Bishops, Iron Horses look to avenge losses in rivalry matchup

It’s one of the oldest axioms in football: Defense wins championships.

 

Defense also wins rivalry games as well. That’s why Philip Simmons High School football coach Eric Bendig’s squad will spend extra time in practice this week focusing on stopping the run and pass as the Iron Horses travel to Bishop England in one of the Palmetto State’s biggest rivalry games of the week.

 

The Iron Horses had a meltdown on defense as Aynor came to town and posted a 52-31 victory on Sept. 16. The visitors put an exclamation point on the victory with 22 points in the fourth quarter.

 

It was the third most points the Iron Horses surrendered in the program’s history. They gave up 58 points to Timberland and 55 points to Oceanside Collegiate in 2018 during the team’s first varsity season. The 52 points Aynor scored came against a Philip Simmons team that entered Friday night with 14 victories in 17 games.

 

“We kept up with them on offense,” Bendig said. “On offense, we played electric and fast. But we just didn’t have the bodies on defense. We are just not as wide as we need to be at certain positions. In the end, we ran out of bodies.”

 

The Iron Horses entered last week’s game with more than 200 rushing yards per outing. They managed only 90 yards against Aynor. Quarterback Tavien Orellana had another big effort with 175 yards and two touchdowns passing. 

 

Bishop England will also spend extra time in practice this week, seeking ways to slow down the Iron Horses. The Bishops opened the season with a 29-0 victory against Porter-Gaud. Since then, they have lost the last four games in a row, including a 22-13 decision to an athletic and undefeated Woodland team. Foes have outscored the Bishops 103-30 during the slump.

 

The Bishops have battled injuries the past two seasons and should be in better shape against the Iron Horses.

 

“We’re kind of getting our health back,” BE coach John Cantey said. “We had four defensive starters and one starter on offense get hurt against James Island. Injuries have been an anomaly and so have the turnovers.

 

The Bishops trailed Woodland 8-3 early in the contest and were driving for a possible score when they turned the ball over against the Wolves. The Bishops couldn’t overcome mistakes like that as they lost for the 14th time in 19 games, dating back to 2020.

 

Quarterback Marco Pampu returned from injuries to score BE’s only touchdown against Woodland. Cavin Craig booted field goals of 41 and 36 yards.

 

Both Bendig and Cantey say their teams have utmost respect for their Daniel Island neighbor.

 

“They have played really well,” Cantey said of Philip Simmons. “They beat up on us last year, so that gives us motivation.”

 

Bendig said he won’t have to make motivational speeches to fire his team up.

 

“Some rivalries are because of geography,” Bendig said. “But it doesn’t become a real rivalry until you get a win. We finally got one against them last year.  They have a great program. That speaks volumes about John, his coaches and players.”