WHAT WE SAW: Blythewood’s Defense Stymies Clover In 21-7 Win
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BLYTHEWOOD | The Blythewood defensive line was the story of the night as they stymied Clover’s offense in a 21-7 win on Friday night to take first place in region 3-5A. Jaylon Hoover has an effective duo of wide receivers to…
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Continue ReadingBLYTHEWOOD | The Blythewood defensive line was the story of the night as they stymied Clover’s offense in a 21-7 win on Friday night to take first place in region 3-5A.
Jaylon Hoover has an effective duo of wide receivers to work with in Hunter Jaime and Dion Brown. Blythewood coach Jason Seidel knew that as well and the Bengals mixed up their coverages to confuse Hoover and it worked. Clover did not complete a pass until the second quarter and Brown did not catch a pass until the fourth quarter.
“I was proud of our defensive backs because that No. 5 (Dion Brown) for them is really special and we had to work all week on trying to take him out of the picture, trying to do some things and I think he only had a catch or two. I don’t think he did much,” Seidel said.
Edward Robinson and Sterling Sanders Sterling Sanders 6'4" | 305 lbs | DL Blythewood | 2025 State SC and the Blythewood defensive line generated pressure throughout the night for the Bengals, forcing the Blue Eagles into obvious passing situations, which is something Clover coach Brian Lane alluded to after the game.
“You get (in) third and long and that’s what you gotta do and they just played man under, two deep. It’s just what it is.” Lane said.
Blythewood would get on the board first thanks to a bad punt from Clover on a 32-yard TD pass from Harrison Collins Harrison Collins 6'3" | 220 lbs | QB Blythewood | 2024 State SC to Deon Tyler on a beautiful deep ball with 8:55 to play in the first quarter.
The Bengals would capitalize on a bad exchange on a Clover toss play by recovering a fumble. That led to Anthony Thurman rumbling over the middle for a 48-yard TD catch and run, looking like a true tight end to take a 14-0 lead over Clover with 5:49 to play in the first quarter.
Clover would finally catch a break right before the halftime break. Emory Woodruff came off the edge and forced Collins to fumble with 4:03 to play before the half. Hoover hooked up with Jaime on an 11-yard TD pass to cut Blythewood’s lead to 14-7 right before the half.
The game was over when
Clover’s Cooper Zohner returned an interception deep inside Blythewood territory in the third quarter. But when Blue Eagles faced 4th and goal, they attempted a double pass back to the quarterback and it fell incomplete. Two plays later, Collins connected with Tyler on another deep, vertical ball for a 97-yard TD pass with 2:44 to play in the third and that would put the game away.
“We said we were going to take eight to 10 shots with Deon tonight and a couple of them paid off and I think that just changed the momentum. To me, the play of the game was being pinned and I said ‘guys, I’m taking a shot’ and I think it just took the lights out of the stadium. It was over at that point.”