LowcoSports.com
It might not seem like a major thing to be sitting at the .500 mark a month into the season, but it’s a big deal for Battery Creek football.
The Dolphins dominated on both sides of the ball to roll to a 41-0 win at Bethune-Bowman on Friday, improving to 2-2 and marking the first time since 2013 they’ve won at least two of their first four games.
Success was scarce in coach Ed Susi’s first season at the helm, as the Dolphins saw several competitive games slip away early and watching mounting injuries derail the remainder of a winless campaign, but Battery Creek broke the skid earlier this season against John Paul II and bounced back from a shutout loss at Keenan to maul the Mohawks.
Chase Olsen and Derrick Smalls Jr. connected for two touchdown passes, and Ty’juan Simmons scored a rushing touchdown and was on the receiving end of Olsen’s other TD pass, as the Dolphins got back on track with a shutout on the road. Smalls also took a punt return to the house thanks to an incredible block from Kelvin Willis, while Eddie Heyward rushed for 108 yards on 13 carries, and Nigil Fripp added 75 yards and a touchdown on six carries for Battery Creek.
But it was the defensive effort that has the Dolphins feeling confident about competing in Region 6-3A.
“We know that our defense is what’s going to win us these games,” Smalls said on Monday’s LowcoSports Lowdown. “We’ve got to get to the ball, we’ve got to fly around and be who we are because we’re not going to be the biggest or the strongest, so we’ve got to fly around and rally to the ball.”
The Dolphins haven’t had a winning season since going 7-6 in 2012, and have lost 15 straight against rival Beaufort dating to 2003, but with the Eagles coming to Burton with an 0-4 record and a laundry list of injuries, the magnitude of a win Friday isn’t lost on Smalls and Battery Creek.
“Turn the tide, change the mindset, change the culture that’s built around Battery Creek athletics,” Smalls said. “We know this is the team that we need to beat because we’re trying to make history. We’re flipping things around, turning the tide.”
