BHP made it back to the field after a quarantine period and unfortunately, the rust and the lack of practice showed early. And unlike the start of a new season where BHP would be able to round into form, they were facing the reigning state champions and region foe, the Wren Hurricanes. Although BHP fought back, the hole they put themselves in early in the game was just too much to overcome. The final score was Wren 53, BHP 20. Both the outcome and actual gameplay resembled last season’s matchup nearly exactly.
With the loss to Wren, BHP will now, with hopefully a full week of practice, turn their attention to Daniel. And the stakes and challenge could not be higher for a regular season game.
Week 5 Preview
BHP will travel to Daniel who won the region last season and with a win against BHP, will take the title again. This season, in terms of the region championship, is playing out as it did last year. Just as last season, BHP comes off a loss against Wren to face Daniel along with Daniel being undefeated. However, this season has a postseason birth on the line for both teams. With only the top two teams from each region making it to the playoffs, BHP has to beat Daniel by 21 points to make it to the playoffs. If that occurs, Wren will be the top seed out of the region, BHP the second seed, and Daniel would miss the playoffs.
With that task being hard any year, this season it seems even more out of reach. Daniel comes into this match-up 4-0 and on a 14 game regular season winning streak. However, the last regular season loss for Daniel came against BHP in 2018. Along with their current win streak, this season Daniel has outscored their opponents 209 to 65. The task to slow down the offense while scoring on their defense will be the toughest task BHP has faced in years.
With that, a region title coming down to a BHP vs Daniel match up is nearly an annual occurrence. Since 2000, BHP and Daniel have either won or tied for first place in the region 17 out of the 20 seasons. Now we just hope the Bears are the one spoiling the championship parade for the Lions.
2019 Game Stats
Score: BHP 28 -- Daniel 31
BHP Yardage:
Team Rushing: 56 rushes for 228 yards and 3 TDs
Team Passing: 6/16/1 for 145 yards and 1 TD
Team Total: 72 plays for 373 yards and 4 TDs
Rushing Leader: RJ Ellis - 21 rushes for 117 yards and 2 TDs
Passing Leader: Logan Milford - 6/15/1 for 145 yards and 1 TD
Receiving Leaders: Demetrius Byrd - 2 catches for 58 yards
Defensive Points : Jatius Geer - 3 TFL, 3 First Hits, and 1 Solo Tackle
Daniel Team Yardage:
Team Rushing: 23 rushes for 84 yards
Team Passing: 17/27/0 for 161 yards and 4 TDs
Team Total: 50 plays for 245 yards and 4 TDs
Rushing Leader: Billy Bruce - 13 rushes for 65 yards
Passing Leader: Tyler Venables - 17/27/0 for 161 yards and 4 TDs
Receiving Leader: Javares Hamilton - 8 catches for 68 yards and 2 TDs
Quick Stats
- Since 2000, BHP and Daniel have either won or tied for first place in the region 17 out of the 20 seasons.
- Since 2000, BHP is 17-4 in region games coming off a loss the previous week.
- BHP is 20-30 all-time against Daniel and since 2000 BHP is 10-10 against Daniel.
- The 357 total yards gained by Wren was the 20th time BHP has given up 350 or more total yards in a game since 2014. BHP is 7-13 in those games.
- The 3 turnovers by BHP against Wren was the 16th time BHP had 3 or more turnovers in a game since 2014. BHP is 3-13 in those games.
- If Daniel scores 3 points against BHP they will become the first BHP opponent to score 1,000 points against the Bears.
- The last time BHP has not made the playoffs was 1996.
- 72.9% of BHP’s total yards have come on plays longer than 10 yards, while their opponents have gained only 59.5% of their total yards on plays over 10 yards.
- BHP is averaging 44.7% more turnovers per game than they did last season.
- BHP has allowed only 1 passing TD this season.
- BHP is allowing 26% less passing yards per game than they did last season.
- BHP is causing 9.5 negative yard rushes per game, up from 7.1 per game last season.
- BHP is committing nearly 1.5 more penalties per game than last season.
- BHP has not gained a passing 1st down in the 4th quarter this season.
- BHP has not scored in the 4th quarter this season.
Conclusion
This match up feels so familiar, yet very strange. It is familiar in the way the region championship comes down to a match-up between BHP and Daniel. What feels strange is there are still region games left and one of these two teams will not make the playoffs.
We hope to see a BHP team that is more refined and plays a nearly flawless offensive game, along with a defense that causes turnovers. If this happens, BHP may have a chance to win by the needed margin to make the playoffs.
Prediction: BHP 42 -- Daniel 21 (why not!)
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