The Marlboro County Bulldogs attempted to take down the Camden players during the Oct. 28 game.
Tyrell Bridges tries to get pass a Camden player.
A Camden player catches a pass during the Oct. 28 game.
The Marlboro County Bulldogs had many things going against them when they hit the field to play away on Oct. 28 against Camden.
The Bulldogs did not have their star quarterback, offensive or defensive coordinators due to family situations, and an official got sick and passed out in the middle of the game. All of this along with not finding the right rhythm led to a 38-0 defeat.
Coach Quin McCollum said it was a perfect storm of events.
“We just got off to a slow start and couldn’t get into a rhythm,” he said.
At halftime, Camden had 16 points on the board while the Bulldogs had zero. “I liked the way we went in at the half,” McCollum said. “I was very impressed with the resilience. I felt like they were well within striking distance. I strongly believed in that. It just didn’t materialize like that in the end.”
Playoffs
This Friday night is the first round of the state playoffs with the Bulldogs (5-5, 2-3 in the region 6AAA) heading to Dillon. If the Bulldogs win, they will continue in the playoffs and if not, the season will be over.
Earlier in the season, the Bulldogs traveled to Dillon on Sept. 23 where they lost 39-14. Currently, Dillon has a 10-0 record, 5-0 in their region.
McCollum said Dillon does a phenomenal job of blocking. “They do a really good job of making sure that their people are in the right places at the right time,” he said. “They make holes and pathways for their running backs to run.”
This week, he is encouraging his team to play with a greater sense of urgency.
“We have to be purposeful in what we do in practice,” McCollum said. “You can’t practice haphazardly, expect to come out and try to dominate a team that’s ranked top five or top ten in the state.” But hopefully, we can take advantage of all the stuff that we know and the stuff that we do well.
McCollum said he is enjoying the role of being the underdog here. “The burden of proof is not going to be on us. We’re enjoying and relishing this role because we must believe when nobody else believes.”
Last week, McCollum said he shared with the team if you are practicing on Thanksgiving Day that means you are playing for the state championship. There are about five or six coaches on the team who have experienced playing in a state championship game on more than one occasion.
“It’s a beautiful thing,” he said. “Everybody doesn’t get an opportunity to do it. I’ve done it four times.”
This is what McCollum is preaching and hopes will hit home with his players.
The team also looked back at their preseason goals of winning eight games, winning the region, making the playoffs, and winning the state championship.
“We hit one mark where we made the playoffs,” McCollum said. “So now we can go to goal four, which is winning the state.” McCollum has moved up any JV player that wanted to move up. “We have that in place so that they’ll experience the playoff feeling and what it feels like to be able to go and see how the preparation changes and so they can prepare themselves mentally and physically to be able to do the same thing down the line and in the future.”
Kickoff is at 7:30 in Dillon.