Team of the week: Brookland-Cayce overcomes adversity
Brookland-Cayce faced its share of adversity in Week 0.
The Bearcats fumbled twice and fell behind 12-0 in the first quarter against Fairfield Central. Then they lost quarterback Kozi Brown, who kept cramping up during the hot and humid temperatures Friday night.
But freshman Reed Charpia stepped in at quarterback and threw a pair of touchdown passes and the Bearcats’ running game rushed for more than 200 yards in the 36-24 win over Fairfield Central.
“We didn’t play real well in the first half,” Brookland-Cayce coach Rusty Charpia said. “I just kept preaching to them to keep playing hard and good things will happen. And in the second half, we played a lot better.”
The Bearcats got an unlikely boost from Reed Charpia, the coach’s son who was the quarterback of the school’s middle school program last year when it won a district title. The elder Charpia had no plans on playing his son, but the new eight-quarter rule changed that. This year, high school teams in South Carolina aren’t allowed to dress JV players on Thursday and have them play in Friday’s varsity games.
“He knows the offense,” Charpia said of his son. “The plan wasn’t to play him, but that has changed now. He handled himself well and responded in a tough environment.”
Charpia said he will continue to dress his son and he will likely see action at receiver with Brown healthy this week and resuming his job as starting quarterback.
Reed Charpia’s play was aided by the Bearcats’ punishing running game. Running backs Charles Balkcom and A.J. Brown each rushed for more than 100 yards in the victory. Balkcom rushed for 125 yards and a touchdown and Brown added 105 yards and two touchdowns.
Defensively, Travis Loadholt had a pair of quarterback sacks and Keyshawn James had a sack and an interception.
The Bearcats face another tough task this week on the road against Airport. Both teams are ranked in the Midlands Top 10 poll with B-C at No. 6 and Airport tied for 10th.
“Airport is a much improved team,” Charpia said. “Brett Burnett is throwing the ball well and it should be a really close game.”
This story was originally published August 25, 2015 at 11:19 PM.