Most times, there’s nothing too special about it.

Take an option pitch, turn upfield and pick up a quick 20 yards. It happens a lot this time of year. But, when you look deeper into this specific option pitch, the one that happened in Lexington last Saturday, you see just how very special it was. It was special because the man that was taking the pitch was former Blackville-Hilda High star Charles Dowling.

In 1979, Dowling rushed for around 2,400 yards to help lead Blackville-Hilda to the Lower State Championship game. Quickly do the math on that and you know why Dowling toting a football down the field for 20 yards is something to behold.

He’s 46 years old.

Back in ’79, he emerged as a star on a Blackville-Hilda team that had 97 players turn out for the first day of practice. He beat out 14 other running backs –- guys such as the Gibson brothers, James and Cleveland, Clarence Jones, Hank Washington and Lewis Peeples -– for the starting spot on head coach Tim Moore’s team.

“It wasn’t easy to make first string out of 97 people,” Dowling said. “It wasn’t easy. There was no favoritism, and Moore is military so it was strictly by the book.”

A sprinter, Dowling led Blacvkille-Hilda to an 11-2 record. Both losses came to rival Williston-Elko, which featured its own star runner, Jeff Toben. That was the matchup in ’79, Dowling versus Toben, Blackville-Hilda vs. Williston-Elko. In the first game, Dowling outrushed Toben 268-207, and in the second -– the Lower State Championship –- he racked up 162 yards. But, that wasn’t enough. Williston-Elko won 10-6, and Charles Dowling took off his pads and walked away from football. A month later, he was in a business school in Atlanta.

“You know, people come to me that know me today, and they say Troy Brown is from Blackville and he had a lucky break,” he said. “People look at me and say I should have been there.”

Business didn’t quite work out in Atlanta, but there, Dowling met Dexter King, son of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and through him took up police work. That eventually evolved into detective work, and today, he operates Dowling Investigations out of Orangeburg. He’s a personable man with a big smile and a caring way, so when his friend and former backup at Blackville-Hilda, Joe Thomas, called and said he wanted him to help coach his semi-pro team, Dowling respectfully declined, but promised to support them as much as possible.

And, that promise faded into the back of his mind until this year when he was out jogging. It just so happened that Thomas’ Barnwell Bulldogs were practicing out on the field where Dowling jogged.

“(Thomas’) brother was there and he called me to come over,” said Dowling. “I stood there and watched the running backs for a while, and I said, ‘You know what? I’m going to suit up this year’.”

And so, Dowling found himself in a crowded backfield once more. The Bulldogs have around six tailbacks ranging in age from 22-30. Most, according to Dowling, are on the low side of 20. And then, there’s the “old man.”

“Those guys were scared I was coming to take their position,” Dowling said with a hearty laugh. “I told them I was only there to fill in for an emergency, but if they didn’t produce ... I would step in.”

In the team’s second exhibition game Saturday in Lexington, Dowling stepped in and led Barnwell right on down the field. Five carries produced five runs that averaged right at 15 yards each. He carried Barnwell right on down to the goal line and then stepped out.

“I wanted to let the young guys have the glory,” Dowling said. “So, I let them get those carries.”

Dowling keeps a book of clips he has collected over the years. Many of those old clips, he had to go back, use a little of his P.I. skills, and dig up. It’s the preseason now, and Barnwell will go to Florence Saturday. When they do come home, and with the regular-season schedule yet to be completed there’s no set date, they will play at Blackville-Hilda High School’s stadium. According to Dowling’s research, and it’s not hard to believe, he will be the first player to leave football in Blackville and return there to play again 30 years later.

Want to see something special? The “old man” is priming himself for the return to his old stomping grounds.

“My classmates and old fans say they are waiting for me to come home,” he said. “I’m going to step it up. When we have a home game, I’m definitely going to do that.” 

-- T&D Sports Editor Brian Linder can be reached via e-mail at blinder@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5553. Check out his blog, Welcome to Linderland, at www.thetandd.com.

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