CLEVELAND, Tenn. -- Going where no Bradley Central football team has gone in the school's 107 years, the top-ranked Bears will play their 14th game of the season next Friday.
Advancing to the Final Four for just the second time since the TSSAA started the playoff system in 1969, Coach Damon Floyd's squad handed him his program-record tying 124th victory Friday evening with a 35-14 second-half blowout of No. 9-ranked Bearden.
"I was worried at first when fell behind twice and missed that field goal just before the half (leaving the game tied 14-14 at the intermission), but the guys came back out in the second half and took control," he said after his 202nd game directing the program where he was once a record-setting rusher.
"We did a great job defensively (holding the Bulldogs to just 71 yards and no points) in the second half and were able to get our offense going (for 319 yards and a trio of scores in the final two frames).
"Coach (Brad) Benefield (the team's Defensive Coordinator) and the staff did a great job making adjustments with our defense and shut them down," assessed the "Papa Bear," who is in his 18th season, taking the "Black-and-Gold" to 14 straight playoff appearances.
Tying the 1976 State Championship run with 13 straight victories, being able to extend it and give Floyd the win record outright will be a tough challenge as three-time defending state champion Oakland (11-2) will come to Bear Stadium for a state semifinal battle on Black Friday.
The Patriots, ranked fourth in the final AP poll of the season, repaid No. 5 Riverdale (10-3) for a one-point loss in the Region 4 championship game with a 56-0 shellacking in the quarterfinals to earn a shot at a fourth straight state title game.
Oakland was the top-ranked team in the first two AP polls of the season, but a loss to a nationally-ranked Indiana squad dropped them to second as the Bears moved to No. 1 for the final nine weeks.
"Oakland will be a very tough test. They'll come in here loaded with something to prove," related Coach Floyd. "We'll have to play our best game of the year to get where we want to be (the state championship game Dec. 2, at Finley Stadium in Chattanooga)."
The state title opponent will either be third-ranked Brentwood (13-0), which held off Ravenwood 27-20 Friday, or No. 7 Houston (11-2), which upset second-ranked and previously unbeaten Germantown 30-10.
The Memphis-area Cougars will have to travel to Middle Tennessee to face the unbeaten Bruins in their semifinal battle.
After putting up over 500 yards of offense, including 327 passing yards a 46-14 victory over Bearden in the Region 2-6A Championship game four weeks ago, Bradley's offense ground out 398 rushing yards on its way to 487 total yards Friday night.
"We took what they gave us. Last time is was the passing game and tonight it was the ground game," remarked Coach Floyd.
Bearden (9-4) opened the game with a, 11-play, 80-yard scoring march as junior Torian Riggins scampered the final 27 yards untouched through the middle of the "Black Hole Defense" to paydirt with 5:51 on the opening-quarter clock.
It looked like the Bears were going to answered quickly, with a 75-yard break away by Tennessee commit "Boo" Carter on the second play after the ensuing kickoff.
Setting on the door step after a three-yard gain by Miami-Ohio commit Kaleb Martin was stopped just shy of the goalline, the ball was knock lose on the following play and Bearden pounced on the fumble to stall the scoring effort.
The "Black Hole Defense" rose to the occasion with freshman DE Zane McIntosh making three straight tackles to force a Bulldog punt from their own end zone.
Getting the ball back a yard shy of midfield, Bradley used eight plays to even the game on a 14-yard dash by Martin. Freshman kicker Hudson White split the uprights to knot the score on the third play of the second quarter.
Undaunted Bearden came right back with another 11-play march, this one covering 64 yards with sophomore NCAA D1 prospect Jayzon Thompson taking it in from the 3 and potential Tennessee recruit Daniel Kinney booted the extra point with 6:14 remaining in the half.
Bradley once again mounted an answer, driving 80 yards on eight plays, including a 25-yard third-down swing pass to Carter, followed by senior Jackson Wilson breaking off a 22-yard run.
Martin covered the final eight yards and White booted the extra point with 3:49 on the clock.
After another three-and-out by the Bradley D, the Bears got the ball back in time for 12-play march before the intermission, but a 23-yard field goal attempt at the halftime buzzer went wide right.
Having trailed 14-12 at the midway point when the teams played in late October, the hosts knew what they had to do to avoid the upset and they did just that, scoring on three of four second-half possessions.
Taking the third quarter opening kickoff, Bradley sustained yet another drive, using a dozen plays to cover 75 yards, with Martin sprinting in from 12 yards out for his third score of the night.
After giving up just one first down the visitors, Bear senior Marcus Goree Jr., also a Tennessee commit, and Braxton Arthur stopped a fourth-and-two play in its tracks to give the ball back to the offense on their own 37.
Ten plays later, Carter, who carried five times for 48 yards on the drive, took the ball over from the 4 for the score.
After a third three-and-out by the "Black Hole Defense," the home team appeared to be on their way to the end zone again, marching 78 yards in 13 plays, but Martin took a helmet to the knee on a 10-yard run to the half-yardline, but after he was helped from the field, the Bears couldn't covert on the following two plays.
Taking over as far away from the end zone as possible, Bearden threw an incomplete pass, gained two yards on a run, then went to the air again, but for the second week in a row California sophomore transfer Wiley Suskawicz picked off a pass, returning it 15 yards to the Bulldog 3.
Carter took the rock to paydirt on the following play to seal the victory and White was true on his fifth PAT kick with 4:55 remaining.
Gaining 150 yards on a dozen carries, plus making four catches for another 35, gives the Mr. Tennessee Football semifinalist over 1,700 all-purpose yards and 25 TDs on the season. He also was in on eight tackles on the other side of the ball.
With 140 yards on 20 carries, plus completing 10-of-18 passes for another 89, Martin has found the end zone an astronomical 50 times — 19 on the ground and 31 TD passes.
Jackson, who left the game late in the opening half after re-injuring his shoulder, carried the ball four times for 42 yard, plus caught a seven-yard pass, while junior running mate J'Alan Terry gained 44 yards on nine rushes.
Senior Jarrius Rogers pulled in four receptions for 40 yards, plus had 21 more on a pair of "jet-sweeps" runs.
Northwestern commit Tito Williams once again led the "Black Hole Defense" with seven solo tackles and a half dozen assists, giving him the second-most season tackles in Bear history at 115.
Senior Ben Collins had seven total takedowns, while McIntosh and Suskawicz were in on a half dozen apiece.
SUMMARY
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BEARDEN
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7
|
7
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0
|
0
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-- 14
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|
BRADLEY CENTRAL
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0
|
14
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14
|
7
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-- 35
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First Quarter
B — Torian Riggins 27-yd run (Daniel Kinney kick), 5:51
Second Quarter
BC — Kaleb Martin 14-yd run (Hudson White kick), 11:13
B — Jayzon Thompson 3-yd run (Kinney kick), 6:14
BC — Martin 8-yd run (White kick), 3:48
Third Quarter
BC — Martin 9-yd run (White kick), 8:51
BC — Boo Carter 4-yd run (White kick), 2:06
Fourth Quarter
BC — Carter 3-yd run (White kick), 4:55
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STATS
|
B
|
BC
|
|
First Downs
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12
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25
|
|
Rushes-Yards
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33-141
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47-398
|
|
Passing Yards
|
52
|
89
|
|
Total yards
|
193
|
487
|
|
Passing (Comp-Att-Int)
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7-13-1
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10-19-0
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|
Penalties-Yards
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9-95
|
5-48
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|
Punts-Average
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4-40.0
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0-0.0
|
|
Fumbles-Lost
|
0-0
|
1-1
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Individual Stats
Rushing: Jayzon Thompson 15-63 TD, Torian Riggins 11-61 TD, Drew Parott 6-11, Ross Edler 1-6 (B); Boo Carter 12-150 2 TDs, Kaleb Martin 20-141 3 TDs, J'Alan Terry 9-44, Jackson Wilson 4-42, Jarrius Rogers 2-21 (BC).
Passing: Drew Parrott 7-13-1 52 (B); Kaleb Martin 10-18-0 89; Drew Cook 0-1-0 0 (BC).
Receiving: Sam Tubbins 2-27, Jayzon Thompson 1-11, Torian Riggins 1-8, Tory Beaufort 3-6 (B); Jarrius Rogers 4-40, Boo Carter 4-35, Jackson Wilson 1-7, Tito Williams 1-7 (BC).
Defense: Kai Young 7 solos, 1 ast; Sam Tubbins 5 solos, 4 asts; Cody Cough 5 solos 4 asts; Quincy Hodge 2 solos, 4 asts; Jackson Graham 2 solos, 4 asts (B): Tito Williams 7 solos, 6 asts; Boo Carter 3 solos, 5 asts; Zane McIntosh 3 solo, 3 asts., 2 TFL, 1 QB sack; Wiley Suskawicz 2 solos, 4 asts., INT, 15-yd return; Ben Collins 2 solos, 5 asts (BC).
Records: No. 9 Bearden 9-4; No. 1 Bradley Central 13.
Next Up: Bradley Central will host Oakland (11-2) in a DI Class 6A semifinal next Friday.
(Contact Joe Cannon at sports@clevelandbanner.com)