The incoming hurricane moved last week's game to Thursday, but the importance of the game was never in doubt. BHP traveled to Powdersville in a game that for most purposes determined the region champion and the number one seed in the 3A playoffs.
The game lived up to the billing in the first half. BHP and Powdersville traded scoring drives and were tied at 14 with 5 minutes left in the 2nd quarter. At that point, Powdersville drove 66 yards after the BHP kickoff for a score. The Bears then go three and out and have a 12-yard punt giving the Patriots a short field and Powdersville takes advantage with another score to go up 28-14 at halftime.
The Bears had a hard time clawing back from that halftime deficit and Powdersville increased their lead. In the 3rd quarter, Powdersville became the first team to score on the Bears in that quarter along with blocking a punt and returning it for a TD. The Bears would trail 41-17 going into the 4th quarter.
The Bears never gave up the fight and turned to the passing game. The Bears passed for 121 yards and 2 TDs in the 4th quarter to get the game to the final 47-32 score.
Although the outcome was not what we were hoping for, there were many positives to come out of the game. The Bears are closer to being one of the top teams in the state than many will believe after the game against Powdersville and now the Bears have to prove it each week.
Even with the loss, there is still so much to play for this season. It would be a disappointment if BHP did not win the rest of their regular season games. The Bears will have to use the next four weeks to get better and when the playoffs get here, this team could make a deep run.
Week 7 Preview
BHP will take on the Palmetto Mustangs this Friday night. This has always been called a rivalry, but to call this a rivalry is like calling USA vs Zimbabwe a rivalry in basketball. BHP has won 87% of the matches and this week should be no different.
Palmetto comes into the game with a 1-5 season record and 0-1 in the region. Palmetto won their first game of the season against Woodmont 27-14. Following their first game, Palmetto has lost 5 in a row: Seneca 50-14, Travelers Rest 31-20, Walhalla 32-22, Pendleton 27-21 (OT), and Southside 25-21.
BHP has to impose its will on the Mustangs in every facet of the game Friday. The Bears must get back their ability to score on explosive plays and force turnovers on defense. This sounds so arrogant and no coach would make this statement, but the opponent this week is the Bears themselves. There is no team to look forward to and coming off their first loss the Bears have to focus on a dominant win. And I think they will.
2020 Game Stats (Last Matchup)
Score: BHP 52 -- Palmetto 18
BHP Yardage:
Team Rushing: 44 rushes for 273 yards and 6 TDs
Team Passing: 6/9/0 for 83 yards and 1 TD
Team Total: 53 plays for 356 yards and 7 TDs
Rushing Leader: #16 Dusty Hester - 12 rushes for 88 yards and 3 TDs
Passing Leader: #2 Tyler Fields - 6/8/0 for 83 yards and 1 TD
Receiving Leaders: #15 Nevada Billups - 3 receptions for 51 yards and 1 TD
Defensive Leader: #7 AJ Pendleton - 3 first hits, 2 solo tackles, 1 INT, and 21 defensive points
Palmetto Team Yardage:
Team Rushing: 19 rushes for 79 yards and 1 TD
Team Passing: 11/21/2 for 109 yards and 1 TD
Team Total: 40 plays for 188 yards and 2 TDs
Rushing Leader: #28 Zach Edwards - 7 rushes for 56 yards and 1 TD
Passing Leader: #7 JB Altman - 11/21/2 for 109 yards and 1 TD
Receiving Leaders: #4 Ragen Davenport - 3 receptions for 43 yards
Quick Stats
- BHP is 48-7 all-time against Palmetto, 11-0 under Coach Blackston.
- Under Coach Blackston, the Bears are 49 points away from 5000 points since 2010.
- BHP has lost to Palmetto only once since 1996.
- Under Coach Blackston, BHP has averaged 45 points per game and allowed 15.5 points per game against Palmetto.
- BHP is averaging over 400 total yards per game. BHP has only done that in one season since 2014 (2015 - 402.3).
- BHP is averaging 269.2 rushing yards per game this season. That would be the most rushing yards per game in a season going back to 2014.
- BHP’s Marquise Henderson has had a rush in 14 games in his career, he has gained at least 100 yards in 9 of those games (5 this season).
- Since 2014 BHP has had 13 70+ yard rushes. Marquise Henderson has 2 this season.
- Eli Strickland has 52 career receptions, which is 8th all-time in career receptions, one away from 7th and four away from 6th.
- AJ Pendleton has 1,971 career passing yards (9th all-time) and 999 career rushing yards.
- Of the 5 QBs since 2014 that have over 1000 career passing yards, AJ Pendleton has the best Completion to TD ratio (he throws a TD every 5.95 completion - formula = Total Completions / Total TDs).
- Against Walhalla, AJ Pendleton completed 17 of 18 passes which tie the BHP record for the highest completion percentage in a game.
- The 3 fumbles lost by BHP against Powdersville were the first lost fumble by the Bears this season.
- BHP has thrown for a TD in each of the last 4 games.
- BHP has gained 20 or more yards in 24 plays this season while allowing only 14.
- BHP has scored 70% of their points in the 2nd and 3rd quarters this season.
- BHP has forced 13 fumbles and recovered 8 this season.
Conclusion
BHP has to look to focus this week on dominating a familiar opponent. People will dismiss the Bears after the loss to Powdersville, so from this point on the Bears have to show that they are truly a great team and dominate their opponents.
Prediction: BHP 55 - Palmetto 10
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