Photo by Theron Malone
True blue, Bolton team captain Eric Kemp told it like it is.
“It’s the rivalry of the year. We don’t like them and they don’t like us but we respect each other,” said Kemp of the “BHS Bowl” matchup between Bartlett and Bolton.
Bartlett wide receiver C.J. Burrow added, “We always have a big rivalry with Bolton. We came out here to show them that we are the real BHS.”
It only took seconds after Bartlett’s Jadyn Panzer hoisted the bowl trophy for the Panthers to gather on Bolton’s field Friday for a photo-op.
“This is my first BHS Bowl,” said Bartlett quarterback Jonathan Bowlan. “It was a great experience. The crowd, the team; it was good competition. The (Bartlett) student section made a huge difference. It was a lot of fun.”
Running for two touchdowns and throwing three touchdown passes, Bowlan made it fun along with running back Jurieen Martin who returned for his second straight game after an early September injury. Martin rushed for 182 yards on 27 carries and scampered for a 47-yard third quarter touchdown to spark the Panthers’ 44-20 victory.
After the game, Martin didn’t stop running. He went to Mississippi College on Saturday for a recruitment visit.
“It felt great,” said Martin of the win. “I did what I did before I got hurt.”
He was leading Shelby-Metro in rushing before his injury against Arlington on Sept. 5.
The victory improved Bartlett to 4-4 and 2-2 in District 14-AAA. The Panthers host Munford (6-2) at 7 p.m. this Friday while Bolton (2-6, 1-3) plays its homecoming game at 7 p.m. against Covington (2-6) on Friday.
“We have a shot mathematically (at the playoffs),” said Bartlett coach Jeff McFerran. A season-ending game against Kingsbury could propel the Panthers into the playoffs or not.
“Either way, we are going to enjoy tonight,” he noted.
With Burrow catching two touchdown passes, his second and third of the season, Christian Busby hauling in a 40-yard pass from Bowlan, who completed 11-of-15 passes for 179 yards and rushed for 67 yards including a 58-yard touchdown run and a defense that held the Wildcats to a touchdown in the second half, the Panthers enjoyed themselves.
However, McFerran had his concerns before the game because of familiar faces. Because of school district rezoning, several players that had played for McFerran for three years were playing for Bolton.
Bolton coach Patrick Knight made three of them, Braylon Porter, Jonathan Frazier and Devon Herron, game captains.
“The hardest thing for me about this game, I have five or six kids starting for Bolton that played for me last year so I care about those kids. I miss them. They are great kids. I hope they play well but at the same time, they don’t beat us,” said McFerran.
Knight said that he did not talk with the players about them facing their former team.
“As a former athlete, I understand rivalries. I understand the importance and that they would be honored to be captain. They were self-motivated. This is the BHS Bowl and it really doesn’t matter what the records are. It is the same cliché with all rivalry games but it’s true. They (Panthers) are jacked; they are not coming here for a meeting.”
Porter did what McFerran hoped: Play well.
Turning in what Knight termed “a heck of a game” and one of his best this season, Porter scored three touchdowns, his season-high, which were all of Bolton’s TDs. He rushed for 142 yards on 21 carries.
“He has had a lot of good, big football games,” said McFerran. “He played extremely hard. I think the passion he ran with was coming from Bartlett but obviously he wanted to win. It hurt him. He was upset when he left.”
Porter said, “I wasn’t trying to prove anything. My goal was to win so we could make the playoffs. Playing against Bartlett, I was just playing how I play.”
Porter scored on touchdown runs of 17 yards and 1 yard and caught a 29-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Trey Lanfair.
“It was tough seeing them before the game and after,” said McFerran. “I know how bad that hurts their heart. I feel like we have a good relationship. It was a tough night.”
Eliminated from the playoffs and hopes dashed for a 5-5 record, the Wildcats will be challenged to rebound from the emotional game to finish the season.
“You never quit and as long as you are still breathing, you are in the fight,” said Knight. “That is life. You want to teach life lessons with football. Unfortunately we seem to be getting a lot of how to handle losing more than how to handle winning. I will say this is an adverse situation and keep stepping. Even with the loss they are fairly positive and I think they will come back to work Monday and will get after it.”
One quality that Kemp was proud of was, “Even though we lost the game, we fought for the man that played beside us. We came a long way. I felt like we had a great night. My guys played hard. They (Panthers) didn’t do anything special or spectacular. I felt like we beat ourselves. That is something that we will improve in practice.”
Pleased with his team’s punting—Kieontae Price averaged 30.33 yards on three punts, Knight was concerned about special team defense, as Bartlett’s Mario Washington returned a kickoff for 49 yards, DaVonte Stigler 40 yards and LaMarcus Young 52 yards.
“Every time we kicked off, we gave up a big run and we gave the defense a short field. We did that three times tonight and each time and they were able to take the ball at their 40 in their own territory. I bet they had a good 200 yards in kickoff returns. That hurt,” said Knight.
Bartlett had 141 yards, averaging 47 per return.
Frazier had a kickoff return of 33 yards for Bolton.
The Wildcats also struggled to contain Bowlan.
“I thought that we would play him better in the air. I didn’t expect him to have the success that he did,” said Knight.
One of Bowlan’s best plays came on a second quarter drive. Trailing 14-10, Bowlan scrambled to evade tacklers and then threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Burrow with 6.3 seconds left.
“Jon-Jon pulled a Johnny Manziel-type thing with a double spin then throwing it,” said McFerran. Teammates shouted “Johnny Manziel” at Bowlan after the game.
Said Bowlan, “The touchdown at the half is what really got us started. Then we came back and came at them hard and gave it all we got to keep scoring.”
McFerran said that touchdown and the first of the second half, a 27-yard pass from Bowlan to Burrow, changed the game. Bartlett went up 23-14.
“By then, we were in control of the game. It was a matter of making some defensive plays” along with eating up the clock.
“I think the biggest difference for us tonight was that we caught the ball well. We threw some routes that made some big plays. I think that changed the whole dimension of the game for us to be able to throw the ball and then run our power running game and they didn’t have an answer,” said McFerran. “They kept having to decide whether to move up or move off and we kept playing chess with them and making the right calls. C.J. made a great play. Christian Busby played great at receiver. We did a good job of catching the ball in the flats with the fullback a couple of times. It was probably the best game we have played from the beginning to end all year.”
The Panthers took a 3-0 lead when Manny Barrientos kicked a 24-yard field goal. The drive, which featured a 19-yard run by Martin, started when Bartlett recovered a fumble at the Wildcat 48-yard line.
Bolton then recovered a fumble at the Bartlett 43. After Porter’s 22-yard run to the Panther 21, Porter then ran 17 yards for a touchdown with 38.8 seconds left in the first quarter. Murphy Nunnelly kicked Bolton to a 7-3 lead.
Bowlan’s 6-yard touchdown gave the Panthers a 10-7 lead but Bolton bounced back with a 61-yard touchdown drive. Devonte Williams, who rushed for 70 yards on 13 carries and was praised by Knight for his play, and Lanfair helped to get Bolton to the 1 where Porter scored. Bolton led 14-10 with 6:31 left in the second quarter.
Washington’s kickoff return put the Panthers on the Bolton 36 before Bowlan threw a 25-yard pass to Busby, who would finish with three catches for 66 yards. But on fourth-and-one, Bowlan was stopped at the Bolton 14-yard line. After a Bolton punt, Bartlett drove 41 yards for its touchdown that would give the Panthers the lead for good, Burrow’s touchdown reception.
“Our goals were to catch and run the ball like we were supposed to and we did it. I was doing mostly slant-and-go routes, trying to change their hips, break in and out and make them turn to get different directions on the ball,” said Burrow, whose touchdowns were the most in one game this season. “It was a big night.”
It continued in the second half when Burrow resumed where he left off the first, catching a touchdown pass. This one went for 27 yards. Martin’s 47-yard touchdown run doubled the edge to 30-14 with 6:45 left in the third quarter.
Busby’s 40-yard touchdown catch with 6:58 left to play gave Bartlett its biggest lead, 37-14. Bolton cut the lead by six when Porter caught a 29-yard deflected pass from Lanfair with 4:52 left.
Bowlan wasn’t finished. He raced 58 yards for a touchdown with 3:56 left and after Barrientos’ PAT, the Panthers led 44-20.
Included in the Panthers’ passing attack were three receptions by Johnny Shepperd for 38 yards. Lanfair completed 3 of 10 passes for 38 yards and rushed for 35 yards. Bolton had 313 yards total offense while Bartlett had 440 yards.
Defensively, Bolton defensive back Darryl Warren had a pass break-up in the third quarter and Eddie Hines stopped the Panthers for a four-yard loss in the fourth quarter. Justin Wallace also had a jarring tackle for the Wildcats in the third quarter.
Lanfair said the Wildcats were still in the game at halftime.
“It was just two points. I told my team that we were going to come back and get back on top but it didn’t work out like that. We wanted to score as quick as possible and make the defense hold them. Everything they did, we knew they were going to do it. Bartlett made a couple of big plays and we didn’t capitalize back. I have never won it (BHS Bowl). I know it is a big ting to get it here. There were a lot of shoot-ourselves-in-the-foot moments.”
Said Knight, “I knew that Bartlett would be a good football team. I knew that we would have a struggle but I didn’t think that we would be out of it like we were. I didn’t think it would be 40-something to 20-game. It was hard to see how big they were on film. It was a little shocking. I don’t think our kids were prepared for the size they had to deal with. That was shocking they ran through us pretty easy. I didn’t expect that, I really didn’t.”
Martin was the Panthers’ workhorse in the 261 total rushing yards.
“He’s back healthy and that makes a big difference for us. He makes everything kind of go. If they step up, it gives us the opportunity to throw over them. When we catch it we are a pretty good offensive team. It clicked tonight. I was thrilled that we came out and looked like a quality football team,” said McFerran.
Said Kemp, who has a 3.72 grade-point average and is considering playing football at Rhodes, “We hope to end the season on a winning streak.”
Written by Bill Surrell, special to the Express.
