Anson 35, Bluffton 14

"BLUFFTON LOSES BORDER BATTLE"

Zach Frazier and Timmy Smith snap scoring droughts, but there's no dancin' in Anson as Bobcats drop long road test in North Carolina.

Monday Morning Notebook

"NOTEBOOK"

Bobcats' JV, McCracken pick up wins

above, varsity quarterback Desmond Jenkins was both a Bulldog and JV star

NO DANCIN' IN ANSON

Bluffton ends up on the south end of a 35-14 score across the border in Wadesboro, N.C. Zachary Frazier and Timmy Smith find the end zone, but physical Bearcats of Anson County High School prove too much for the Bobcats.

photo from earlier in the season

BOBCATS @ BEARCATS

"DANCIN' TOWARD ANSON"

Bluffton heads north, way north, to face one of the Tar Heel State's finest.

"We're not driving four hours to lose."

- Head coach Jeremy West

FROM THE DESK OF CHRISTOPHER C. WUENSCH...

"ARE THE BOBCATS ROAD WARRIORS?"

Every player has a different ritual on the team bus. Some listen to music, while others visually prepare themselves for the road game at task.

They all watch game film per coach’s mandate.

Occasionally, if the trip is long enough, they’ll watch a feature film.
At practice on Wednesday, just about every player I spoke with agreed that the best movie they’ve watched on the long trips that snake through the South Carolina countryside.

“The best movie we’ve watched on the bus is ‘300’,” said lineman Phillip Scott of the motion picture which recounts the graphic Battle of Thermopylae, where 300 Spartans dueled to the last man against a million Persian warriors.

READ MORE BY CLICKING THE "HEADLINE" ABOVE

AND THE WINNER IS...

"JIMMY TILLMAN"

Several crucial tackles preserve the first win of the season for the Bobcats and earn Jimmy Tillman this week's BT Game Ball award.

KNOW A COACH

"AL BONI"

If you or your children have ever played Little League ball in Bluffton, chances are, you've probably encountered a member of the vast Boni family. This week, we take a look at JV Assistant JV Head Coach Al Boni.

Good Bye...

Bluffton enters a much-needed bye week tonight, riding the winds of their first victory of the season. Next week, the Bobcats (1-3) return to the gridiron when they travel out-of-state to face Anson County High School. The North Carolina trip was a last-minute addition to the schedule after Woodland (Bluffton's original Week 5 opponent) bailed on the 'Cats before the season. If history is any indication, dodging Woodland may be a blessing. Last year, Woodland bested Bluffton 44-21. This year, the Wolverines are 1-2, having scored 40 points in each of the last two weeks against Region 8-3A foes Lake Marion and North Charleston.

Anson is 1-2 on the season and is coming off a 63-28 loss to Richmond (N.C.) Senior High School.

"As long as we're
ready when it comes time to get on that bus to Lake
Marion..."

- head coach Jeremy West, after
each game, win or lose, this season about the start of Region 8-3A play on
Oct. 2 at Santee's Lake Marion High School.

'CATS SHARPEN THEIR CLAWS

"ELEVENTH HEAVEN"

Bobcats get a much-needed, 14-0, win against Wade Hampton.

BOBCATS WIN

For months now, Jeremy West wouldn't mention the "S" word. Clear your mind of the gutter. West's banned "S" word has more than four letters.

The word in question is "streak," and for the past 11 games - dating back to last season - the Bluffton High School head football coach would not publicly acknowledge his Bobcats' losing streak.

On Friday, West spoke freely of the streak - the one-game winning kind his Bobcat football team had freshly created.

Bluffton earned - and we stress earned - its first win in 11 games on Friday with a hard-nosed 14-0 win over Wade Hampton High School. Desmond Jenkins, making his first career start at quarterback, scored twice for Bluffton (1-3) in the win.

"We needed it. We deserved it," said Stephen Bradley of the hard work and little reward the Bobcats have received since their last win in September of 2008.

WADE HAMPTON @ BLUFFTON

"BOBCATS LOOK TO FIND OLD SELVES"

Bluffton's dynamic running back duo of Timmy Smith and Zachary Frazier look to break the early-season doldrums.

Above: Alfonza Powell evades a tackle against Berkeley last week.

KNOW A COACH

"MATT CAMPBELL"

You've seen them walking the hallways and stalking sidelines, but who are they? This week we get to know BHS line coach Matt Campbell.

BT GAME BALL

"And the winner is..."

ZACHARY "TEX" SCOTT"

A NEW RECORD!

"WOW" is the only word I can think of to describe this week's Game Ball voting.

We set a record for votes this week. Let me re-phrase that: We obliterated the old record.

We got plenty of votes from all mediums: phone in, online and even e-mail. All told, we got 134 votes.

Among the records set this week was for e-mail votes received. We got 14. And while that number sounds real small, you must consider that since we started the BT Game Ball voting last year (13 games), we've received one vote via e-mial. And that came last week.

Usually, phone-in votes are the norm. Not this week. A total of 97 votes were cast online here at WWW.BLUFFTONBOBCATS.BLOGSPOT.COM.

Votes were literally coming in droves as I was updating the site.

HERE'S THE BEST PART. TWO PLAYERS ACTUALLY SLUGGED IT OUT THIS WEEK! THE VOTING WAS NOT ONE-SIDED.

Of the 134 votes, the winner won by five.

Amazing job, folks. I cannot thank you enough for your support.

AS FOR THE WINNER...

Tune in to Friday's BT Bleachers or check out www.blufftonbobcats.blogspot.com on Thursday night.

Thanks again,

- Christopher C. Wuensch

"We can build
on something like this."

- head coach Jeremy West, after
Friday's 49-3 loss

ROAD IS UNKIND TO 'CATS

"BOBCATS STAGGERED ON THE ROAD"

No party for the Bobcats. Berkeley Stags outscore Bluffton 97-9 in last two meetings.

“I’m a senior at Bluffton and I play football under Coach West. To say we need a new head coach is asinine. We need four things to win a football game: We need a great coach and staff. Check. We need a bunch of hard-working players. Check. We need heart, which we have because we are out there every week even after we lost. Check. And we need a little bit of luck, which we are still waiting on that. Didn’t someone once say, ‘Good things come to those who wait?’

- anonymous bt vox caller, 9.03.09 -

TONIGHT ON THE GRIDIRON...

BERKELEY STAGS

(1-0)

at

BLUFFTON BOBCATS

(0-2)

406 W. Main Street

Moncks Corner, SC

7:30 p.m.