HONEA PATH, SC — At 5-foot-5, 155 pounds, Charles Lindsey might be better served to hide behind his big linemen.

But the pint-sized sophomore tailback Belton-Honea Path players call Peewee is turning into a touchdown machine thanks to his bruising running style.

Behind Lindsey and the offensive line, B-HP rang up 203 rushing yards and 5 touchdowns on the ground to beat Pickens 35-14 Friday night, scoring 23 unanswered points, and moved to 2-0 in the Western 3A region. Lindsey had 27 carries, 99 yards, and four touchdowns as the Blue Flame struggled to slow down Lindsey’s churning legs.

“They ran it, they were physical, and they were stronger than we were tonight,” Pickens coach Brett Turner said. “They moved us off the ball. We’ve just got to be a tougher football team.”

The win sets up a marquee game next week at D.W. Daniel between the region’s only remaining unbeaten teams in conference play. Daniel beat Seneca Friday, 14-0.

In his last two games, Lindsey’s rushed for 215 yards and seven touchdowns.

“Charles has always run extremely hard,” B-HP coach Wayne Green said. “But I think our guys blocked just a little bit harder when he got in there and we got a chance to score.”

Added senior lineman Michael Brocklehurst, “He’s just motivation. He plays with his heart, and we want to play for him.”

Lindsey’s signature move of the game came on the drive B-HP (3-4) re-took the lead for good with 3:41 left in the third quarter. On second and nine from the Pickens’ 16-yard line, Lindsey took a pitch from junior quarterback Nino Woolridge. After bobbling the ball, Lindsey saw several Blue Flame (6-1, 1-1) defenders closing in.

But with a quick jab step, Lindsey squirted in between two of them, wiggled past a third, and lunged toward the 5, picking up 10 yards. Yanking the Bear faithful off their seats, Lindsey’s near disaster nearly became a touchdown. Two plays later, Woolridge scored from three yards out to make it 21-14.

“It was man on man, who was going to be the tougher opponent,” Turner said. “They were tougher than we were.”

The 13-play scoring drive took back the momentum that Pickens maintained after scoring late in the first half. The Blue Flame then went on a 6-play, 68-yard drive in less than two minutes to start the third quarter.

“Our guys didn’t quit, they kept hammering,” B-HP coach Wayne Green said. “We’ve been in so many close games, and had to handle so much disappointment, they’ve learned how to handle adversity, because Pickens kept coming at us.”

Helping Lindsey keep Pickens off balance was the athleticism of Woolridge, who rushed for 104 yards on 19 carries. While Woolridge is the bigger runner, he made most of his strides outside the tackle, or on option plays.

“We’ve been real close to being a good team that can run the football,” Green said. “I think that’s what we did tonight. You could just see it in their eyes, they had a different attitude when we got in the red zone.”

Putting a cap on B-HP’s control of the line of scrimmage was the Bears’ defense, which registered four sacks, and pressured Pickens quarterback James Lawson into two interceptions.