byrd, who was in the defensive secondary for the Yellow Jackets as well as at quarterback, receiver and running back.
Byrd picked Isreal off three times on the night, in addition for throwing a touchdown pass and catching a Landon Washington TD pass.
Blythewood took a 7-0 lead on Kyle Wright’s 17-yard touchdown run 3 minutes in.
The Bengals looked to make it 14-0 when it went deep into Yellow Jackets territory on their next possession, but Byrd picked off an Isreal pass and returned it 80 yards for a game-tying score.
Washington’s touchdown pass to Byrd from 2 yards out gave North Augusta a 13-7 lead with 27 seconds left in the first quarter.
Turner’s 38-yard field goal early in the second, followed by a 7-yard Isreal-to-Jordyn Adams touchdown at the 4:04 mark, gave the Bengals a 16-13 halftime lead.
Isreal rushed for a 7-yard score late in the third quarter and Turner hit his 28-yarder early in the fourth to make it 16-13. The Blythewood defense, which had held North Augusta to 6 points since the first quarter, just needed to continue its assault on the Yellow Jackets.
When Byrd and North Augusta made good on its final two scoring drives, momentum had clearly swung over to the Yellow Jackets.
“He’s the best player we’ve seen all year,” Morgan said. “He’s a fantastic athlete, and they use him just the right way. He’s so quick. We can usually read off of linebackers like him, but we can’t. He can bluff one way and go the other with no problem. I can’t tip my hat enough to North Augusta. They are just an awesome football team.”
But Isreal captaining the offense and setting up Turner’s score kept the Bengals alive for another week.
“I threw three interceptions and one pick-6, you know, but we came together and we still got it done,” Isreal said. “That just goes to show how much we believe in each other and how big of a family we are.”
N.A.: 13-0-0-14 – 27
BHS: 7-9-10-3 – 29
First Quarter
B – Kyle Wright 17 run (Cody Turner kick). 8:59.
N – Rashad Byrd 80 INT return (Roberto Vital kick). 3:59.
N – Byrd 2 pass from Landon Washington (kick failed). 0:27.
Second Quarter
B – Turner 38 field goal. 11:42.
B – Jordyn Adams 7 pass from David Isreal (kick failed). 4:04.
Third Quarter
B – Isreal 7 run (Turner kick). 1:41.
Fourth Quarter
B – Turner 28 field goal. 10:42.
N – Jaylon Patton 17 pass from Byrd (Vital kick). 4:07.
N – Patton 6 pass from Washington (Vital kick). 1:45.
B – Turner 20 field goal. 0:00.
Team Stats
NA BHS
First Downs 11 17
Rushes-Yards 30-93 34-111
Passing Yards 122 156
C-A-INT 13-21-2 16-30-3
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 1-0
Penalties-Yards 7-65 12-88
Punts-Avg. 4-33.2 3-23.7
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: N.A. – Tavian Price 14-59, Derius Gibson 2-9, Rashad Byrd 4-37, Landon Washington 1-1, Dreke Waltower 1-(-6). BHS – Kyle Wright 15-45, David Isreal 19-66.
PASSING: N.A. – Landon Washington 20-12-2. BHS – David Isreal 30-16-3.
RECEIVING: N.A. – Jaylon Patton 5-52, Dreke Waltower 2-42, Rashad Byrd 1-2, Brent Coach 1-1, Dejuan Bell 4-25. BHS – Derambez Drinkard 6-82, Jordyn Adams 3-26, Timel Benton 3-14, Jacob McGuire 1-14.
