Serving Barnwell County and it's neighbors since 1852
The Blackville-Hilda Hawks faced another traditionally strong, larger school when they traveled to Ninety Six, South Carolina to face the Wildcats of Ninety Six High School. Despite the travel, the rainy weather conditions, and facing their third straight opponent from a higher classification, the Hawks defeated the Wildcats 34-29.
Blackville-Hilda is no stranger to playing bigger schools. The 1A Hawks first four opponents this year are all from AA or AAA schools. On paper, this is a huge disadvantage to be paired against the larger schools, but in reality facing the larger schools helps prepare the Hawks to face the best 1A teams in the state playoffs.
Blackville-Hilda head coach Kevin Jones was asked about the Hawks’ win over the Wildcats and responded by saying, “When we agreed to play Ninety Six, we knew what we were getting. They are a well-coached and hard-nosed football team. They run a very difficult offense to stop but we needed a strong out of region schedule to prepare us for region play. We have yet to play another 1A team but our kids have responded well. We had a solid night on offense Friday night. Samari Williams had a huge night for us. He rushed for 204 yards and 2 touchdowns. He threw for two more touchdowns. The first one was to our tight end Messiah McFadden which is his third touchdown catch in three games. The second was to Brandon Priester, who did a good job of getting open in the back of the end zone. Samari also made several big plays on 3rd and 4th downs to save us. Jaquel Holman had another big night rushing for over 100 yards yet again. Our offensive line did a nice job of opening up opportunities for our offense.”
Coach Jones went on to say, “Defensively, our kids battled so hard all night. I tell people that playing that kind of offense is like a meat grinder. We shut them out in the first half and then they returned the opening kickoff of the second half for a score. At that point they got going on offense and that also means eating the clock. However, our defense stood up and got a stop at the end of the game to preserve the win. We don’t have all the numbers yet for the defense but I know Ricky Richberg, Jayden Dash, Jabarius Johnson, and Jaquel Holman all made several plays.”
When asked about the Hawks’ upcoming game with AAA Silver Bluff, Coach Jones said, “This week we welcome in AAA Silver Bluff. They have struggled a little to start the season but make no mistake they are a good football team with size and speed. They have lost to three good football teams. I know they have circled this game with the small 1A school as a game they can win and kick start their season. So we will have to play extremely well to have a shot at winning.”
The Hawks have an explosive offense and a very athletic defense that has great speed. Blackville-Hilda may be outmatched in some people’s minds, taking on the AAA Silver Bluff team, but don’t sell the Hawks short. They should give the Bulldogs a great game and have a great chance to collect their third win against a larger school this Friday when they host the Bulldogs in Blackville. Kickoff is set for 7:30. Come cheer on your Hawks to another big win!
