5 Questions | 2020

Well we are here again. If you’re anything like me, the football season has snuck up on you. Although I am excited for it and hopeful that we are able to see the whole season through, I have not prepared mentally knowing the season is just two weeks away.

With the season being right around the corner, we have started thinking about the upcoming slate of games and have come up with five major questions still outstanding. In this post we’ll lay out our five questions that will have to be answered for this Bear season.

1) What will football look like?

So this could be all five questions and the one that every coach, athletic admin, and school official around the country is grappling with. We understand the complexity of the situation and the truly devastating consequences the wrong decision could have. With that, we will not take this opportunity lightly and will not make light of the situation, however we are excited about the season, no matter how strange it may be.

One of the ancillary questions (outside of actual health questions) is around the football atmosphere and how the number of fans will affect it. There has not been a statewide mandate on the regulation of spectators (other than limiting the total number to under 19,000 fans), but it has been left to each school or school district to decide. One of the most fun parts of high school football is the event of the game. The fans cheering, the ebb and flow of the tension, and the explosion of excitement when your team pulls ahead. We want to see the stands full as BHP goes to Daniel with the region title in balance, but who knows if this will be able to happen.

We are hopeful that when the season gets here, the students and coaches stay safe and we can see Them Bears take the field this season.

2) How good can the defense be?

We asked this question last year too. Between graduation and players moving out of the district, BHP has a lot to replace. However, they return some very experienced players.

BHP returns one of the top defensive linemen in the region (maybe in the state), Jatius Geer. He led the team in sacks and tackles for loss last season. On the other side of the line, BHP returns Jamias Glenn who had 8 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, and even blocked a kick.

BHP also returns three defensive backs who played major roles in the defense last season. Wes Newton, Eugene Scott, and Rahzel Scott all bring experience to the defensive back field. Newton had 122 defensive tackle points and had the 3rd most pass breakups on the team. Rahzel Scott led the team in interceptions, and Eugene Scott had 14 solo tackles and 1 interception last season.

The one position group to keep a close eye on is the linebackers. With only one senior in the group, this is where inexperience could show. Trevian Devaux and Zac Matthews did get playing time last season. Devaux had one of the best highlights of the season, returning a fumble 62 yards for a touchdown against Pickens. But BHP has historically been able to turn out really good linebackers and this position group is coached by one of the best LBs in BHP history, so hopefully this season would be no different.

As football becomes more of a passing game, I feel that BHP’s defense is built to dominate. BHP has players who can rush the passer and defensive backs who will be able to cover and make tackles in space. We will just have to wait and see if all aspects of the team can gel and help turn this season into something special.

3) How will BHP score points?

In high school football, every season brings questions of how to replace graduating seniors, the hardest aspect of this being how to replace the most important position on the field. For the second season in a row, BHP will be trying to replace the quarterback position.

The BHP roster only has one player designated in the QB position (AJ Pendleton), however two wide receivers (Tyler Fields and Jay Rowe) on the roster also took snaps at QB last season and only one of them had pass attempts. Clearly this will be a focal point in how the offense will fair.

With the inexperience at QB, BHP does return other skilled players. BHP returns two running backs (Dusty Hester and Jauron Pruitt) who gained over 6 yards per carry last season. Hester was the 3rd highest rusher last season with 345 yards on 45 carries and 3 TDs. Along with running backs, BHP returns two of the top three receiving yard leaders (Tyler Fields and Dusty Hester). The other question mark on the offensive side is the offensive line. Can they become a tone setter group and help develop the powerful rushing attack?

With all of that, it seems to be clear that BHP should look to run the ball and run the ball often. While the rushing game should be the focus, how they rush the ball may be key. The last game of last season, BHP played Greenville in the 2nd round of the playoffs. BHP was forced to play Tyler Fields at QB. The game plan was to use him as a wildcat type of QB. It came very close to working (a last second field goal on Greenville’s part decided the game). This could totally be a plan of attack for the Bears this year, but it will be interesting to see if they would be able to have success all year or if the surprise of the tactic resulted in the positive outcome last season.

I have no inside information on this, it is just a logical step based on the personnel and past history.

Of the two sides of the ball, the offensive is the one with the most questions to answer.

4) Can BHP win the region?

One expectation of every season at BHP is a region championship. Last season BHP lost two region games and came in 3rd in the region standings. However, in 2018 BHP took home the region championship.

This season brings variables from every single direction. Along with the Covid unknowns and the reduced practice and games schedules, the regions and classifications were reorganized over the offseason. BHP is now in region 1-AAA with Pendleton, Daniel, Wren, and Seneca.

Because of the uncertainty of the season, we could see any outcome when it comes to the region play. With BHP and Daniel being the historical incumbents to win and Wren’s recent resurgence, all three feel they have what it takes to win the region. Since all three teams graduated major players from last season's teams, it could come down to who can find replacements in the quarterback position (all three teams will be replacing that position).

Another thing to watch will be BHP’s season opener against Pendleton which is a region matchup. Last season, BHP was able to get the win but was witness to a very impressive performance by Pendleton’s underclassman quarterback Kameron Jones. With the shortened practice schedule and the slow starts BHP has seen in the past, this is a very important game to watch and could determine how the season will go for both teams.

We see BHP being able to get back to a ground and pound offense and a dominant defense and bring BHP their 4th region championship under Coach Blackston.

5) Can Coach Blackston get to 100 wins?

Coach Blackston took over the top spot for most football wins for a BHP head football coach last season. Now he can only add to that number. Currently Coach Blackston is at 91 career wins, 9 away from reaching 100.

In a normal 10 game season reaching that mark would still be difficult but attainable. BHP has won 9 or more games in 17 seasons and Coach Blackston has done this 5 times. This season being reduced to 7 regular season games makes this task harder. However, an outstanding regular season plus a deep playoff run could get Coach Blackston to this mark.

One note we failed to point out last season, but Coach Blackston has coached the most football games as head coach at BHP. He has coached 120 games with a 91-29 record or 75.8% winning percentage.

6) Bonus - What will BHP’s record be?

As I sit here staring at my crystal ball, the future looks murky. We can see many different outcomes from an outstanding season to a season with one of the fewest wins in BHP history.

The first two games could determine the trajectory of the season. Opening with a region game against Pendleton could determine if BHP even makes the playoffs. With a win they are almost guaranteed at least a third place finish in the region. With a loss, BHP could end up missing the playoffs all together.

The second game is against Greer, a historical powerhouse in South Carolina high school football. If BHP wins against Pendleton and follows that up with a win against Greer, they could be set up to have a very very good season. However, if BHP opens up with back to back loses, it starts to get very hard to see where the wins could come from.

Could BHP start the season slow and go 2-5, well yes the schedule is very difficult this season and coupled with the season unknowns this is totally a possibility. However, the uncertainty is not just at BHP. Wren and Daniel will be replacing QBs and Abbeville is replacing their long time defensive coordinator. With this, we could also see BHP’s rushing attack coming together faster than usual and winning a lot of games.

Season prediction: BHP goes 5-2 in the regular season, winning the region, and makes it to the 3rd round of the state playoffs and loses to Chapman.

Conclusion

A new season always brings new questions, but this one has more than any other. But football is planned to be played and we could not be more excited!

Do you still have questions? Do you think you have answers to some of these we laid out? Let us hear them on our social media accounts or in the comments below the post.