How the Bethesda football team opened its season with a dominating win

The Bethesda Academy football team put the finishing touches on a perfect season at South Carolina State last November with a dominating win over Pee Dee Academy as the Blazers won the second SCISA Class 2A state crown in school history.

The Blazers opened their 2026 season on Friday, Aug. 14, by winning in another rout as they rolled to a 55-7 victory at Frederica Academy.

Quarterback Jordan Turner picked up where he left off last season with another impressive performance as the junior completed 17 of 22 passes for 258 yards and three touchdowns, while rushing for 37 yards and a pair of scores on four carries.

Senior MJ Scott had three catches for 86 yards and a score and Dezrin Davis caught two passes for 59 yards and a score. Zhir Witcher added four receptions for 68 yards.

Jeffrey Armstrong rushed for 42 yards and a score and caught two passes for 18 yards, and Joseph Adkins had a 45-yard scoring run.

The Blazers are moving up to Class 3A this season, where the competition will be tougher and coach Antwain Turner said this was a great way to kick off the season.

"It's always good to get that first win and our guys were hungry because we had to practice in the gym all week because of the weather," said Turner, in his 22nd year leading the Blazer program. "I saw a lot of improvement from the mistakes we had made in our scrimmages. Our offensive line did a great job giving our quarterback a lot of time to make his reads and throw the ball, and our receivers created space and got a lot of yards after their catches.

"Our defense was lights out last night and it was a great win on the road for our opener," he said. "Everybody got a piece of the pie."

Bethesda (1-0) will host Northwood (0-0) on Friday, Oct. 21.

The Hornets opened with a road trip to Locust Grove and couldn't get their offense going in a shutout loss on Friday, Aug. 14, at Strong Rock Christian.

The Hornets were held to 162 yards of total offense, with 106 yards on the ground. Junior quarterback Devin Trawick ran for 39 yards and threw for 56.

SCD, which moved to the GIAA from the GHSA this season, will play on Friday, Aug. 21 at Bluffton.

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: How the Bethesda football team opened its season with a dominating win