Bethesda Academy Rallies Late To Slip Past Williamsburg 28-26 In A Battle Between Undefeated SCISA Football Teams
Bethesda's Senior WR, Ralo Wesley (5-10, 160) pulls in the TD pass to put the Blazers on the board first.
By Billy G. Baker
Publisher
Columbia—Compared to a prize fight, Bethesda Academy’s 28-26 win over Williamsburg Academy on October, 16th shared many of the same adjectives; physical, hard-hitting, knock-down and drag-out, and the battle was in doubt until the late stages of the fourth quarter.
In one corner, Bethesda junior running back James Buchanan, ran wild for 165 yards on 22 carries and scored on an 8-yard run. In the other corner, Williamsburg Academy’s junior running back, Grant Small, ran hard 22 times for 121 yards, and he scored twice on runs of 26 and four yards.
After the game, Bethesda Academy head coach Antwan Turner shared his thoughts. “We have run the ball well all season, and Buchanan has had better rushing games, but in terms what we had to do to win the game, against a quality team, this was his best game of the season,” said Coach Turner, “This team has been working hard since January in the weight room and most of them participated in track in the Spring. So, to see the team come out here and compete for a hard-fought win is not only what we expect, but it is something that we appreciate also.
“I want to thank Hammond for making the field available to us tonight,” said Coach Turner. “They have a really nice football stadium.”
Coach Turner also said, “We do have some things to clean up on like the holding penalties. Having a first and 50 was not in our game plan tonight I can assure you. We also had a few turnovers we need to clean up on.
“We could not have asked for a better football gamer tonight,” said Coach Turner. “We both only had 8 games on our regular season schedule so to have an opportunity to play tonight certainly helped both teams as we move on to play key region games.”
Stallions head coach Will Furse was proud of the effort of his team. “Bethesda had a lot of success early and I am really proud of the team bouncing back from being down 14-0 early,” said Coach Furse. “We played well on defense, and we were opportunistic with the turnovers we forced, and our special teams played well also.
“The offense did just enough to keep them off the field I thought, but we played a very good football team tonight and we take our hats off to them,” said Coach Furse. “Grant Small had a good night again running the ball, and he is hard to tackle, and he runs extremely hard. The offensive line also did a great job tonight against their huge defensive front.
“It was one of those games that could have gone either way and it did not go our way tonight and now we have to focus on playing at Dorchester Academy in two weeks,” said Coach Furse. “This game certainly will help prepare us for another hard-hitting game on the road at Dorchester with the region championship on the line. I believe very strongly in the character and resilience of our team, and it showed tonight, Being down 14 points early in the game was not something we had experienced this season. We rallied and were able to have a chance to win the game in the fourth quarter and I am just proud of the entire team tonight.”
Both teams scored four touchdowns, but it was conversion points that gave the Blazers a hard-fought two-point win. The late season scheduled game was played at a neutral site at The Hammond School, and both teams are now better prepared for upcoming region showdowns with tough opponents. Williamsburg will play at undefeated Dorchester Academy on October 31 while the Blazers will host region foe Pee Dee Academy on October, 24. The winners of these games will win region titles and have a top seeding for the upcoming play-offs.
Bethesda had an offensive line that averaged over 300 pounds but at one point of the game they were called for three straight holding and chop block penalties that gave them a first and 50 situation. “We will stress to them to let go of the defender after he gets by them in future games,” said Coach Turner.
In physical comparisons during warm-ups, a neutral observer would have felt like it was going to be a David versus Goliath game, as the Blazers are truly a very physical looking team with big and fast skilled athletes. The Stallions countered with excellent team speed, two solid running backs, and a defense that forced several turnovers during the game.
Bethesda went up 14-0 in the first quarter. On their opening drive of the game they marched 60 yards in 11 plays capped off by a 16-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Jordan Turner to receiver Ralo Wesley, who has an offer from Georgia State after setting the SCISA 100 meter sprint record this past May when he ran a 10.6. Wesley also caught a two- point conversion pass from Turner and the Blazers 8-0 with 8:30 left in the first period.
On the Stallions first series of the game, soph running back Eli Brown ripped off a 40-yard run up the middle and the Stallions were going to answer early. However, two plays later, a fumble gave the Blazers the ball at the 24-yard line.
It took Bethesda 12 plays to score from the 8 on a hard run by Buchanan with 3:07 left in the opening period. The two-point conversion failed, but with a 14-0 first quarter lead it looked like Bethesda was in total control.
On the ensuing kick-off WA took only five plays to cut the deficit to 14-6 when Small burst up the middle on a tackle breaking 26-yard touchdown run late in the first period. The PAT was not good.
On the second play after kicking off to BA soph Gamble Wilson picked off a pass and returned it 31 yards to give the Stallions excellent field position at the Blazer 30-yard line. Ten plays later the drive bogged down at the 13-yard line and BA took over on downs.
On the final play of the first half, Wesley caught a 22-yard pass from Turner, and it looked like he had scored after catching the ball falling in the end zone. However, it was ruled an incomplete pass after the WA defensive back knocked the ball loose on a close judgement call.
WA got their fans motivate3d with the third quarter kick-off as junior Charlier Caulder (6-3, 185) returned the kick 88 yards for a touchdown, running down the Blazer sideline like a Gazelle running from a pack of hungry lions in pursuit. The two=point conversion failed making the score 14-12 with 11:30 left in the third quarter.
The Blazers next wo possessions were halted with turnovers. Junior DB Hall Dukes intercepted a pass to kill one drive, and then hard-hitting Michael Ard recovered a fumble and ran the recovery down to the Blazer 19-yard line that helped set up a go-ahead touchdown.
After Ard’s key defensive play, it took the Stallion s only three plays to convert the turnover into points. Small scored his second touchdown of the game on a four-yard burst to put WA up 18-14. Al Casselman caught a two- point conversion from Bauder to make it 20-14 WA lead with 2:22 left in the third period.
On the ensuing kick-off Bethesda marched 50 yards in seven plays with Turner sneaking over from the one with 11:26 left in the game to tie the score at 20-20. The two- point conversion failed.
WA took the kick-off and put together one of their best scoring drives of the game that started at their 47-yard line. On the drive Balder completed a pass to Small, then two passes to Caulder, before he threw a 19-yard touchdown reception to freshman receiver Caden Morris in the end zone to put the Stallions up 26-20 with 5:11 left in the game. The two- point conversion failed.
Bethesda came right back after the kick-off and took just five plays to score on a 31-yard pass from Turner to senior Malachi Morris with 4:24 left in the game. The two-point conversion by Buchanan was good to make the final score 28-26.
