Bennettsville, S.C. - Friday night the Camden Bulldogs came up short in their bid for a region title as they fell to the Marlboro County Bulldogs in Bennettsville 14-7. Camden finishes second in region play and will have a home game for the first round of the playoffs next week.

It took a while but Camden struck first on the night when at the 2:28 mark of the first quarter, Josh Council connected with Alvonta Jenkins from 28 yards out on a great pass and a great grab by Alvonta. The PAT by Jacob Ansley made it 7-0 in favor of the visiting Bulldogs. But Marlboro County would fire back in the second half after they got their offensive woes under control. Left guard Thomas Teal would thunder his way in the endzone as Marlboro County ran their big set formation from 8 yards out. The PAT was blocked by TJ Perkins and Camden would take a 7-6 lead into the break.

No scoring in the third quarter as both teams would exchange possessions. And finally it was Marlboro County who would get the go ahead and eventual game winning score as Teal again ran in from 3 yards out with just 2:40 to play in the ballgame. He would also get the nod and score on the two point conversion to make it a 14-7 game. That scoring drive 12 plays for 82 yards. Two big plays in that drive: a 27 yard pass from quarterback Elliot Alford to Jaquan Brantly and then another 26 yard run by Alford to set up a first and goal.

Much like in the playoff game last year at Bennettsville, Camden would get the ball back to try to drive down the field and force overtime. Camden picked up big chunks of yards on Council passes of 20 yards to Jenkins and 22 yards to Glenn Quattlebaum. Council would also run for a 12-yard gain in the drive. But after getting to the Marlboro County 6 yard line with less than 50 seconds to play, on second down and goal, Council would throw an interception that was returned 98 yards by Malcom Thomas and that would seal the deal as Marlboro County would run the clock out and get the win and the Region 6 of 3-A title.

Council would finish the night 7 of 14 passing for 106 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. He also ran the ball 17 times for a net total of 50 yards. SaVonn Wingate had 14 carries for 59 yards. For his efforts on defense, Sterling Green was named Sports Connection Player of the Game.

Camden closes out the regular season with a 7-3 mark and 4-1 in region play. They will open the 3-A Lower State Playoffs at Zemp Stadium next Friday night against South Aiken. Kickoff is set for 7:30 and all the action can be heard beginning at 6:30 on StarTime 1590 and online at kool1027.com.