BLYTHEWOOD – Friday night was one that Blythewood head coach Jason Seidel was looking for since he was hired to rebuild the program in 2018.
The Bengals shut out Boiling Springs 40-0 to not only win their first playoff game since 2016, but also record their first playoff shutout in school history.
No.1 seed Blythewood (9-2) plays host to No.4 Byrnes (8-3) Friday in round two. The Rebels, led by former Bengals head coach Reggie Shaw, edged Hillcrest 31-28 Friday.
Kicker Ryan Hart even managed to kick a school-record four field goals in a single game, which helped the Bengals as they struggled against Boiling Spring’s main strength, a defensive line that hardened once Blythewood reached the 20-yard line.
“I give Ryan a lot of credit, he had a great night,” Seidel said. “But we made some mistakes there and if we want to beat a team like Byrnes or Dorman, to have a chance, we can’t kick field goals. That’s the biggest thing we’re going to harp on this week.”
Harrison Collins was 11-for-12 in passing for 91 yards and two touchdowns, and David Herden was 3-for-4, but Blythewood passed for just 132 yards total.
Deondre Williams led rushers with 89 yards on 18 carries, but every time the Bengals got close to the goal line, something went wrong.
Blythewood fumbled the opening kickoff, but the defense held off the Bulldogs (2-9) for the first of five first-half possessions. Harrison Collins finished the first quarter throwing touchdown passes of 7 and 13 yards to Chris Thomas and Josh Gary.
Up 14-0, the Bengals got a third score when Thomas returned a punt 62 yards for a score midway in the second quarter.
Hart kicked the first of his field goals on the night, a 28-yarder, with 19 seconds left in the first half to put Blythewood up 24-0.
Hart made good on kicks of 30,32, and 26 yards in the second half.
Gary capped an 11-play, 51-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.
The bigger story was the Blythewood defense, which didn’t surrender a first down in the first half. Boiling Springs had just three first downs in the second half.
And then there were the sacks. Four to be exact, two from defensive end Edward Robinson, who now has 24 quarterback takedowns on the season. Tykese Ashford and Zarion Williams each had a sack.
The four sacks accounted for 34 lost yards. Blythewood held Boiling Springs to 13 net yards on 20 attempts, and 49 passing yards on the night.
“We build through our defense, that’s been our thing since I’ve been here,” Seidel said. “Credit the defensive staff, they do a great job. We’ve got some studs. I think our defensive line is the best in the state. If you’ve got to block one of them, then someone else is going to make a play, and it makes it easier on our back end.”
The Bulldogs defense struggled because the offense couldn’t stay on the field, which ultimately hurt an otherwise strong defensive effort.
“Our heel has been not getting the ball in the end zone,” Boiling Springs head coach Matt Reel said. “Our defense has played really hard all year and they’ve gotten worlds better from Week Zero to where they are right now. They’re just trying to buy in to what we’re doing, trying to learn our defense.”
While Blythewood moves on to play Byrnes Friday, Boiling Springs will have to wait another year to turn the corner.
Boiling Springs – 0-0-0-0 — 0
Blythewood – 14-10-10-6 — 40
First Quarter
B – Chris Thomas 7 pass from Harrison Collins (Ryan Hart kick) 7:49
B – Josh Gary 13 pass from Collins (Hart kick) 4:53
Second Quarter
B – Thomas 62 punt return (Hart kick) 4:23
B – Hart 28 field goal :19
Third Quarter
B – Hart 30 field goal 10:30
B – Gary 1 run (Hart kick) 1:56
Fourth Quarter
B – Hart 32 field goal 10:25
B – Hart 26 field goal 1:18
BHS BS
First Downs 14 3
Rushes-yards 36-129 20-13
Passing yards 132 49
Att-Com-Int 16-14-0 16-6-1
Fumbles-lost 2-1 1-1
Penalties-yards 7-60 8-97
Punts-avg 2-32.5 7-37.0
RUSHING: BS – Justin Woodruff 7-25, Lincoln Huskey 9-(-23), Tylek Smith 1-(-1), Spencer Eison 1-6, Team 2-6. BHS – Deondre Williams 18-89, Josh Gary 7-24, Harrison Collins 5-(-2), David Herden 4-0, Chris Thomas 2-18.
PASSING: BS – Lincoln Huskey 6-16-1. BHS – Harrison Collins 11-12-0, David Herden 3-4-0.
RECEIVING: BS – Zy Landrum 2-23, Jackson Cole 1-18, Eli Mobley 1-5, Spencer Eison 1-3, Tylek Smith 1-0. BHS – Chris Thomas 6-47, Josh Gary 5-48, Dion Tyler 2-22, Anthony Thurman 1-14.
