Bishops fall to Timberland in second consecutive loss
Just a few weeks ago, the Bishop England High School football team was seeking perfection.
Now, the Bishops are simply searching for answers after dropping a 13-0 decision to Timberland Friday night at Jack Cantey Stadium on Daniel Island.
The Bishops were on pace to record their first perfect regular season since 1977 as they opened up the 2016 campaign with seven consecutive victories.
But they dropped a 26-22 decision at Manning Oct. 21 in a game that was decided by a play here and a play there. It was more of the same against Timberland, a team that scored a touchdown on a short drive and another on a long pass.
Just like that, Bishop England is 7-2, including 1-2 in Region 7-AAA. Bishop England needs a victory against Lake Marion, a team that is winless in conference play, or the Bishops’ season is probably over.
“As long as we win next week, we’ll be OK,” Bishop England coach John Cantey said. “If we win, we’ll have an off-week before the playoffs begin. That will help us get things in sync.”
Manning is 3-0 in league play heading into this weekend while Timberland is 2-0. Both Bishop England and Hanahan are 1-2, while Lake Marion is 0-3.
Timberland is at Hanahan this weekend, while the Bishops travel to Lake Marion. League play concludes Nov. 11 when Manning travels to Timberland in a game that should decide the region championship.
A victory over Lake Marion isn’t guaranteed. Last fall, the Bishops won five straight games to close the regular season and win the Region 6-AA title, but Lake Marion bounced the Bishops from the playoffs with a 26-21 decision in the first round of postseason play.
Friday, Timberland scored early in the second quarter to take a 7-0 lead when quarterback Jayquez Mitchell scored on a 1-yard plunge.
Mitchell threw a 49-yard TD pass to Roger Gibbs early in the fourth quarter to close out the scoring.
Timberland, meanwhile, recorded its third straight shutout of the season to improve to 5-3 overall.
The Bishops managed only 150 yards in total offense, including only 33 in the air. The Bishops turned the ball over five times, including three on interceptions in the first half.
The Wolves bottled up quarterback Leo Albano, who came in the game averaging 120 yards rushing per game.
“Offensively, we were out of sync,” Cantey said. “Their defense was a cause of that. They did plenty to wreak some havoc.”
Cantey still feels his team is among the best in Class AAA, and the Bishops can make a deep playoff run.
“We have to play four quarters of consistent football,” Cantey said. “The defense kept us in the game, but we have to do a better job on offense. When you run the triple-option, you can’t have everyone on the other team tackling the quarterback. You have to get production from your fullback and running backs. We didn’t have that.”
Hurricane Matthew forced the season to be pushed back a week. The playoffs begin Nov. 18 and culminate when the Class AAA state championship is contested Dec. 17 at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia.