Bobcats, Seahawks look to build on big region victories

After a Region 8-AAA win for both Bluffton and Hilton Head High last Friday night, things are setting up for an interesting final three games of the regular season.

In case you missed it — and how could you — the Bobcats won in overtime against Stall, 21-14, while the Seahawks knocked off Lake Marion, 31-22.

The wins put each team in a position where another victory would likely give that team a playoff berth — though not officially of course. The region standings remain a cluttered mess, with four teams tied for second at 1-1. That makes each game down the stretch more and more important each week.

So, let’s get on to this week’s matchups.

BATTERY CREEK AT BLUFFTON
It’s hard to give either team a clear-cut advantage heading into tonight’s matchup. Battery Creek and Bluffton have identical records. Both are 2-5 overall and 1-1 in Region 8-AAA. Furthermore, both teams have won against the same two teams — Wade Hampton and Stall.

But as similar as they look on paper, the Bobcats and Dolphins are far from it on the football field.

Bluffton relies heavily on its running game out of the Wing-T. That seemingly may make for a good matchup for the Bobcats, because Battery Creek’s run defense has shown weaknesses at times this season.

The Dolphins offense, on the other hand, has the ability to gain yards with the run and pass, making things a bit tougher for opposing defenses. Which approach coach Carlos Cave will depend on more, we’ll have to wait and see Friday night.

“We’ll find out early on what (Cave) thinks we’re giving to him and hopefully we’ll have a good gameplan for it,” West said. “They run the ball well. They throw the ball well. We’ve got to make tackles in open space to prevent the big play. The big play still hurts us.”

Without it last week, the Bobcats may have held Stall scoreless. After all, the Warriors scored on an 80-yard touchdown run and on a kickoff return. That was it. Other than that, the Bobcats’ defense came ready to play.

But those big plays may have a been a blessing in disguise last week, as Bluffton was finally able to get over the hump and complete a comeback to earn its first region win since 2007. The win might flip the fortune for a Bobcats team that had become accustomed to losing close games. (See the team’s region-opening loss to Lake Marion, 26-25, in the final seconds.)

“We were due. I mean, we were due,” West said. “ I’m just proud of them because they had a gut-wrenching loss two weeks ago at Lake Marion. It looked like it was going to be another one. For them to fight back and win that thing, that shows the character of this team.”

HILTON HEAD HIGH AT STALL
Quarterback Jeff Homad looked like a completely different player in Friday night’s win against Lake Marion than what I saw out of him in his first two career starts. The biggest difference — he appeared poised and prepared rather than nervous and waiting on the mistake to happen.

Tonight’s game may go a long way in deciding which quarterback the Seahawks will get for the rest of the season.

It’s hard for me to predict, but I’d guess Hilton Head High will see something more similar to what they had against the Gators. With Jon Bever’s absence, Homad is no longer looking over his shoulder, wondering if he’s about to pulled from the game. That can make a big impact for a high school quarterback.

“Jeff is real focused right now,” coach Tim Singleton said. “He’s doing a great job of understanding what I want and understanding how to become a leader. He’s taking advantage of a situation, and he’s held his head high and kept fighting.”

The Seahawks did the same last week without Lawrence Jenkins to earn their first region victory, thanks to 143 yards on the ground from Jaquan Cohen to go along with three touchdowns.

But don’t let Cohen’s performance overshadow a much-improved defensive night for the Seahawks, who held the Gators to minus-1 rushing yard. The defense also forced Lake Marion to throw the ball 30-plus times to earn 231 yards. That’s a big improvement in the secondary.

Stall will depend more on its running game than Lake Marion did a week ago, but the Warriors line up in various formations in an effort to keep the defense guessing. The Seahawks have struggled at times against the spread this season, but they’ll look to build on last week.

“Lake Marion had some big receivers as well. I don’t know where all these receivers are coming from, but they were pretty big,” Singleton said. “But our kids took the challenge. And that’s exactly what we’re going to expect from them from here on out.”

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