In a Region 2-6A battle involving longtime rivals, Bradley Central routed McMinn County 49-14 on Friday behind the five touchdown passes by quarterback Dylan Standifer.
Standifer was 13 for 17 for 279 yards, which were way more than McMinn County’s total yardage output of 192.
The junior quarterback hooked up with Lameric Tucker for passing scores of 39 and 64 yards and also fired TD strikes of 17 yards to Devon Moore, 29 yards to Saylor Clark and 15 yards to Stephen Muhonen.
Tucker caught seven passes for 170 yards and also scored on a 3-yard run.
He gained 171 yards of total offense in the Bears’ rout.
Hard-charging Adam Mullis rushed for 107 yards on 16 carries and scored the game’s final touchdown on a 3-yard run.
Bradley Central piled up 415 total yards and average 9.7 yards per play, easily overwhelming the Cherokees (1-5, 0-3).
The state-ranked Bears have now won five straight games after a season-opening overtime loss to Farragut. They have extended their winning streak to four games against McMinn County, which saw their homecoming game spoiled by the lopsided setback.
Bradley Hayes accounted for both Cherokee touchdowns – a 28-yard pass to Tabre Abernathy and a 27-yard TD run.
The Bears (5-1, 3-0), who lead the overall series 53-39-3, have displayed a dominant offense and stingy defense during their five-game winning streak with an average score of 38.2-16.8. They darted and dashed to a 28-6 halftime advantage and pushed the margin to 42-6 before Hayes scored on the 27-yard run with 10:55 left in the fourth quarter.
McMinn County used 12 players to rush 42 times for 155 yards. Hayes led the way with 46 yards on eight carries. However, Hayes and Will Harris were a combined 2 for 6 passing for 37 yards.
The Cherokees’ Andre Smith put up 185 all-purpose yards, including 144 on six kickoff returns.
Up next for Bradley Central is a game Oct. 5 at Soddy-Daisy (4-2, 0-2 Region 4-5A), which enjoyed an open date on Friday. The Trojans routed Ooltewah, another 2-6A squad, 42-21, on Sept. 22, scoring 32 points in the third quarter.
SCORING
Bradley Central 14 14 14 7 – 49
McMinn County 0 6 0 8 – 14
First Quarter
BC – Devon Moore 17 pass from Dylan Standifer (Clay Shoemaker kick), 6:23
BC – Lameric Tucker 39 pass from Standifer (Shoemaker kick), 3:47
Second Quarter
MC – Tabre Abernathy 28 pass from Bradley Hayes (Kirk Lockmiller kick), 10:41
BC – Saylor Clark 29 pass from Standifer (Shoemaker kick), 8:40
BC – Stephen Muhonen 15 pass from Standifer (Shoemaker kick), 0:24
Third Quarter
BC – Tucker 64 pass from Standifer (Shoemaker kick), 5:40
BC – Tucker 3 run (Shoemaker kick), 5:40
Fourth Quarter
MC – Hayes 27 runs (Hayes run), 10:55
BC – Adam Mullis 3 run (Shoemaker kick), 7:30
YARDSTICK
BC MC
First Downs 19 13
Rushes-Yds 25-139 42-155
Passing Yards 276 37
Comp-Att-Int 14-18-0 2-6-0
Plays-Tot Yds 43-415 48-192
Fumbles-Lost 2-1 2-2
Punts-Avg 1-26 4-21.8
Penalties-Yds 10-112 9-95
INDIVIDUALS
RUSHING – Bradley Central: Adam Mullis 16-107, Devon Moore 3-29, Dylan Standifer 4-2, Lameric Tucker 2-1; McMinn County: Bradley Hayes 8-46, Andre Smith 6-41, Jalen Hunt 4-17, Ethan Watson 5-16, Tabre Abernathy 7-13, Cam Johnson 5-11, Will Harris 1-9, Parker Manney 1-3, Hazen Henry 2-2, Jared Yearwood 1-1, Ezra Markle 1-minus 1, Will Miller 1-minus 3.
PASSING – Bradley Central: Standifer 13-17-0-279, Taye Cobb 1-1-0-minus 3; McMinn County: Hayes 2-4-0-37, Harris 0-2-0-0;
RECEIVING – Bradley Central: Tucker 7-170, Muhonen 4-63, Saylor Clark 1-29, Moore 1-17, Tray Curry 1-minus 2; McMinn County: Abernathy 2-37.
(Contact Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and on Twitter @larryfleming44)