How Bethesda's dynamic passing game duo shined in a playoff win over Thomas Sumter
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Early in the second quarter Friday night, Bethesda quarterback Jordan Turner found Ralo Wesley in stride down the left sideline and the senior was off to the races for a 67-yard touchdown against visiting Thomas Sumter.
But officials threw a flag for unnecessary roughness in the backfield on the Blazers, bringing the ball back 15 yards to their own 17. A fan in the home stands voiced his displeasure with the call and shouted out “Don’t worry about it, they can’t cover him — just do it again.”
Turner took the advice to heart and connected with Wesley on the very next play on a deep ball that turned into an 83-yard touchdown.
It was that kind of night for Bethesda as the Blazers dominated Thomas Sumter 46-6 in a SCISA Class 2A first-round playoff matchup. Bethesda improved to 10-0 with the win and will host Greenwood Christian (9-2) in a state semifinal on Friday, Nov. 14, with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m.
The connection between Turner, the sophomore quarterback and son of Blazer coach Antwan Turner, and Wesley, the senior who holds an offer from Georgia State, has been unstoppable all season.
Wesley had four catches for 180 yards and three touchdowns on the night and now has 31 receptions for 963 yards and 20 touchdowns for the season.
Turner was 10 of 13 for a career-high 330 yards and five touchdowns as he also hit Malachi Morris twice for 93 yards and two scores. On the season, he has completed 76 of 111 passes (68%) for 1,881 yards with 31 touchdowns and just two interceptions.
Wesley won SCISA state titles in the 100 meters (with a personal best time of 10.65) and 200 meters last May and anchored a pair of state championship winning relay teams for the Blazer track and field team, which won the team state crown. Now the senior wants to help lead the football team back to the state finals. He was part of the Blazers state championship team as a sophomore, and the squad that finished second last year.
“We put in so much hard work over the summer and Jordan (Turner) and I did extra work on our own to make sure we were on the same page,” Wesley said. “Now it’s all paying off. We’re so confident right now that it’s hard to explain. I think we can win the championship because of the leadership we have on the team this year.”
Jordan Turner said working in an offense that includes Wesley, Morris and standout senior running back Jordan Cheever — has made his job easier. Cheever broke loose for an 85-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and rushed for 151 yards and a pair of scores on 13 carries.
“We’ve done all the work on the field and in the weight room and the extra work I did with Wesley really helped because I had to adjust to his speed. Now we have a great chemistry and I know exactly where he is going to be when he runs his routes.”
The Blazer defense was a dominating force as Bethesda held Thomas Sumter to 40 yards of total offense. Junior quarterback Jace Williams entered the game with 2,481 yards passing and 20 touchdown passes on the season for Thomas Sumter. He was 16 of 31 for 98 yards with a touchdown and an interception (by Blazer freshman Adrian Cook).
The General run game netted -58 yards when sacks were factored in along with a couple bad snaps that went for big losses.
Senior Isaiah Redmond was in on 2.5 sacks and junior Isaiah Jones had a pair, with Troy Williams adding 1.5 sacks.
It was a special night for the Turner family as Coach Antwan Turner’s father, Andrew, was able to make the trip from Atlanta to see his son coach and his grandson play. Andrew Turner suffered a heart attack last year and wasn’t able to attend any games. This was the first time he saw the team play this season.
“It meant a lot for the team and for my family to have my dad here for this game,” Antwan Turner said. “He always talked about commitment with me when I was growing up and he showed that will himself to be here tonight. We’re going to see him again on Thanksgiving — but it meant the world to us to have him here tonight.”
Dennis Knight covers sports for the Savannah Morning News. Contact him at Dknight@savannahnow.com. Twitter: @DennisKnightSMN
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Bethesda football stars shine in dominating opening round playoff win
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