CLEVELAND, Tenn. – Bradley Central’s Dynamic Duo struck again.
Quarterback Cole Copeland passed for 320 yards and three touchdowns – wide receiver Lameric Tucker caught all three on plays covering 88, 19 and 19 yards – and the fourth-ranked Bears held off Dobyns-Bennett 41-33 at Bear Stadium on Friday in a game pitting two of top three all-time winningest high school football programs in Tennessee.
Tucker also had a 13-yard TD run, giving him four scores on the night as the Bears improved to 7-0, matching the best start to a season since the 1984 Bradley team.
“(Tucker) is a player,” Copeland said of his favorite target. “He’s going to be one of the best to ever come through here in a while. He makes some wow plays; it’s crazy what he does. I enjoy throwing it to him for sure.”
Copeland completed 15 of 22 passes and rushed 13 times for 95 yards and scored on runs of 1 and 62 yards.
A UT-Chattanooga commitment, Copeland amassed 415 yards of total offense against the Indians (3-4, 1-3) and Tucker finished with 272 – 235 receiving and 37 on the ground.
The explosive twosome play like their twins – each knows what the other is going to do before he does it.
“It feels great working with Cole,” said Tucker, a junior. “I’ve known him since my freshman year and we also play basketball, so we have a great connection.”
With Copeland, a senior and the fifth generation quarterback for the family at Bradley Central, and Tucker pulling successful, clutch plays out of the air throughout the game, the Bears (7-0, 4-0) put up 497 total yards.
“Tucker really came up big and Cole had some huge runs and throws,” Bradley coach Damon Floyd said. “Dobyns-Bennett gave us a lot of press man coverage and that’s what Lameric is good at, beating that coverage. So we gave him a chance and he was obviously a big key for us tonight.”
Simply by recalling last year’s meeting, anyone in Bear Stadium could safely assume the two teams would score a bunch of points.
In 2015, Bradley Central beat the Indians 56-42 in a wild shootout and Copeland exploded for a school record 579 total yards, passing for 464 yards and five TDs. He rushed for 112 yards.
The two region powers didn’t hit the 100-point mark, but 74 was pretty good offense by both teams.
“We knew we’d have to score some points,” Floyd said. “Offensively, they’re very good and it’s the best offensive line we’ve seen and they’re big. Later on their size got to us a little bit; they started leaning on us and moving the ball, but our kids fought and fought and fought.”
Copeland opened the Bears’ scoring, hitting paydirt from 1 yard out to cap an 89-yard, 10-play drive. Twice Copeland found Tucker on pass plays covering 21 and 39 yards on the possession.
After an Indians’ three-and-out, Copeland connected with Tucker on an 88-yard TD bomb to give the Bears a two-touchdown advantage.
“Bradley Central is so fast they just kept moving the ball on us,” Indians coach Graham Clark said. “That’s a fine Bradley football team, but our kids just fight their way back from being behind. We had some tough breaks tonight.
“I can remember sitting in coach Bear Bryant’s office in 1982 – the last year he was alive – and talking football. He said you get to play nine or 10 games and somebody’s probably going to make a mistake. It could be a coach or a player or a non-player. That’s the way it goes.”
The Indians, playing at Bradley Central for the first time since 1965, then made their first comeback.
Drew Miller salvaged a stalled drive -- safety Jake Presley made a TD-saving tackle at the Bears’ 9 when Ian Hicks broke a 48-yard run – with a 26-yard field goal. Following a short 15-yard Bradley punt, Hicks reached the end zone on a 28-yard jaunt and Dobyns-Bennett was within 14-10.
Hicks finished with 123 rushing yards on 14 carries.
Bradley answered with an 80-yard drive in four plays. After a Copeland-to-Tucker pass gained 14 to the 38, Copeland broke loose down the sideline for a 62-yard TD gallop and the Bears had a 20-10 advantage.
Right before halftime, the Indians went 73 yards in 14 plays with Maupin running to his right and throwing back to Carter Holt for a 6-yard touchdown play with 18.6 seconds on the clock.
“My team fights like no other team I’ve ever been a part of and I like that about us,” said Maupin, who completed 16 of 28 passes for 165 yards. “This team has the fire to continue playing that’s because we want it bad.”
Tucker caught a pair of 19-yard touchdown passes from Copeland to start the third-quarter scoring at the 10:42 and 9:08 marks to build a 34-17 lead. It appeared Bradley might pull away for good this time.
Yet, the Indians refused to wilt.
They haven’t won a state record 771 games without having a healthy dose of grit. Maryville is closing the gap on the Indians and has 765 victories. Bradley Central is third with 582.
After blocking a Dylan Standifer punt, Dobyns-Bennett got a 20-yard field goal by Miller.
On their next possession, the Indians, who lead the series with Bradley Central 12-6-1, closed to within 34-27 when Maupin hooked up with Dee Williams on a 40-yard TD strike with 47.8 seconds left in the third period.
A Dobyns-Bennett punt backed Bradley up to its own 10, but the Bears embarked on another long clutch drive.
They went 90 yards in 11 plays and Tucker took care of 30 of the final 33 yards on two runs, scoring from the 12 and the Bears stretched their advantage to 41-27 with 3:45 left in the game.
“Our offense is so resilient and we’re not going to take no for an answer,” said Copeland, who how has 2,473 total yards of offense with 26 touchdowns. “That’s the tradition of Bradley football; keep pounding and pounding and I’m proud of all our guys for showing heart.”
Said Floyd about his team’s final drive that produced another 14-point lead, “We wanted to get a (defensive) stop because they were moving the ball quickly on us and you don’t have time to think, you just react. That’s why you practice those situations.”
Bradley didn’t get the stop though.
Dobyns-Bennett scored 45 seconds later, Maupin hitting the end zone from 4 yards out. Bradley did stop the Indians’ attempt at a running two-point conversion.
The Indians got a hand on the ensuing onside kick, but Bradley’s Nick Howell, who was playing his first game since suffering a broken collarbone in the second game of the season, came out of the pile with the football.
Bradley then ran three “victory formation” plays to end the game and tuck away its seventh win.
“We’ve still got a lot ahead of us, but sometimes it’s good to stop and look a little at what we’ve done,” Copeland said of the unbeaten streak. “My dad was on that 1984 team and he mentioned it the other night. Being 7-0 is special. This team is special and we want to be 8-0.
The Bears travel to Hardin Valley next Friday.
Top-ranked Maryville will invade Bear Stadium on Oct. 20 for a regional showdown that will be televised.
Note: For fans going to the Maryville contest, that would be the perfect time to visit Travis Adams’ Left Field Lounge for a pregame barbeque meal. Adams, the Bradley Central baseball coach, can really do magical things with a smoker. The result is a regular deal for $6 or splurge for a $10 plate that consists of a sandwich, chips and drink, plus a taste of several other tasty items, including ribs.
It’s finger-licking good, folks. Several Dobyns-Bennett fans were among the diners on Friday.
Proceeds benefit the Bears baseball program, or as Adams says, “It just about pays my rye grass bill.”
SCORING
Dobyns-Bennett 0 17 10 6 – 33
Bradley Central 14 6 14 7 -- 41
First Quarter
BC – Cole Copeland 1 run (Clay Shoemaker kick), 3:47
BC – Lameric Tucker 88 pass from Copeland (Shoemaker kick), 1:32
Second Quarter
DB – FG Drew Miller 26, 11:14
DB – Ian Hicks 28 run (Miller kick), 8:29
BC – Copeland 62 run (kick failed), 7:05
DB – Carter Holt 6 pass from Cole Maupin (Miller kick), 18.6
Third Quarter
BC – Tucker 19 pass from Copeland (Shoemaker kick), 10:42
BC – Tucker 19 pass from Copeland (Shoemaker kick), 9:08
DB – FG Miller 20, 4:35
DB – Dee Williams 40 pass from Maupin (Miller kick), 47.8
Fourth Quarter
BC – Tucker 12 run (Shoemaker kick), 3:45
DB – Maupin 4 run (run failed), 2:30
YARDSTICK
DB BC
First Downs 16 21
Rushing Yards 177 164
Passing Yards 165 320
Comp-Att-Int 16-28-0 15-22-0
Plays-Total Yds 58-329 48-497
Fumbles Lost 1 0
Punts-Avg 5-40.0 3-31.0
Penalties-Yds 6-58 9-92
INDIVIDUALS
RUSHING – Dobyns-Bennett: Ian Hicks 14-123, Cole Maupin 11-24, Bryce Barnett 4-15, Jackson Wallace 1-2; Bradley Central: Cole Copeland 13-95, Adam Mullis 16-43, Lameric Tucker 6-37, Nick Howell 1-2.
PASSING – Dobyns-Bennett: Maupin 16-28-0-165; Bradley Central: Copeland 15-22-0-320.
RECEIVING – Dobyns-Bennett: Dee Williams 5-61, Jacob Patton 3-38, Matt Diminick 3-32, Kyrin Maxwell 3-28, Carter Holt 2-6; Bradley Central: Tucker 9-235, Trevon Hill 3-61, Howell 2-22, Stephen Muhonen 1-2.
(Contact Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and on Twitter @larryfleming44)