BLYTHEWOOD – Blythewood got the season off clean with a 44-6 blowout over Nation Ford Friday night.
For the Bengals, who are coming off a disappointing 4-7 season, the win was a payoff for the hard work put in to erase last year’s misfortune.
“You prepare all summer to go against them and you know what you are going to do,” second-year head coach James Martin said. “It’s a chess match. The first quarter was that way, we had to feel each other out, figure out what their game plan was and what ours needs to be and make some adjustments. After the first quarter we kind of had some momentum going and then we exploded in the third quarter.”
The Bengals got a Liam Flynn field goal to lead 3-0 going into the second quarter. In the second and third quarters, Blythewood found the end zone six times.
John Henry Collins was 15-for-37 for 339 yards and 4 touchdowns but two interceptions.
Junior Benjamin Hendrix had three catches for 131 yards and and two touchdowns, including a 74-yard reception.
Junior Carter Coleman had five catches for105 yards and a touchdown, and sophomore Kanye Reed had three catches for 93 yards and a TD.
“He is special. He understands what we are trying to do on the offense, and he can get open,” Martin said of Coleman. “He is very shifty and very dangerous, because you worry about him, and you have others like Ben Hendrix and Kanye Reed and CJ Johnson. I mean we have four weapons at wide receiver.”
Chase Brown had 90 yards on 15 carries, team had 172 yards rushing on 31 attempts
Blythewood rolled up 511 total offensive yards on the night.
Blythewood’s defense stepped up heavily to make Friday night a success.
“We made a lot of mistakes last year,” Martin said about the defense. “We pressed them really hard all summer leading up to this game. Tonight was an example of what we can do on defense when we want to.”
The Bengals’ defense recorded two sacks, one from senior Chandler Boulware, who had 10 tackles on the night and senior Silas Holmes III. Georgia Southern commit Sterling Sanders had three tackles, one for loss, and five hurries.
Blythewood’s Tyrese Drakeford and Darryl Robinson picked off Nation Ford quarterback Carson Sanford as the defense held Nation Ford to 146 passing yards and 95 rushing yards.
“Tonight we really won on all three levels, offense, defense and special teams,” Martin said. “I am proud of our guys.”
Blythewood plays host to Midland Valley Friday. The Mustangs fell 56-0 to J.L. Mann last week.