CLEVELAND, Tenn. -- For the first time in 22 years, two teams not named Maryville battled for the championship in what is now Region 2-6A football. And for the first time in 43 years Bradley Central claimed the crown with a 46-14 demolition of Bearden.
It was 1980 when the Bears last enjoyed a region championship.
“Everybody did their job tonight. It was a total team effort,” said Bears head coach Damon Floyd, who was just three-years old when the Bears last won a region title. “That's a good thing, when you're on the line and you team shows up. It says a lot about what kind of guys we've got.”
The No. 1-ranked Bears ended the regular season with a perfect 10-0 record and had an unblemished 5-0 mark in region play. The fifth-ranked Bulldogs finished 7-3 overall and 4-1 in region football.
Senior quarterback Kaleb Martin did the job on the ground for the Bears rushing 14 times for 73 yards and four touchdowns. Martin added to his final stats with 165 yards through the air and one TD against the Bulldogs.
Jackson Wilson carried the leather 14 times for 61 yards and J'Alan Terry rushed for 20 yards on eight carries.
Martin had a solid corps of receivers to choose from. Tennessee commit Boo Carter, who was held to 11 yards on the ground, hauled in eight passes for 108 yards. Jackson Wilson was the target three times for 42 while Jarius Rogers hauled in a pair of Wilson offerings for 83 yards and Tito Williams reeled in one pass for 41.
Floyd got what he expected from his top athletes in the win.
“And a lot more from the guys people don't hear about,” he emphasized. “There's a lot of unselfish kids. I know we've got superstars who get the headlines, and they deserve it, but we've got a lot of kids doing a lot of good things. It is a team effort. You cannot win in this game with just superstars. It takes everyone.
The win ensures the Bears home field advantage for their playoffs run beginning Friday.
“I'm very happy. But, what scares me is we've got to do the same thing next week,” said the head Bear. “Everybody is 0-0 next week, but when it's all on the line our team showed up and played for each other and that's the most important thing.”
The Bears struck for 12 first quarter points on Martin scoring runs of six and 10 yards. Both times the point after attempts failed.
Bearden's Drew Parrott broke loose for a 31-yard score that cut the Bradley lead to 12-7. It would be as close as the Bulldogs would get as the Bears were in complete control for four quarters.
Martin crossed the goal line for the third time in the first half from 10 yards out to make it an 18-7 game after a third missed extra point attempt.
The fourth Bradley score came with 5:04 left in the half on a Martin to Rogers hookup good for 59 yards. Holden White booted through the extra point to put the Bears out front 25-7.
The Bears extended the drive catching the Bulldogs sleeping on a fourth down. A fake punt that resulted in a 39 yard Martin to Williams connection flipped the field and helped set up the score.
Jaheim Merriweather scored Bearden's final TD with a 41-yard run to make it 25-14.
Martin took center stage one more time in the first half with an 11-yard scramble that put the Bears on top 32-14.
Carter got in on the scoring spree with a 2-yard push late in the third quarter and Terry capped the Bears' blowout win from four yards out midway through the fourth quarter as Bradley Central enjoyed a running clock.
“There's a lot of guys that deserve this who played here before us. They laid the foundation of turning this thing around,' said Floyd. “It's not easy. It takes a lot of time and a lot of effort and a lot of kids giving their heart and soul to the program and 20 years later we're reaping the benefit. I wish it had come earlier, but we're not complaining tonight.”
SUMMARY
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BEARDEN
|
7
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7
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0
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0
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-- 14
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|
BRADLEY CENTRAL
|
12
|
20
|
7
|
7
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-- 46
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First Quarter
BC — Kaleb Martin 6 run (kick failed), 6:54
BC — Martin 10 run (conversion failed), 4:21
BH — Drew Parrott 31 run (Daniel Kinney kick), 0:42
Second Quarter
BC — Martin 10 run (kick failed), 4:03
BC — Jarrius Rogers 59 pass from Martin (Holden White kick), 1:11
BH — Jaheim Merriweather 41 run (Kinney kick), 4:36
BC — Martin 11 run (White kick), 0:52
Third Quarter
BC — Boo Carter 2 run (White kick), 1:08
Fourth Quarter
BC — J'Alan Terry 4 run (White kick), 5:12
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STATS
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BH
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BC
|
|
First Downs
|
13
|
24
|
|
Rushes-Yards
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24-152
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44-164
|
|
Passing Yards
|
102
|
288
|
|
Total yards
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245
|
453
|
|
Passing (Comp-Att-Int)
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6-13-1
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15-19-0
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|
Penalties-Yards
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8-73
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6-75
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|
Punts-Average
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5-29.0
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2-35.5
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|
Fumbles-Lost
|
1-1
|
0-0
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Individual Leaders
Rushing: Merriweather 9-62 TD, Parrott 3-50 TD, Jayzon Thompson 10-37 (BH); Martin 14-73 4TD, Jackson Wilson 14-61, Terry 8-20 TD, Carter 8-11 TD (BC).
Passing: Parrott 6-12-102 (BH); Martin 15-19-288 (BC).
Receiving: Tory Beaufort 3-19, Sam Tubbins 2-40, Thompson 1-43 (BH); Carter 8-108, Wilson 3-42, Rogers 2-83 TD, Tito Williams 1-41 (BC).
Records: Bearden 7-3, 4-1 Region 2-6A; Bradley Central 5-0, 10-0.
(Contact Richard Roberts at richardvol55@yahoo.com)