Brookland-Cayce hoping for more postseason magic on the road

Playing in late November has been a rarity lately for the Brookland-Cayce football program.

But on Wednesday night, the lights were on at Brookland-Cayce’s Stadium as the Bearcats prepared to face Georgetown in the second round of the Class 3A Lower State playoffs.

B-C is coming off its first playoff win since 2004, as it knocked off Region 8-3A champion Hanahan 34-31 last week.

“This time, the last couple years the soccer goals are already out and kids already were practicing basketball,” B-C coach Rusty Charpia said. “We are excited, and we think we got a chance to win. You need to click at the right time. You got to get to the playoffs, and if you gel at the right time, hopefully you have a chance to go somewhere.”

That somewhere is a two-and-half hour bus ride to Georgetown, which, like B-C, hasn’t had a long history of playoff success. The Bulldogs won their first home playoff game in school history last week with a 31-14 victory against Darlington.

B-C, which entered the season after back-to-back winning campaigns for the first time since 2003-04, had its share of ups-and downs. The Bearcats endured an early three-game losing streak and went 4-6 in the regular season. B-C finished fourth in Region 5-3A, with four of their six losses coming by 10 points or less.

Still, Charpia said his team showed him enough during those tough losses to give him hope that B-C is capable of winning a few games in the postseason.

The Bearcats put together one of their most complete games last week against Hanahan and were able to close at the end, something they’ve struggled with this season.

B-C is led by strong running game, which features A.C. Brown and Charles Balkcom. Brown’s closing in on 1,000 yards and Balkcom had 121 in last week’s win.

Balkcom also took the most snaps at quarterback in B-C’s wildcat formation. Reid Charpia and Kozie Brown also will see time at quarterback when the Bearcats aren’t in the wildcat.

On defense, Keyshawn James leads the team with 103 tackles and is coming off his best game of the season last week.