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From BleckleyProgress.com High School Sports
When Sam Barrs was hired as Royals football coach in 2005, visions of playoffs danced in the heads of fans. Many of those fans had sat through the 1-9, 0-10 seasons of the past.
Going into Friday's game at Tattnal County, Bleckley knew that with a win, they would accomplish a goal set by Barrs when he was hired. That goal being making the playoffs. Bleckley got on the board with their second possession. On a drive that saw Bleckley complete one fourth down conversoin thanks to a defensive off-sides, Brett Bowen hooked up with Carl Hall for a touchdown strike on fourth and seven with 1:12 remaining. The conversion made it 7-0 Royals.
In the second quarter, the Royals again went to the air. A Bowen strike to Dalton Dabbs with 2:08 left in the half made it 14-0. Tattnal County got on the board late in the half. A muffed punt return was recovered by the Warriors with 46 seconds left. Tattnal County scored via a halfback pass with 21 ticks remaining in the half. They missed the PAT and the Royals were up 14-6 going into the half.
In the third quarter, BC continued to attack from the air. Cody Shiver caught a touchdown pass with 5:48 remaining to put the Royals up 21-6. Zeke Rozier made his prescence felt later in the quarter. With just 2:50 remaining, Rozier scored on the ground to push the lead to 28-6.
Tattnal County fumbled with nine seconds remaining in the quarter. Bleckley made them pay in the fourth. A Christian Josiah TD run with 6:00 left put the Royals up 35-6. Tattnal fumbled 14 seconds later. The first-string offense though had been taken out for the evening, and fumbled with 5:08 remaining.
Tattnal ran the ball back for a touchdown and missed the two-point conversion attempt. They recovered an onside kick five seconds later. With just 45 seconds left, Tattnal put one more score on the board and would make the conversion. But it mattered little as Bleckley won the game 35-20.
In the win, Brett Bowen was 11 of 16 for 224 yards with three TD's and one interception. Carl Hall caught seven passes for 143 yards and had one touchdown catch. Zeke Rozier added another 100-yard game to his list, going for 117 on 17 attempts with one score. Christian Josiah chipped in with 43 yards on seven carries.
With the victory, Bleckley finishes the regular season 6-4, 3-3 in Region 4-AA. This is only the third time in the past 12 years BC has finished with six victories. The last two times were in 1994 and 1996 under Ron Harbin. The win also clinches as playoff berth for the Royals, the first since 2000 under Dicky Williams.
AA state playoff action begins for BCHS when they travel to Fitgerlad to take on the Purple Hurricanes on November 17.
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