Blythewood clinches home playoff game with win over Spring Valley
David Israel and Osei Thomas did their best to ensure Blythewood would be home for the first round of the playoffs. They combined for 435 yards of total offense and five touchdowns Thursday, as the Bengals defeated Spring Valley 37-28.
Blythewood, projected to be a No. 5 seed, will host either Westwood or North Augusta in the first round of the Class 4A, Division II playoffs next week. Spring Valley will to travel to Fort Dorchester in the Class 4A, Division I playoffs.
Israel was 9-for-20 passing for 178 yards and rushed for 116 yards. Thomas ran for 141 yards and two TDs.
Thomas’ 3-yard TD run gave Blythewood a 30-21 lead with 4:38 left in the fourth quarter. SV’s Ty’Juan Fulton cut the lead to 30-28 after his 65-yard touchdown run with four minutes left.
Spring Valley never got the ball back, as Thomas converted on a fourth-and-1 with less than 1:30 to play. Then, Israel scored on a 40-yard run.
TURNING POINT
After Blythewood took a 20-14 lead in the third quarter, Sekwan Jenkins intercepted Spring Valley’s Ryan Lee. The Bengals ended up getting a field goal to lead 23-14.
KEY PERFORMERS
Israel: Quarterback accounted for 294 yards of total offense and three TDs.
Thomas: Blythewood tailback rushed for an average of 6.7 yards a carry and finished with 141 yards and two touchdowns.
Fulton: Spring Valley running back had 178 yards of total offense and three touchdowns.
THEY SAID IT
“For the past three weeks, Osei has been putting the team on his back and been there when we needed him. And we knew me and him were going to have too run the ball and it worked tonight.” – David Israel, Blythewood QB
“I still am looking around to see how we scored 37 points because their defense played phenomenal.” – Dan Morgan, Blythewood coach
KEY NUMBERS
446: Total yards of offense for Blythewood in the game.
2012: Last time Blythewood hosted a playoff game.
HOW THEY SCORED
1st Quarter
B – Thomas 2 run (Turner kick), 4:24
SV – Fulton 33 run (Bacon kick), 1:11
2nd Quarter
B – McGuire 20 pass from Israel (Turner kick), 11:08
SV – Fulton 49 pass from Lee (Bacon kick), 5:37
3rd Quarter
B – Churn 17 pass from Israel (kick failed), 7:49
B – Turner 25 FG, 4:50
SV – Bunch 3 run (Bacon kick), 1:40
4th Quarter
B – Thomas 3 run (Turner kick), 4:38
SV – Fulton 65 run (Bacon kick), 4:00
B – Israel 40 run (Turner kick), :30
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing: B: Thomas 21-141, Israel 23-116 SV: Fulton 13-120, Bunch 6-36, Jackson 6-22, Moore 2-22.
Passing: B: Israel 9-20-1 178, Benton 1-1-0 11. SV: Lee 5-10-1 84
Receiving: B: McGuire 2-49, Churn 3-47, Drinkard 1-48, Benton 1-23. SV: Fulton 2-58, Jones 1-13, Bacon 2-13.
This story was originally published November 12, 2015 at 10:45 PM.