The Bethesda Academy defense earned top billing on Friday night when the Blazers opened SCISA Class 3A Region II play with a 30-6 drubbing of visiting Hilton Head Christian Academy.
The Blazers came within the game’s final 2 minutes, 28 seconds of pitching their second consecutive shutout, and it came against an Eagles offense averaging 37.1 points per contest.
Bethesda Academy’s Isaiah Jones (9) tackles a Hilton Head Christian Academy player during Friday’s game. Photo courtesy of RDP Productions.
“The defense played lights out,” said coach Antwain Turner, whose team improved to 5-1 overall. “We knew we needed to stop No. 1, their quarterback (Kres Langhals), and our guys rose to the challenge. Our goals were to create three turnovers, contain their quarterback, compress the box, and make sure we can contain.”
Langhals had passed for 1,297 yards and 16 touchdowns and rushed for 527 yards and six TDs in six games for HHCA (now 6-2, 0-1 region). But the 5-foot-8, 160-pound senior had no answer for the fast and physical defense that pressured him all night.
He was 5-of-11 for 37 yards with three interceptions by halftime – when the Blazers led 30-0 – and finished 10 of 24 for 69 yards. Langhals had only 11 yards on seven carries for the game, including a sack by senior linebacker Isaiah Jones for a 9-yard loss.
“(Langhals has) been their source of offense,” Turner said. “He’s been a very good ballplayer. For us, we knew if we could contain the quarterback, force him to choose a side, left or right, we could shrink the field and play football and be very physical.”
The Eagles’ offense seemed designed for Langhals to roll to his left or right and pick apart defenses with short to intermediate passes as the Blazers’ defense prevented anything deep. But time to throw was brief and passing lanes were congested. When his fourth pass on the game’s opening drive bounced off the intended receiver’s hands, senior cornerback Mell Flowers was on the spot to gather in an interception.
The Blazers drove 60 yards to the end zone – 50 on a pass to Zhyir Witcher, who got behind his defender on the left sideline as quarterback Jordan Turner heaved the ball with a rusher bearing down on him.
Turner finished the drive with the first of his three rushing touchdowns, a 14-yarder with 5:15 left in the first quarter. Jeffrey Armstrong ran in the two-point conversion for 8-0.
Bethesda Academy’s Jordan Turner (2) carries the ball during game against Hilton Head Christian Academy. Photo courtesy of RDP Productions.
Langhals threw a pick on the next drive to Ka’Mond Young, who had the first two-interception game of the junior linebacker’s career and his first two picks this season.
Bethesda started the drive at the HHCA 47 and finished it with Turner – the head coach’s son – reaching the end zone on a 7-yard run. Turner connected with MJ Scott on a two-point conversion pass for a 16-0 advantage with 16 seconds left in the first quarter.
The Eagles followed the same pattern when Young intercepted a pass and dashed 65 yards to the end zone, only for the pick-six to be called back on a holding call during the return.
No matter to the Blazers, who got the touchdown back two plays later when Turner showed his speed and vision on a designed run off tackle. He ran inside, then cut around right end and outraced the defense down the sideline for a 53-yard score.
After the conversion pass failed, Bethesda was ahead 22-0 with 9:38 left in the second quarter.
Turner finished the game with 84 yards and three TDs on seven carries and was 6-of-12 passing for 105 yards on a night when the junior didn’t have to do all of the heavy lifting.
Armstrong added a 2-yard touchdown run with 42 seconds remaining in the second quarter and finished with 67 yards on 10 carries.
“(The Eagles) were dropping eight in coverage, so we knew we had to establish our run game,” said Antwain Turner, whose team entered the game averaging 42.4 points on offense and allowing 16.6 on defense. “If we get our run game established, it’s going to open up opportunities for the passing game. We know that Jordan (Turner) is a playmaker. He’s going to be able to get his, but we needed everybody to get going tonight. Jeffrey did a great job.”
Bethesda Academy’s Zhyir Witcher (7) runs up field during Friday’s nights game against Hilton Head Christian Academy. Photo courtesy of RDP Productions.
If Hilton Head Christian was going to respond, it had an opportunity when Bethesda fumbled the opening kickoff of the second half for its only turnover of the game.
The Eagles started the drive at the Blazers’ 27 and got as close as the 8 when Jones sacked Langhals on third-and-goal. The defensive stand was complete when Langhals’ pass to the end zone fell incomplete on fourth down with 5:46 left in the third quarter.
Young said after the game that the defense was looking for a shutout to “send a message to other teams.”
“If we stop the quarterback and out-physical them, they’re not going to come back to Savannah no more,” Young said. “We got to send a message to these other teams to show that we’re the Blazers and we don’t play.”
Bethesda Academy linebacker Ka’Mond Young (12) pressures Hilton Head Christian Academy in Blazers’ win. Photo courtesy of RDP Productions.
Langhals would spoil the shutout with a 4-yard touchdown run with 2:28 left in the game, and the conversion run failed for a 30-6 final. But no matter, Bethesda, which went 12-0 last season in capturing the SCISA Class 2A state title, had delivered a message to teams in the South Carolina region, Young said.
“That we are relentless, that we’re the Blazers,” Young said. “If we keep working, we’re going to soon get a state championship, and we know how to do it. So we’re to keep doing the same thing to keep us on track and go back to the state and get a ring.”
Antwain Turner said the victory was a better performance than in the Blazers’ lone defeat, a 20-16 home loss on Sept. 25 to non-region foe Savannah Country Day.
“(Friday’s win) helps us to realize that we can play at a very high level,” Turner said. “We’re a physical football team on offense, defense and special teams. When we play with that physicality, we’re hard to beat.”
That physicality sometimes was their undoing in being whistled for 12 penalties in the first half and 17 for the game, including offsetting penalties on one play. HHCA was called for eight accepted penalties.
“We’ve got to be physical, and we’re a physical team,” the coach said. “Sometimes you’ve got to teach them how to be physical within the whistle and not to do anything outside of the whistle. I thought tonight we had a few penalties that didn’t go our way, but our guys played through it and we’ve got to keep working at it.”
| BETHESDA ACADEMY 30, HILTON HEAD CHRISTIAN 6 | |||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F | |
| HHC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 |
| BA | 16 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 30 |
First Quarter
BA—Jordan Turner 14 run (Jeffrey Armstrong run)
BA—Turner 7 run (MJ Scott pass from Turner)
Second Quarter
BA—Turner 53 run (pass failed)
BA—Armstrong 2 run (Zhyir Witcher pass from Turner)
Fourth Quarter
HHCA—Kres Langhals 4 run (run failed)
Records—Hilton Head Christian Academy 6-2, 0-1 SCISA 3A Region II; Bethesda Academy 5-1, 1-0 region.
Week 8 delivered big scores, big region wins. Here’s how Friday night unfolded around Savannah and the Coastal Empire.
Week 8 Final Scores
Thursday, October 8
Calvary Day 42, Bryan County 0*
Liberty County 29, Long County 15*
Wayne County 51, Groves 0*
Friday, October 9
Colquitt County 31, Richmond Hill 14*
Benedictine 37, Jenkins 35*
Richmond Academy 41, Statesboro 14*
Southeast Bulloch 33, Windsor Forest 6*
Appling County 45, Beach 0*
Brantley County 27, Johnson 14*
Savannah Christian 16, Metter 8*
Screven County 38, Savannah High 8*
Bethesda 30, Hilton Head Christian 6*
Bulloch Academy 34, Savannah Country Day 7*
Frederica Academy 46, St. Andrew’s 7*
* Region game
Photo credit: Shutters by Court
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Optim Orthopedics presents Prep Sports Report’s 2026 high school football coverage.
Optim Orthopedics team physicians include Dr. Don Aaron (Bryan County), Dr. David Sedory (Benedictine, Bradwell Institute, Liberty County), Dr. David Palmer (Calvary Day, Richmond Hill, South Effingham), and Dr. Thomas Alexander (Savannah Country Day, St. Vincent’s Academy).
