BLYTHEWOOD – About the only thing in question Thursday night in Blythewood football’s 52-0 victory over Fort Mill was whether the rain bands of Hurricane Ian would reach District Two Stadium.
While steady winds coursed over the ballfield, the rain held off.
The Bengals did not in the Region 3-5A opener for both teams.
Harrison Collins had a touchdown pass and two running scores, while David Herden had a two touchdown runs. The Blythewood quarterbacks combined for 177 passing yards, 66 rushing yards, and five scores.
The Bengals defense—which was on the field for just 36 plays—held Fort Mill to 23 total yards in the first half and just two first downs and 52 total yards on the night. The Bengals forced two fumbles that led to Bengal scores, and Edward Robinson had two sacks.
“A great region win,” Blythewood head coach Jason Seidel said. “Last year we didn’t win a region game, and we talked about how much we want to change things.”
In scoring the most points since 2019, the still-young Bengals did so Thursday night by exercising its depth. While Collins and Herden split time under center, eight Bengals carried the ball and six caught passes. The committees of running backs and receivers rolled up 415 yards of total offense, even though Blythewood worked on a short field on five of its 10 possessions.
Seidel said a lot of players saw time on the defensive side of the ball as well.
“When you play that hard in practice all week, you want to have a chance to put them in,” Seidel said. “They got the job done, and it shows you how hard these kids are working. We go four quarters and don’t take a play off.”
Blythewood (4-2) jumped on the scoreboard early when on the opening possession Fort Mill fumbled the ball away. That turnover put the Bengals on the Yellow Jackets’ 19-yard line. Soon after, Collins pushed himself across the goal line four minutes into the game.
Collins hit Anthony Thurman for a 33-yard touchdown pass later in the quarter. Ryan Hart kicked a 33-yard field goal to put Blythewood up 17-0 going into the second quarter.
Herden and Collins finished up short drives in the second quarter with 1-yard touchdown runs. Coming out of the half with a 31-0 lead, Blythewood scored on its opening drive when Deandre Williams burst in from eight yards out. Herden closed the third quarter with another 1-yarder to make it 45-0.
With a running clock in the fourth quarter, Desmond Macklin ran in Blythewood’s final score from five yards out at the 11:05 mark.
Fort Mill (0-6) turned the ball over on down on the next possession, and the Bengals ran out the clock with a slow drive across midfield.
“That last drive was all new guys, even up front,” Seidel said. “We controlled the ball for four or five minutes and ate the clock.”
The Yellow Jackets have now played six opponents with a combined 26-11 record. Some of their losses have been lopsided and depth has been a problem.
“Just keep fighting, that’s all we can do,” Fort Mill head coach Rob McNeely said. “We’ve got some guys dinged up, starters out, and people in new positions and things like that, but all that stuff is excuses. We’ve got to get them ready to play. Hopefully we’ll get some guys back next week.”
Fort Mill is at Rock Hill Oct. 7. The Bearcats (1-5, 0-1) fell 37-22 at Spring Valley Thursday.
Hurricane Ian aside, Seidel said the Bengals will get back to practice before traveling to Nation Ford Oct. 7. The Falcons (1-5, 0-1) fell 35-7 to Clover Thursday.
“We said that next week is going to be our best week of practice. It has to be,” Seidel said. “We’re excited. It’s going to get tougher every week and we’ve got to get better.”
Fort Mill – 0-0-0-0 — 0
Blythewood – 17-14-14-7 — 52
First Quarter
B – Harrison Collins 1 run (Ryan Hart kick) 8:48
B – Anthony Thurman 33 pass from Collins (Hart kick) 5:49
B – Hart 33 field goal 1:09
Second Quarter
B – David Herden 1 run (Hart kick) 6:59
B – Collins 1 run (Hart kick) :19
Third Quarter
B – Deandre Williams 8 run (Hart kick) 9:51
B – Herden 1 run (Hart kick) 4:58
Fourth Quarter
B – Desmond Macklin 5 run (Hart kick) 11:05
FM BHS
First Downs 2 22
Rushes-yards 20-32 46-238
Passing yards 20 177
Att-Com-Int 9-3-0 21-14-0
Fumbles-lost 2-2 0-0
Penalties-yards 2-20 6-55
Punts-avg 5-29.0 1-25.0
RUSHING
F – Grayson Diehl 6-12, Isaiah Hayes 6-20, Thomas Mabry 2-11, Henry Debbout 2-(-7), Tyler Kelly 1-(-1), Jackson Smith 1-0, Team 2-(-3). B – David Herden 10-38, Desmond Macklin 9-51, Deandre Williams 6-37, Bryant Owens 5-46, Harrison Collins 5-28, Josh Gary 4-23, Chris Thomas 2-13, Justin Enjambre 1-5.
PASSING
F – Isaiah Hayes 3-9-0. B – Harrison Collins 8-13-0-131, David Herden 6-9-0-46.
RECEIVING
F – Henry Debbout 2-15, Van Piercy 1-5. B – Nate Rabon 5-40, Anthony Thurman 1-33, Josh Gary 3-39, Deandre Williams 1-3, Chris Thomas 3-54, Deon Tyler 1-8.
