Bethesda Academy beats Williamsburg 18-17 to claim SCISA AA football title
Blazers score twice in final six minutes to rally from 17-6 deficit for victory
North Charleston – “Flush the toilet.”
That’s a not-so-subtle saying heard around the Bethesda Academy football program. It’s a roundabout way of saying forget about everything that has happened, whether good or bad, and move forward.
Blazers head coach Antwain Turner imparted that phrase upon his offensive unit as it headed to the field trailing Williamsburg Academy 17-12 with 2:38 remaining in the SCISA AA state championship game on Saturday. The BA players heeded their coach’s words.
Senior quarterback Triston Randall connected with senior wide receiver Caleb Dillon to set up a 22-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Thomas Peters with 52 seconds left in the game. Bethesda then survived two missed field goal attempts on the final two plays of the game to hold on for an 18-17 win at Charleston Southern University’s Buccaneer Field.
The state championship is the first in the 20-year history of the Blazers program, all under the tutelage of Turner.
“We talked to our team, it's not about how you start but how you finish,” said Turner, whose team finished with a perfect 13-0 record. “Don't give in, don't give way, but you've got to play 48 minutes of hard-nosed football.
“I'm very proud of this team because it's our first time with our backs against the wall this year,” added Turner, whose squad had outscored its foes 465-73 entering the contest.
The Stallions were the defending state champions and came into the game with an identical 12-0 record. They held a 17-6 midway through the fourth quarter and appeared on the way to a second straight undefeated state championship season.
WA had gotten a 39-yard field goal from placekicker Wes Smith with 10:05 remaining in the fourth quarter to go up by 11. Williamsburg then forced a 3-downs-and-out series and a punt, getting the ball back with 8:22 remaining, albeit at its 5-yard line following a 63-yard punt by Randall.
However, a 6-yard run by running back Teague Ward and a 4-yard run by running back Camden Moore got the Stallions out of the hole and a first down at the 15. On the next play though, Ward lost the ball and BA sophomore cornerback Raleigh Wesley recovered at the 27 with 6:49 to go.
After a 2-yard loss and an incompletion, Randall threw a pass in the flat to wide receiver Wesley when his downfield options were covered. It looked as though it would be a minimal gain as Williamsburg had a few defenders there, but Wesley juked them all and went in for a 29-yard TD. The conversion pass failed leaving the score at 17-12.
“We missed a couple of tackles on that one play,” said Stallions first-year head coach Tyler Boyd. “We were there, had two guys there. We just missed tackles. He was faster than us.”
Randall said he didn’t have the luxury of seeing what Wesley did to score the touchdown.
“I just threw the ball and then I got tackled,” he said. “I didn't see much. I just saw him running in the end zone.”
That got Bethesda back in the game and set the stage for a crazy finish.
“That sort of gave us the shot we needed,” Turner said. “We started believing and the momentum started kicking in.”
WA managed to get a first down on the ensuing possession before having to punt from its 38 while facing fourth down and three yards to go. Layton Morris got off a 33-yard punt as Bethesda got the ball back at its 29.
Randall got sacked on first down for a 2-yard loss. However, Dillon got behind the Williamsburg defense for the 51-yard gain to the Stallions 22.
After senior running back Noah Jenkins was stopped for no gain on first down, Randall scrambled around to keep the play alive and then threw a pass to Peters in the end zone. He was well covered, but made the grab to give the Blazers an 18-17 lead with 52 seconds remaining.
, “It was a scramble and he just threw it perfect,” Boyd said of the winning TD pass. “We were there, but he just threw it perfect.”
“I just told them to turn it loose,” Turner said of the offense. “This is the drive of your life. Don't worry about anything else that happened. All that matters is this drive. I'm so proud of them.”
Still, Williamsburg put itself in position to win the game. Starting at its 35, WA quarterback Conrad Balder threw two incompletions before connecting with Smith, the team’s top wide receiver, for 25 yards and a first down. That was followed by a 13-yard completion to tight end JD Sholar for another first down at the Bethesda 27, still with 30 seconds to go.
There were two incomplete passes before Balder found Smith for a 9-yard gain to the 18, bringing up fourth down and one yard to go. Williamsburg let the clock run down until two seconds were left before calling timeout.
That set the stage for Smith attempting a 35-yard, game-winning field goal. The Blazers called two timeouts before he got a chance to kick.
Smith missed the kick, but he got a reprieve when BA was penalized for lining up over the snapper. That moved the ball half the distance to the goal line at the 9, setting Smith up for a 26-yard attempt.
Smith, who was 6-for-9 on field goal attempts coming into the game and had missed one earlier int he game, missed again, setting off a wild celebration.
Randall completed 5 of 6 passes on the first possession of the game, tossing a 2-yard touchdown pass to Peters to make it 6-0 with 4:37 remaining in the first quarter. He completed only four more passes the rest of the way, including the three aforementioned ones in the fourth quarter, to finish just 9-for-21 but for 179 yards and the three TDs.
Peters had six catches for 68 yards and two TDs.
Randall said it’s hard to believe he and his teammates are state champions.
“It feels great. I can't really explain the feeling,” he said. “It means a lot. Two years ago, we went 1-9 and it was a rough season. I can't believe we made it here. Last year we started seeing how that paid off and this year we got it.”
For Williamsburg, it was a painful ending to a great 3-year run for the 16-man senior class. The Stallions have played in three straight championship games. They’ve gone 34-2 over that period, the other loss coming in the 2021 AA title game.
“I want them to know that I love them, and that they can call me anytime,” Boyd said. “I want them to know how much respect I have for them because they gave it their all, putting in the work in the 2 ½-hour practices and in the weight room.”
Moore, Balder and Ward were all 3-year starters. Moore rushed for 52 yards on 12 carries, while Ward had 70 yards on nine carries and caught three passes for 25 yards. Balder was 11 of 22 for 154 yards and a touchdown.
He threw a 31-yard scoring pass to Sholar in the second quarter. Smith added the extra point to make it 7-6 with 5:43 remaining in the first half.
Sholar finished with four catches for 73 yards while Smith had four catches for 53 yards.
The Stallions other touchdown was set up by a crazy scenario on a punting situation.
Bethesda was facing fourth down at its 22 with Randall lined up to punt around the 7. The snap came in on the ground, but Randall picked it up and got his foot on the ball. It was partially blocked and went on a line drive to Wiilliamsburg freshman lineman Marlin Morris at the 15. He returned it to the 7 before being tackled.
That set up a 1-yard scoring run by Balder with 3:10 left in the second quarter to make the halftime score 14-6.
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