NEWBERRY — The Bulldogs fell 28-26 to Batesburg-Leesville in a nail bitter at Mike Ware Field. The stands were packed again on another Friday night at Newberry High School for the 7:30 p.m. kickoff.
The Bulldogs marched right down the field on their opening drive and scored. Cole Hutchinson got things going for them with a two huge runs that both went for 15 plus yards. Bryce Satterwhite found his tight end Noah Mills over the middle to put the Bulldogs in the red zone before BJ Jones finished the drive with a nine-yard touchdown run.
The defense then stood strong and forced a punt. The Panthers had a hard time getting things going in the first quarter, but finally tied the ball game early in the second quarter.
The Panthers junior quarterback Tanner Watkins had his number called on a quarterback sneak from the one-yard line to end a long drive.
The Bulldogs answered with a long scoring drive of their own on the very next drive. Satterwhite found Caleb Levy in the back on end zone after he scrambled outside of the pocket and improvised to make something out of nothing. He finished the night with two touchdown passes and threw for over 150 yards. The Bulldogs would miss the extra point and it would come back to hunt them.
The Panthers kept the back-and-forth scoring going by answering with a quick 79-yard touchdown pass from Watkins to Jamerius Clark.
The Bulldogs tried to answer with under a minute left in the first half but their drive ended after Satterwhite was sacked.
The Panthers received the ball first after halftime and scored on their opening drive of the half. Latrez Nicholson broke a 60-yard run to give his team a 21-13 lead.
The Bulldogs’ offense matched the Panthers’ touchdown later in the third quarter after Satterwhite found Jamel Howse Jr. on a 12-yard slant for a touchdown. They would failed on the two-point conversion and still trailed 21-19.
Late in the third quarter, their defense forced a fumble and recovered the ball on their opponents’ 20-yard line. Unfortunately, the Bulldogs’ offense didn’t capitalize on the great field position. They fumbled on fourth down near the goal line and turned the ball over back to their opponents.
The two teams both were heavily penalized in the second half and combined for almost 30 penalties in the game. The Panthers ran the ball well in the fourth quarter in an attempt to ice the game, but Amadre Wooden broke a 47-yard run to put them up 28-19 midway through the final quarter.
The Bulldogs would not go away though. Howse Jr. made a 22-yard catch between two defenders to put the Bulldogs on their opponent’s side of the 50-yard line. Then, Mills would catch a touchdown pass from 11-yards. They still trailed 28-26 with 3:41 left in the game.
Late in the fourth quarter with under a minute left, the Bulldogs had the Panthers facing a critical fourth down. The Panthers handed it off to Wooden and he got the tough six yards they needed to put the game away. Bulldogs head coach Cedrick Jeter addressed how his team fail to convert and get a stop on two critical fourth downs.
“We gave the game away. Its’s more than two fourth downs. Its a couple of turnovers and a busted play. We got two find ways to make plays when the momentum going against us…….We got to find a way to execute and get the momentum shifted back to our side when things are going against us. It’s more than just those two fourth downs,” said Jeter.
The Bulldogs fall to 1-3 on the season and will be on the road next Friday, Sept. 22 to face Keenan.
The full recap will be available in the newspaper on next Wednesday, Sept. 20.
Reach Greg Hollis @ 803-768-3117 or on Twitter @TheNBOnews