By Eugene Jolley
Courier Sports

ejolley@thepccourier.com

PICKENS — The Pickens Blue Flame broke out their special red jerseys Friday night for the regular-season finale against Belton-Honea Path.[cointent_lockedcontent]

Tommy McGaha/seeyourphotohere.com
Pickens’ Gunner Covey stiff-arms a Belton-Honea Path defender during their game Friday night.

The Bears left the Blue Flame seeing red with a 49-17 win in a game marred by penalties and controversial calls.

Flags were dropping like flies during the game. Pickens was flagged 12 times for 120 yards and had two players ejected after a BHP player kicked off the helmet of a Blue Flame defender. Pickens also got a personal foul penalty after quarterback Tanner Stegall was given a shoulder shrug hit on the BHP sideline. BHP didn’t show a lot of control on the field either, getting penalized 17 times for 152 yards.

The two teams entered the game set in their region positions despite a win or loss. BHP finished second behind Seneca and Pickens fifth behind Wren and Daniel. The Blue Flame were hoping to catch the Bears on an off night, and they got anything but on senior night.

BHP picked off a deep Stegall pass on the Blue Flame’s first possession, and tailback Juwan Abney went 63 yards on the first play from scrimmage to make it 7-0 with 10:22 left in the first quarter following Lance Jones’ extra-point kick.

Stegall was sacked on the next possession on third down, and BHP again took it for a score, going 64 yards in 12 plays. Quarterback Kameron Burton kept it the final five for the score with 4:13 left in the quarter, making it 14-0.

BHP got it back and made it 21-0 as Oryan Warren broke several tackles en route to a 41-yard touchdown run with 11:39 left in the first half.

“They came out and punched us in the mouth,” Pickens coach John Boggs said. “I think that is the best team we’ve played this year. They’re physical and tough. Their running back (Abney) is legit. They do a lot of things really well.

“We felt like we were going to have to hit some stuff early to try and get some big plays. We never were able to get that passing game going. The running game was tough. Gunner (Covey) ran the ball really well in the second half. It was just really hard to get our running game going in the first half. It’s hard to answer. Guys like that you have to come back and answer, and it’s hard to answer after we got behind quick. These kids battled. I love them. They play hard every week. We just made some mistakes and gave up some big plays early on.”

Matt Gravely pinned BHP back at its own 7-yard line on the next possession, and the defense forced a punt. BHP then roughed the passer and roughed the kicker on Gravely’s 42-yard field goal attempt, keeping the drive alive. On the next play, Stegall hit Kirkland Gillespie, who made a sliding catch over the middle for a 13-yard touchdown. Gravely’s kick made it 21-7 with 8:10 left in the half.

BHP answered again as Burton hit Nick Wood, who took a short pass and split the cornerback and safety for a 75-yard scoring strike to put his team up 28-7 with 6:55 left before halftime.

The Bears got it back once more and marched 74 yards in 14 plays as Abney took a toss around the left side with 1:29 left in the half, making it 35-7.

BHP (8-2, 6-1) got the ball first in the second half and drove into Blue Flame territory. However, cornerback Sam Lawson picked off an Austin Estes pass at the 15.

Things then got chippy between the two teams. BHP was hit with a pass interference penalty and another personal foul. Pickens reached the BHP 35 when Stegall was forced out of bounds into a player on the sideline who give him a shoulder shimmy. A flag was thrown, but it was called against center Jeb Kelley coming to rescue his quarterback. A fourth-down pass then came up a few yards short.

The fireworks continued on the next Bear possession. Abney had a run, with the umpire getting caught up in the play twice. In the effort to untangle, Abney kicked Matt Gravely’s helmet off, and there was another flag. BHP was called for illegal procedure, but Pickens was called for two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties and two linemen were ejected.

Two plays later, Burton took it the final seven yards, making it 42-7 with 4:25 left in the third quarter.

“Tonight was disappointing,” Boggs said. “We felt like we would give them a better game than this. We felt we would be more competitive. We had been competitive the last several weeks. They’ve come back every week and played hard and come back and practiced hard. They kind of drive you crazy sometimes because they’re so loose. But they play better when they’re loose. That’s been different for me, but it’s been fun to be out here with these guys. I think they enjoy being together and I think they enjoy playing together. They all play. There are not a whole lot of guys standing on the bench watching, and that helps because they’re all getting playing time. I hope we get another week with them, because it has been a fun group to be around.”

BHP added to the score on the next possession as Abney went 76 yards with 47.9 seconds left in the quarter, making it 49-7.

Pickens answered with a 10-play drive. Stegall, on fourth and 10, hit Brandon Batson at the 15. He then made a great cut, eluding two defenders, and went in for the score with 8:45 left, making it 49-14.

The Blue Flame got it back as Matt Gravely forced a fumble that was recovered by Cole Seaborn at the Bear 26.

Penalties moved the ball back, but Gravely eventually hit a 49-yard field goal with 3:50 left, making the final 49-17.

Pickens will play the waiting game now, hoping for an at-large bid to the Class AAA playoffs, which they received last year. The playoffs have been delayed a week due to teams around the state being forced to make up games missed during widespread flooding last month.

“I hope this crew has one more game in them,” Boggs said. “You don’t know anything. You have to wait, and we’ll have next week off. The picture should be a little clearer after tonight. There was a chance that we could have won tonight and not get in depending on what went on in other places. There was a chance we could lose and still get in. It just kind of depends on other people. We’ll wait and see what happens.”

Notes: At halftime, Cheri Anthony was given the Gene and Nora Hooper Fan Appreciation Award.

Pickens High was also awarded the Sam Wyche Food Bowl Trophy after raising $8,625 for Pickens County Meals on Wheels. Save-A-Lot made a $5,000 check presentation. A total of $17,883 was raised by the four county high schools. Pickens is 7-0-1 in the fundraising competition.

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