The Boiling Springs Bulldogs are 10 years removed from the best season in school history — where they won their first region championship, first upper state title, and finished runner up in their first appearance in the state championship game. Since that year, setting expectations has proven to be difficult for a plethora of reasons. Everything from youth to a laundry list of injuries to a coaching transition have kept the Dogs from being able to replicate that success. But, ever since Matt Reel assumed the helm of the program in 2022, they have steadily checked off boxes.
In 2024, the Bulldogs went 7-5, defeating Dorman in the postseason before bowing out to Dutch Fork. That raised the bar for last season, both for fans and for Reel personally. However, they took a step back, compiling a 5-7 record instead, but still checking a box by winning a playoff game in consecutive seasons with a last-second 16-14 win over Mauldin.
“We did not meet my expectations last year”, said Reel with sincerity. “If you asked our players, they would agree. Winning playoff games in back to back seasons for only the fifth time in school history is big for our progress, but that is not the end goal. The goal remains the same — win the non-region, beat your rivals, win a region championship, and win the state title. A key for this year will be for us to keep the week at hand in focus. Don’t look ahead and just keep our feet planted where they are. We have to keep focusing on one day at a time — doing our jobs on that day, and repeating that every day.”
The region 2-5A schedule has not done Boiling Springs any favors over the last three years of the old alignment, playing Gaffney, Byrnes, Dorman, and Spartanburg. Now, with the new alignment, they have bid goodbye to the Rebels, who are now in 5A region 1 while the Indians have been moved to the 4A classification. But, still there is little easing on the strength of schedule for the Bulldogs, with defending 5A division II state champion Northwestern now a region foe.
“You take Byrnes and Gaffney away and insert Northwestern and Rock Hill. So, nothing is made easier by the transition to the new league”, said Reel. “The games we underperformed in last year had a lot of self-inflicted wounds, and that cannot happen playing this schedule with the caliber of teams we face. We have to be more consistent in all areas this year if we want to achieve what I believe we can.”
The Bulldogs’ 2026 schedule will feature not only the Trojans and Bearcats, but will still have Dorman and Spartanburg as region foes. In their non-region slate, they also will face Southside Christian (who they open the season with on the road August 21st), Catawba Ridge, Clover, and Hillcrest. But, BSHS will have an advantage they did not a year ago while going up against that gauntlet of a schedule — experience.
While having lost defensive backs Jeremiah Favorite and Kuron Nesbitt, wideouts TreSean Suber and Grayson Crowe, tight end Jaiden Grate, and linebacker TJ Collins, the offensive side of the roster will have a returning quarterback in senior Imri Logan, senior running back Kyron Tobler, senior wide receivers Deion Suber and Djay Leak, and senior tight end Kennedy Means. The Bulldogs will also have all but one starter on the offensive line back, including senior center/guard Jake Henderson, senior tackles Ejayy George and Collin Johnson, and junior guard/center Dakai Green.
“We return our starting QB and have plenty of good playmakers around him that I think can be explosive for us”, said Reel confidently. “We also return four of five starters on the offensive line from last year. We need that group to be solid for us to allow our offense to flourish.”
Look for the defense to be one of the biggest strengths of the team heading into coordinator Taylor Anderson’s second season with the bulk of the starters coming back with a year of battle-hardening, including such names as senior defensive tackle/nose guard Dennis Glenn, senior defensive end Champion Floyd, senior linebackers CJ Birk, Ta’mi’jay Brown, and Will Gibeck, as well as senior safeties Jamarcus Means and Tyvion Hall.
Reel also touted several newcomers to keep an eye on this season that he believes will complement the returning talent well. Offensively, they are sophomore wide receiver Jadyn Jones, junior running back RJ Byrd, and junior tackle Trae Swofford. On defense, Reel listed senior defensive tackle/nose guard Kris Anderson, junior corner Jeremiah Calhoun, and sophomore nose guard Derrick Nichols. There is also one newcomer to the special teams in senior kicker/punter Preston Reel.
As Boiling Springs prepares to embark into the season, there is one area Reel wants to see improve the most if the Bulldogs want to take the next step in their progress towards rebuilding the program to being consistently close to that 2016 level of success.
“The biggest thing for us this year is to stay healthy and not have Boiling Springs beating Boiling Springs”, said Reel. “Again, the games we did not perform well in last season were full of self-inflicted wounds and that just cannot happen in this league with this schedule. We have to be more consistent.”
There is plenty of cause for optimism with the things that Coach Reel says have been going on over the course of the Spring and Summer workouts.
“I think we have removed those who were not all in with this program and what we were trying to achieve. The players have acknowledged the standard we have daily and they have done a great job of showing up, being accountable to each other, and growing as a team. We have some older guys who are stepping up and leading the younger, showing them what it is supposed to look like daily. Even some younger guys are growing into leadership roles.”
Reel closed out with a couple more comments that also seem to give him optimism and subsequently should give fans reason to set their expectations a little higher this season, mentioning in particular that there were some changes made on staff.
“We have added some really good coaches to an already excellent staff that are going to have our guys primed and ready to go every week. I am excited about that. I love that every year is a new year, a new team, and a new challenge. We have some guys that are going to have opportunities they have been working really hard for that they have not had in the years past and I am thrilled to see how they handle it.”
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