COLUMBIA – The Blythewood football team knew that getting out of the Stadium at Keenan with a win was not going to be easy.
For much of Friday night’s game, the Raiders and the Bengals stuffed each other’s running game. While Keenan’s big pass plays got them out of long-yardage jams because of sacks and penalties, Blythewood managed to put together a couple of scoring drives that enabled the Bengals to walk off the field with a 23-14 victory.
“It’s what we worried about with them, they’re very physical, they’re fast, they’ve got a ton of seniors, and they went to the second round of the playoffs last year,” Blythewood head coach James Martin said. “This is kind of what we thought was going to happen. We needed it because we wanted to go through some adversity. Hat’s off to both teams, they played as hard as they can.”
After a scoreless third quarter, Blythewood (4-0) was up 16-14 early in the fourth quarter and needed a score to help put the game away.
The Bengals got such an opportunity when Carter Coleman fielded a punt at the Blythewood 27-yard line and returned it 47 yards to the Keenan 26-yard line. Three plays later John Henry Collins found Charles Johnson in the end zone for a 12-yard touchdown pass with 8:13 left.
“We saw a look and I told our offensive coaches, this is what we need,” Martin said on the call for a pass play to the left corner of the end zone. “They called the right play and we were able to get that touchdown, and it was awesome that everybody communicated to get what we needed.”
That quick drive turned out to be the final score of the game, but it almost wasn’t.
When Keenan (2-2) got the ball back, it started at its own 20-yard line. The Raiders got a first down at the 33, and there is where Hunter O’Neal ripped the only long run of the game, a 42-yarder that set Keenan up at the Blythewood 25-yard line.
The Blythewood defense took over from there. The Bengals stopped the Raiders cold—while Keenan chalked up illegal shift and an intentional grounding penalties—and forced a turnover on downs.
Blythewood took over at their own 35-yard line and drove 58 yards to the 7-yard line before Keenan pushed the Bengals backwards and Collins ended the game by taking a knee at the Raiders’ 27.
While Washington cashed in on three big plays that led to Keenan scores, and while Collins closed out drives with three clutch TD passes, the physical play in the trenches stood out more than the highlights.
“It’s just what I told our guys, I don’t care who we play against,” interim head coach Jarrett Neely said. “5A football teams, that doesn’t matter to us. We are going to line up against anybody, we’re going to try to be dominant against anybody, and we’re going to be ready to go from the beginning.”
Nineteen penalties for 145 yards on the night blunted Keenan’s offensive and defensive efforts. Otherwise, Washington finished the night 15-for-29 for 250 yards and no interceptions.
“Penalties killed us early on, we’ve got to fix that,” Neely said. “But that’s on us as coaches, and it will get fixed.”
Neither team had an impressive rushing night, as the Raiders finished with 97 yards on the ground to the Bengals’ 75. Keenan had 44 yards on 16 attempts in the first half, to Blythewood’s 39 yards on 14 carries.
After a rough start from both teams that involved several penalties, Blythewood put together a 6-play, 65-yard drive that Collins capped with a 23-yard touchdown pass to Kanye Reed to take a 6-0 lead.
Keenan ran out the first-quarter clock with a long drive and tied the game at 6 on Tyheim McNeil’s 2-yard run on the first play of the second quarter.
Liam Flynn’s 21-yard field goal at the 8:35 mark of the second quarter, plus Collins’ 14-yard touchdown pass to Carter Coleman three minutes later gave Blythewood a 16-6 lead.
With Keenan starting its next possession at their own 20-yard line, Washington cashed in on a 75-yard bomb to Hunter O’Neal that set the Raiders up at the Blythewood 5-yard line. McNeil ran the ball into the end zone from there, then zig-zagged a 2-point conversion run to make it 16-14 Blythewood with 4:54 left, a score that held by halftime.
Both teams’ offenses struggled through the third quarter, picking up just three first downs and racking up six penalties, four punts, two sacks, and a Collins interception.
Blythewood heads to crosstown rival Westwood Friday for the Battle for the Axe—also the Region 5-5A opener.
It’s going to be another great ballgame,” Martin said. “We needed this type of ballgame (at Keenan) because it’s going to be beneficial for next week’s game. They (Westwood) do a great job on both sides of the ball and we’ve got to come ready to defend the Axe.”
Blythewood has won the Jeanne Schmidt Memorial Trophy game for two straight years. Westwood last won the Battle of the Axe in 2019. The Redhawks and the Bengals did not play in 2020 and 2021 because of Covid infections.
Keenan travels to Orangeburg-Wilkinson Friday.
Blythewood – 6 – 10 – 0- 7 – 23
Keenan – 0-14-0-0 – 14
First Quarter
B – Kanye Reed 23 pass from John Henry Collins (kick failed) 4:07
Second Quarter
K – Tyheim McNeil 2 run (pass failed) 11:53
B – Liam Flynn 21 field goal 8:35
B – Carter Coleman 14 pass from Collins (Flynn kick) 5:30
K – McNeil 5 run (McNeil run) 4:56
Fourth Quarter
B – Chance Johnson 12 pass from Collins (Flynn kick) 8:13
BHS Keenan
First Downs 14 13
Rushes-yards 25-75 27-97
Passing yards 175 250
Att-Com-Int 25-14-2 29-15-0
Fumbles-lost 0-0 1-1
Penalties-yards 8-65 19-155
Punts-avg. 5-24.2 7-25.4
RUSHING
B – Desmond Macklin 14-35, John Henry Collins 5-17, Ryan Hall 2-9, Chance Johnson 1-(-1). K – Hunter O’Neal 14-72, Desmond Washington 9-5, Tyheim McNeil 3-9, Nicholas Thomas 1-11.
PASSING
B – John Henry Collins 14-25-2-175. K – Desmond Washington 15-29-0-250.
RECEIVING
B – Kanye Reed 4-82, Chance Johnson 4-39, Desmond Macklin 2-7, Carter Coleman 2-24, Ben Hendrix 1-11, Ryan Hall 1-15. K – Hunter O’Neal 7-101, Nykeim McNeil 3-58, Tyheim McNeil 2-58, Anthony King 1-6, Jamauri Johnson 1-3.