2019 Week 7 Bear Tracks

BHP opened up region play against Walhalla and it seemed like BHP left the bus at home because they were running all night long. Walhalla came into the game undefeated and ranked #6 in some SC high school football polls. At the end of the game they received a 20 point loss and saw BHP’s RJ Ellis rush for over 350 yards against them.

But now, BHP turns their eyes on to their rival and closest geographic school, Palmetto. This game not only has the rivalry aspect, but it has recently become a region game for each team.

Week 7 Preview

BHP has played Palmetto every year since BHP became a school. This Friday’s match-up will be the 54th game between the two teams. Although both teams consider this to be a rivalry, the overall record is hardly even. BHP is 46-7 against Palmetto all-time, and the last time BHP lost to Palmetto was in 2008 (score 7-6). Also, Palmetto has never beat BHP by more than a touchdown. (For more BHP vs Palmetto stats check out the Quick Stats later in the post).

Even though the overall record is so lopsided in BHP’s favor, they still have to play the games. The last couple of seasons Palmetto has been trending upward even as they moved up in classifications. This season Palmetto is 4-2 with their only losses coming to Woodmont and Daniel who are 10-1 collectively. Palmetto has wins over Powdersville, Pendleton, Crescent, and Seneca all while scoring over 40 points in each.

BHP will face a Palmetto team that is on the rise and one that will use this game to play their hardest. BHP has to take the same mindset into the game and put little brother Palmetto back in his place (as they nearly always do).

2018 Game Stats

Score: BHP 41 -- Palmetto 24

BHP Yardage:

Team Rushing: 55 rushes for 388 yards and 4 TDs
Team Passing: 12/21/0 for 122 and 1 TD
Team Total: 76 plays for 510 yards and 5 TDs

Rushing Leader: RJ Ellis - 31 rushes for 261 yards and 2 TDs
Passing Leader: Camden Bratcher - 12/21/0 for 122 yards and 1 TD
Receiving Leaders: Xavier Nance - 4 catches for 35 yards and 1 TD
Defensive Points : Joseph Sloan - 4 solo tackles, 1 TFL, 1 Big Hit and 27 Defensive Points

Palmetto Team Yardage:

Team Rushing: 25 rushes for 80 yards and 1 TD
Team Passing: 15/23/0 for 202 yards and 2 TDs
Team Total: 48 plays for 282 yards and 3 TDs

Rushing Leader: Blair Garner - 13 rushes for 45 yards
Passing Leader: Blair Garner - 15/23/0 for 202 yards and 2 TDs
Receiving Leader: Blakely Williams - 6 catches for 144 yards and 2 TDs

Quick Stats

2019 Season

• BHP is causing 30% more negative yardage plays for their opponents over last season.
• BHP has caused 2 or more interceptions in all but 1 game this season (only game was against Greenville).
• BHP is commiting 41.7% more penalties per game over last season.
• BHP is gaining 81.6% more rushing yards per game over last season.
• BHP is averaging 49.1% more points per game over last season.
• BHP is averaging 10.26 yards per rush in the 3rd quarter this season.
• 18 of BHP’s 25 rushing TDs came in the 3rd and 4th quarters this season.
• BHP has not allowed a 1st half passing TD this season.
• 70% of BHP’s first downs have come via a rush.
• 15.7% of BHP’s opponents’ first downs have come via a BHP penalty.

Week 6 vs Walhalla

• The 354 rushing yards RJ Ellis gained against Walhalla was the 3rd most rushing yards in a game for a BHP rusher ever.
• The 4 rushing TDs from RJ Ellis against Walhalla was the first time he rushed for 4 or more TDs in a game. This feat has only been accomplished 2 other times at BHP since 2014 (Both by O’Ryan Warren).
• RJ Ellis gained 20.8 yards per carry against Walhalla, the most by any BHP rusher with 10 or more carries since 2014.
• 7 of RJ Ellis’ 17 rushes against Walhalla went for 20 or more yards.

Against Palmetto

• BHP has scored 1,328 total points against Palmetto.
• BHP has outscored Palmetto by 860 points in the 53 matchups
• In the 7 losses to Palmetto, BHP was out scored by 31 total points or 4.4 points per loss.
• BHP has never lost to Palmetto by more than 7 points.
• In the 46 wins against Palmetto, BHP has outscored Palmetto by 891 points, or 19.4 points per game.
• BHP has shutout Palmetto and have scored 30 or more points in the same game 20 times.

Records

• RJ Ellis is one 200 yard rushing game away from tying the most career 200 yard rushing games at BHP (he currently has 6).
• RJ Ellis needs 5 receptions to break into the top 10 in most receptions in a career at BHP (he currently has 35).
• RJ Ellis takes over the 2nd all-time rushing spot at BHP with 3,309 yards (1,633 yards away from 1st place).
• Coach Blackston is now tied with Wayne Green for the most wins as a BHP head coach at 88 wins.

Miscellaneous

• Since 2014 (from when we have full game stats) RJ Ellis is the only BHP rusher to have more than 1,000 rushing yards in a 5 game span.

Conclusion

BHP opened up region play with a win. That win simply puts them in position to control their own destiny as it pertains to the region championship. As they move on to the next game, they each come with a higher level of pressure. Another region game means another quality opponent and with a win BHP, moves one step closer to the region championship. But no one should forget, everyone will be targeting BHP because Them Bears are the defending region champion. BHP will look to keep their region championship defense intact and the next contender is Palmetto.

Even with the success of Palmetto this season, I see the outcome being the same as most of the BHP Palmetto matchups; a huge BHP win.

Prediction: BHP 54 - Palmetto 21

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Extra Points

First we want to congratulate Coach Blackston on tying Wayne Green with the most wins as a BHP head coach with 88 wins Friday Night. Both coaches won their 88th game in their 10th season as BHP’s head coach, but it took Coach Blackston 5 less games to get to the 88 win mark. Along with this, Coach Blackston has never had a losing season at BHP, has never lost more than 4 games in a season, and has made the playoffs every season of his tenure.

Under Coach Blackston’s lead, BHP’s football program has been the standard of consistency and always in the hunt for region championships.

Second, this season and the overall career of RJ Ellis is special and has only been seen at BHP once ever. As we have said earlier, he is currently 2nd in all-time rushing yards at BHP. We could probably go on for a few hundred more words about some special stats he has put up, but let's look at how he could possible get to be the top rusher ever at BHP.

As we said, he currently has 3,309 rushing yards, 1,633 yards away from 1st place. Below is a chart of how many yards per game Ellis would need to overtake the number one spot based on how many more games BHP plays.

As you can see those averages start to get reasonable (in the respect that RJ Ellis can put up monster rushing numbers) the deeper BHP goes into the playoffs. So far this season Ellis is averaging 202.8 yards per game. If he can keep up that pace, BHP would need to make it to the Upper State Playoff game for him to surpass 1st place.

We just want to lay the case and show a new rushing leader at BHP is not out of the realm of possibility. Plus, we didn’t even mention that Ellis was limited to 7 games last season due to an injury. Also, if you ask any BHP fan what it will take for BHP to make it deep into the playoffs, everyone of them would say huge rushing games from RJ Ellis.