5 Questions | 2019

Each season brings on new questions for each team. Before the first game, we all have many questions and the answers do not come until the games are played. We put together a list of five of the top questions we have going into the 2019 season.

1) Who will Take Over QB Duties?

There has only been one QB who has attempted a pass in a BHP uniform since 2017 and unfortunately, he has graduated. Because of that, anyone taking the reins at QB will not have past seasons’ experience to rely on. Lately, at BHP the QB has been a strong suit, from Camden Bratcher who ended his career with the 2nd most passing yards in BHP history to Kamron Burton who ended his career with the 3rd most total yards in BHP history. Now we get to see what the next generation will look like.

First, the best aspect of BHP’s offense is that it returns the top 3 rushers from last season's team. This will put less pressure on the new QB to carry the offense as they have had to in the past.

Second, will the coaching staff stick to one QB? As we said, only one QB has attempted a pass. In the 2016 season, the starting QB attempted all but 6 passes. It will be interesting to see if the opening game QB will get the same treatment or if there will be more activity at that position than usual.

2) Can BHP Win Back To Back Region Championships?

BHP has not won back to back region championships since the 2005 and 2006 seasons. However, BHP has won 2 out of the last 3. The last time BHP won back to back region championships it was the end of a 5 year run where they won 5 straight from 2002-2006.

This season could be one of the tougher region slates BHP has faced in the recent past. In their region, Daniel, Palmetto, and Pickens will all return experienced starter QBs, leaving BHP to face a tough defensive test each week of region play. However, BHP gets home games against all three of these teams that return a starting QB.

The best part of region play is that BHP will have half a season under their belts. They will be able to know what is working and what is not and can really hone in on what can be exploited each week. With the high level of competition this season inside the region, it might take an undefeated region record to be named the champs. Since 2010 BHP has only done that twice. It will be interesting to see if BHP can continue their dominance in their region.

3) What Is The Limit To The Number Of Rushes BHP Can Run?

The most rush attempts attempted by BHP in a season was 567 in 2004. That was 37.8 attempts per game in 15 games. Last season BHP rushed for 36.3 attempts per game in 11 games.

With their experience at running back and offensive line coupled with the inexperience at QB, could we see BHP attempt 45, 48, or even 50 rushes per game?

Between 2016 and 2018 BHP averaged 58.4 plays per game and averaged 39.8 rushes per game (68.8% rushing plays). However, in the 2014 and 2015 seasons, BHP was over 73% rushing plays per game. I feel BHP could bump that number even higher, closer to 80% rushing plays which could put them in a position to break the single-season rushing attempts by any BHP team.

4) Will BHP Be Able To Make It Out Of The First Round Of The Playoffs?

Last season’s abrupt end in the first round of the playoffs was tough to handle. Coming off a dominating victory to win the region, BHP was beaten in every facet of the game by Westwood.

The last time BHP lost in the 1st round of the state playoffs, they made it to the 3rd round the following season. It will be interesting to see if this team’s upperclassmen will allow last season’s loss drive them to a better performance in the playoffs this season or if they will succumb to the early exit as they did last season.

5) How Good Can The Defense Be?

Although the defense graduated a large part of their defensive line, they bring back nearly the entire backend of their defense. The graduating seniors accounted for 37% of total tackles but 54% of sacks. However, BHP will return 7 of the top 11 players with the most defensive points last season.

The main focus will be rebuilding the defensive line because BHP will only return one defensive line starter from last season. But with that, BHP will return two starting linebackers who were the top two defensive tackle points leaders for the entire team and three of the defensive back starters.

The foundation is strong for BHP this season but is different than most seasons. In the past, BHP was able to find defensive linemen and have to replace defensive backs seemingly every year. Now BHP has to do the opposite and it will be interesting to see if experience on the back end of defense can correlate to a dominant defense overall.

Conclusion

As we said, questions are asked of each team but answers do not come until games kickoff. We are waiting for kickoff because we are excited to see how the Bears answer these questions.

Stay tuned as we are only 4 weeks away. We will be releasing a new post each week leading up to the first game. You won’t want to miss our returning player profiles or our bold predictions for the 2019 season.