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| Demetreus Pope and Zack Stanley are in on the tackle. |
While this year’s Royals football team has high expectations, there was also the current state of things to consider as they took the field Friday night for the first time against West Laurens. Because of COVID-19, practice began later, and had to be structured differently. There were no scrimmages to help players prepare.
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| TJ Mays upends a Raider player. |
Add in the quarantine due to exposure affecting the high school (including the football program), and any struggling by BCHS would be understandable. For almost three quarters, they struggled badly before a remarkable rally took place.
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| Lindsey Dykes State Farm was Friday night's game sponsor. Pictured are Hope Cavanah and Quincy Nobles along with Touchdown Club President Britt Stewart. |
Things got off to a rough start when the Raiders returned the opening kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown. Though the point after was missed, WL led 6-0. A second quarter interception put the Raiders on BC’s 40.
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| Willie Harris had a big game on defense. |
The drive was capped via a nine-yard touchdown run with 8:58 left. Another missed PAT but the Raiders led 12-0. WL scored again on a two-yard run in the final minute. A successful PAT and it was 19-0.
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| Caden Maxwell helps out on a tackle. |
Bleckley’s only first down of the first half came via an offsides penalty on the Raider defense. Though they finally got an offensive third down early in the third quarter, the next play was another interception.
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| Scooter Slappy with a tackle. |
With 1:02 left in the third quarter, the Royals got their first score of 2020. It came on a nine-yard touchdown pass to Dytwon Ates setup by a Jahvon Butler run. It seemed to light a spark under the team. The Raiders fumbled on their next possession, BC recovered at the WL 38.
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| Dytwon Ates fights his way into the endzone. |
Chuckie Stephens 15-yard touchdown run with 9:11 left drew BC within 19-14. Following another defensive stop, BC got the ball back on their 47. Butler then dashed 54 yards for a go-ahead touchdown with 4:12 left. A two-point conversion attempt failed, but BC led 20-19.
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| Darvin Yates makes a tackle. |
Christian Newbern’s 36-yard interception return for a touchdown about two minutes later made it 27-19. WL would try to mount a final rally but was stopped on fourth and five from the BC 17. The Royals scored 27 points in the final 13:02 to win 27-19.
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| Jahvon Butler watches the official signal "touchdown" after his run put the Royals on top. |
Butler had a career high 113 yards on 10 carries. Stephens rushed for 50 yards on 13 carries. Willie Harris led the defense with seven total tackles, two assists, and a fumble recovery. Quintavis “Scooter” Slappy had four total tackles, four assists.
BCHS plays at Wilcox County September 11. Kickoff is 7:30 pm.
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by BleckleyProgess.com
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