Marlboro County thriving with less pressure

By: By Justin Driggers | SCNOW
Published: November 19, 2008

The last two years, Marlboro County has been a No. 1 seed in the playoffs but failed both times to make it to the Class 3A lower state final.

Coach Dean Boyd and his Bulldogs are hoping this season will be different.

Despite being a No. 2 seed, the Bulldogs are one game away from playing for the lower state, and they’ll face a region foe Friday they’ve already beaten once this year.

And through various upsets, the Bulldogs haven’t left the comforts of McAlpine Stadium yet.

“It’s always nice to play at home,” Boyd said. “We didn’t have the No. 1 seed this year, but maybe this was the best route for us to take.”

But Marlboro isn’t looking past Camden — not this year.

“I think after that loss to Lakewood, our crowd knows we can get beat any time this year,” Boyd said. “The score in our first game (24-6) was a little misleading. We were only up 10-6 in the fourth quarter before benefitting from some turnovers.”

There will be another wrinkle to this game as well. Camden quarterback Josh Council missed seven weeks with an injured shoulder and was not at 100 percent when he played the Bulldogs the first time.

“I think he’s definitely gotten better, and you can see the improvement in the offense,” Camden coach Jimmy Neal said. “It’s always good to have the guy who was supposed to be the starting quarterback in there, and I think the kids have responded.”

In the two games since the loss to Marlboro, Camden has averaged 34 points.

“Anytime you play a team that you’ve already lost to once, it’s an added incentive,” Boyd said. “That’s what happened against Wilson a few years ago.”

Aside from Council, whom Boyd calls a Division-I caliber QB, Camden also has a 215-pound tailback and a North-South linebacker in Chris Outten.

“They’re big and they’re athletic,” Boyd said. “They’ve always played well on defense, and now the offense is catching up. It’s really going to come down to who makes the fewest mistakes.”

Boyd added that they’ll have to keep Council contained, and establish more of a running game than they had against Camden the first time.

“We had a few big runs, but didn’t move the chains or eat up the clock,” Boyd said. “We’ll have to do both this time around.

“Should be a heckuva ballgame.”