On a chilly and windy Tuesday evening the Bears faced off against their toughest adversary of the season, the Easley Tar Heels. The Bears defense looked like they would be sliced up by speedy receivers. The Tar Heels quickly drove the length of the field to get into the red zone. Their offensive craftiness ended there when the Bears defense held strong and held the Tar Heels scoreless.

The Bears’ first offensive possession looked very smooth and ended with a deep touchdown pass to James. Quarterback Jimmy completes a hold-your-breath kind of pass in the end zone to Tommy for the extra point.

The Tar Heels come out on offense with their hair on fire and quickly tie the game at seven.

The Bears sputter on offense and turn the ball over in the form of a pick 6.

With a score of 14-7, the Bears trail just before halftime. The Bears’ offense takes the field and stalls, giving the Tar Heels the ball back. They go for a deep pass to score as time is winding down. The Bears’ defense holds strong and keeps the Tar Heels from converting their extra point. Leading 20-7, the Tar Heels take the lead into halftime.

At halftime Coach Shep tells his team to stay focused on playing hard and not giving up.

The Bears start the second half on offense with a long, clock-bleeding drive that results in a touchdown pass from Jimmy to Rick. The Bears convert the extra point.

The Tar Heels come out on offense and quickly drive the length of the field only to sputter and stall in the red zone.

The Bears take over on offense and drive down the field with some impressive passing from Jimmy. Jimmy was able to spread the ball around to multiple receivers clad in navy blue. Dain runs a post into the middle of the end zone and catches the tying pass in stride. Cory catches the extra point to put the Bears up 21-20.

With 6:28 to play the Tar Heels take over on offense with redemption on their minds. But not so fast. James comes up with a touchdown saving interception.

The Bears’ offense gets the ball just within reach of the red zone but a pair of penalties cause them to turn the ball over on downs.

With 34 seconds to play, the Tar Heels have the ball with their sights set on getting into the end zone. Several nicely placed passes get the Tar Heels within the red one. With 19 seconds to play the ball is in the air on its way to the wide open Tar Heel in the end one. Out of  thin air comes Jimmy to pick the ball off and keep the Tar Heels out of the end zone.

The Bears take over on offense with 7.8 seconds to play. The offense takes their time getting set, Coach Shep calls in the play, Jimmy completes the pass to Nick and the clock expires. Bears win.

“This team had adversity in their face all night long. They stood strong and played a great game as a team. I am proud of them and their tenacity. I expect to see the guys walking around on campus tomorrow with lots of swagger.”

-Coach Shep

From left: Artie, William and David are headed for the coast

The Father & Son Sea Kayaking Adventure is underway!

At about 10:00 this morning Executive Director David LePere, Counseling Department Manager William Carpenter and Therapist Artie Smith – along with students Alex, Alexander, Jake, James, Loucas, Sam, Sam, Tommy and Vincent – began their journey to the Georgia coast. Now, this is not what David, William and Artie are typically up to on a Tuesday morning. But for our first Father and Son Adventure it would be hard to find a more perfect crew!

The boys are looking forward to connecting with their dads tomorrow morning. Together, they will paddle with the tide to Cumberland Island National Seashore where they will spend the next few days camping in a primitive area of the island. This exciting Father & Son Adventure has been months in the making and is sure to garner many “tall tales” and “fish stories.”

More to come…

New students Keith and Angel are hard at work painting pottery.

Paint seems to be the theme this Spring Break as the boys took a field trip out to Glazed Pottery in Clemson yesterday. We hope we’re not giving away any upcoming gift secrets with this post, but the boys had a great time selecting and customizing green ceramic ware. The next step is firing at over 1000 degrees,  which makes the paint come to life and hardens the projects. We love the focus and concentration the boys put into their painted projects.

Ever wonder what goes on back at campus when Spring Break is scheduled? In addition to a lot of meetings and a lot of cleaning, there are some pretty fun things going on for the boys and staff who remain on campus.

Coach Josh took his wife to a “Color Run” last Saturday. Spectators get to lob colored cornstarch balls at the participants as they go past. Needless to say, his tie-dyed sneakers will never be the same. Luckily, the rest came out of his hair!

Coach Josh and Mrs. Coach paint the town red.