2022 Bear Tracks Week 2

And like that, we are off to a running (literally) start with the 2022 season!

Luckily football is played in two halves, and BHP flipped the switch in the second half to get the come-from-behind win over Westside.

Both teams seemed to have some first-game rust, then Westside started to put some separation between themselves and the Bears. BHP was able to get a turnover and hold strong on a goal line stand to keep themselves in striking distance. Then after halftime, BHP came back looking like a different team. This showed in the first play as Marquise Henderson went 75 yards for a touchdown. The defense started to impose their will as well, allowing less than 100 total yards and no points in the second half. Then, with less than 6 minutes left in the game, BHP drove 54 yards on 8 plays to put the Bears up for good. If you can make a 200-yard performance look easy, Marquise Henderson did so on Friday. BHP was able to find the answers on both sides of the ball and get their first win of the season.

Now onto the Laurens Raiders!

Week 2 Preview

BHP welcomes a familiar foe this Friday night. Of all the teams BHP has played in their history, BHP has played Laurens the 8th most of any team.

Laurens comes into the game with an 0-2 record with losses against Hillcrest and Clinton. In those losses, Laurens has given up 96 points while scoring 35. Do not let those numbers lull you into thinking the Raiders will be an easy opponent. Both Hillcrest and Clinton are ranked in the top 5 of their classifications. With those two losses, Laurens will be targeting the game against BHP even more trying to get their first win of the season.

The Bears will need to build on the success they had in the second half of the Westside game. The defense will need to minimize big plays and continue to find opportunities with takeaways. Along with that, the ability and mentality to never give up on plays or drives will make this defense special (see the goalline stands against Westside). The offense will need to limit the errors. We got a glimpse at how explosive the rushing game can be, but with that, missed assignments and penalties will need to be reduced to keep the drives on schedule.

2015 Game Stats (Last Matchup)

Score: BHP 21 -- Laurens 15

BHP Yardage:

Team Rushing: 37 rushes for 107 yards and 2 TDs
Team Passing: 14/22/0 for 148 yards
Team Total: 59 plays for 255 yards and 2 offensive TDs

Rushing Leader: #3 Jawunn Abney - 18 rushes for 40 yards and 1 TD
Passing Leader: #8 Austin Estes - 11/17/0 for 119 yards
Receiving Leaders: #6 Nick Wood - 9 receptions for 68 yards

Laurens Team Yardage:

Team Rushing: 39 Rushes for 85 yards and 1 TD
Team Passing: 16/31/1 for 139 yards
Team Total: 70 plays for 224 yards and 1 offensive TD

Rushing Leader: #5 DQ Floyd - 18 rushes for 55 yards and 1 TD
Passing Leader: #10 Toby Jackson - 15/30/1 for 125 yards
Receiving Leaders: #22 KT Abney - 5 receptions for 40 yards

Quick Stats

• BHP is 10-14 all-time against Laurens, but 5-1 since 2010.
• Laurens is one of only 7 teams with a positive point differential that has played at least 10 times against BHP and is 1 of only 3 teams that have a positive point differential that has played 20 or more times against BHP.
• From 2003 - 2015 BHP opened the season against Laurens each year.
• Since 2014 BHP has had 13 games with a 200-yard rusher. Those 13 were completed by only 4 different rushers (Jawunn Abney 3 times, O’Ryan Warren 1 time, RJ Ellis 8 times, and now Marquise Henderson 1 time).
• There are only 8 teams that BHP has played 5 or more times that they have a losing record against all time. Laurens is one of the 8.
• Marquise Henderson is only the 10th BHP rusher since 2014 with at least 15 rushes in a game and an average yards per carry over 10.
• The kickoff return for a touchdown by Westside was only the 3rd kickoff return for a touchdown BHP has allowed since 2014.
• The 9 passing yards for BHP against Westside was the least amount of passing yards in a game since 2014. The next lowest was 18 against Daniel in 2020.
• The 75-yard rush by Marquise Henderson was only the 12th BHP rush that went for 70 or more yards since 2014 (all but two went for a TD).
• BHP gained 36% more rushing yards against Westside than their 2021 rushing average while running 15% fewer rushing plays.
• In 2021 BHP averaged 6.8 negative yardage plates per game; against Westside they only had 3.
• Last week BHP rushed for 20 or more yards 5 times while not allowing Westside a single 20-yard rush.
• Against Westside, BHP allowed 193 total yards in the 2nd quarter; the other three quarters combined for 128 total yards.
• 74% of BHP’s offensive yards came in the second half against Westside.
• Coach Blackston got his first career win against Laurens in 2010, 28-27.
• Coach Blackston will be going for his 100th win against Laurens this Friday Night.

Conclusion

BHP comes back home for their first home game of the season. With the second 4-A team in a row, the schedule only gets harder, but this Bears team has shown they have the ability to get it done.

Prediction: BHP 32 - Laurens 19

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Go Bears!