Amazingly, Blythewood’s Aaron Peak (7) break out of this tackle and sprints into the end zone for one of two scoring runs on the night. (Photo/Kristy Kimball Massey)
BLYTHEWOOD – After last week’s disappointing 25-7 loss to Irmo, Blythewood head coach Dan Morgan said he wanted his Bengals to go into the postseason on a high note. Friday night, the Bengals delivered for their first-year commander, pounding their rival Ridge View Blazers 49-16.
The win gives the Bengals a 3-2 region record (7-4 overall) and sets up a road game next week in the first round of the Class 4A state playoffs. The victory also unveiled a secret weapon for the Bengals going into the final third of the 2013 season – Aaron Peak.
Peak, a defensive back for the Bengals, made his offensive debut Friday night, exploding out of the blocks with a 19-yard touchdown run on his first career carry. The score came after Lynard Jamison capped an 80-yard drive with a 6-yard scoring run to open the spigot and put Blythewood up 7-0 with 5:02 left in the first. Peak’s run at the 2:37 mark made it 14-0.
“We’ve always had him in our hip pocket,” Morgan said. “I would love to have him carrying the ball more, but he’s also one of our main cogs on defense. If we were to get him hurt on offense, we would really hurt our defense. But, it is crunch time; it is that time of year. There are no holds barred.”
Peak tore off a 45-yard scoring run on his second carry of the night late in the second quarter, putting the Bengals up 28-6 with 2:55 left in the half.
“He had a lot of fun carrying it tonight,” Morgan said. “He just basically kept telling me, ‘Coach, I ought to be having the rock in my hand.’ We always try to keep coaching our running backs: That’s how we want to hit the hole, because he runs downhill a lot harder and we want those other guys going the same way.”
Peak wound up the night as the Bengals’ leading rusher of the game with 82 yards on just three touches. The Blythewood senior, who along with Jalen Williams is headed to the North-South All Star game in December, also blocked a Ridge View punt in the fourth quarter. Javon Smith gobbled up the loose ball at the Blazer’s 2-yard line and tumbled into the end zone to put Blythewood up 42-14 with 11:10 left in the contest.
Sophomore quarterback David Israel was outstanding through more than two quarters, effortlessly guiding the Bengals up and down the field with apparent ease. Israel chucked a 9-yard touchdown rope to Smith on the first play of the second quarter to steer Blythewood to a 21-0 lead. But in the second half, the Blazers clamped down, forcing two interceptions. The second pick, with 4:51 to play in the third, killed what looked to be another certain scoring drive when Ridge View’s Vince Murden snatched down Israel’s pass at the Blazer 1-yard line, returning it to the 15.
“They did start bringing a little more pressure. The pocket was coming back a little bit,” Morgan said. “(Israel) lost a little bit of his swagger in the second half. The best part is, he’s a 10th-grader. He’s going to learn from it. We threw the slant (for the interception) and he really never recovered from that. He was moving the ball, driving down the field comfortably, and that one just kind of got at him. He never really bounced back from that and that’s one of the things we’ve got to work with him on.”
By that time, however, the Bengals enjoyed a 35-14 lead, and the turnover had no effect on the outcome of the game.
The Bengal defense also rubbed a little salt into Ridge View’s wounds. With 2:41 to go in the first half, Williams scooped up a Tyreek Bush fumble at the Blazer 24 and rumbled into the end zone. Greg Huegel, who was a perfect 7-of-7 on the night, booted the PAT to give the Bengals the 35-6 lead going into the break.
The Bengals now wait for the High School League to fill out the 4A brackets, which will be released over the weekend.
“We’ll probably be an 11 or 12 seed,” Morgan said. “That really changed big-time last week (with the loss to Irmo). We were going to be a 5-seed, and we dropped down to an 11 or 12.”
BHS – 14-21-0-14 – 49
RV – 0-6-8-2 – 16
First Quarter
BHS – Lynard Jamison 6 run. Greg Huegel kick. (5:02)
BHS – Aaron Peak 19 run. G. Huegel kick. (2:28)
Second Quarter
BHS – Javon Smith 9 pass from David Israel. G. Huegel kick. (11:57)
RV – Walter Napper 1 run. Kick blocked. (4:00)
BHS – A. Peak 45 run. G. Huegel kick. (2:55)
BHS – Jalen Williams 24 fumble return. G. Huegel kick. (2:41)
Third Quarter
RV – Alex Greene 5 pass from Tyreek Bush. T. Bush 3 run. (7:35)
Fourth Quarter
BHS – J. Smith 2 blocked punt return. G. Huegel kick. (11:10)
BHS – L. Jamison 4 run. G. Huegel kick. (6:29)
RV – TEAM safety.
BHS RV
First Downs 15 14
Rushes/Yards 25-93 39-108
Passing Yards 193 159
C-A-I 13-23-2 20-33-2
Fumbles/Lost 4-1 3-2
Penalties/Yards 6-48 8-98
Third Down Conv. 2-7 10-18
Fourth Down Conv. 0-0 1-3
RUSHING: BHS – Aaron Peak 3-82, De’Andre Fletcher 3-18, Jaquari Blunt 4-8, Lynard Jamison 4-7. RV – Mitchell Brown 4-53, Walter Napper 19-30, Michael Benjamin 3-21, Tyreek Bush 10-3.
RECEIVING: BHS – Lynard Jamison 7-90, Javon Smith 4-35, Jacob Rabon 2-68. RV – Okechi Ntiasagwe 8-86, Alex Greene 5-31, Terrell Fetterson 3-13, Walter Napper 2-1.
PASSING: BHS – David Israel 13-23, 193 yards, TD, 2 INT. RV – Tyreek Bush 20-33, 159 yards, TD, 2 INT.