CLEVELAND, Tenn. — Cleveland's final home game of the regular season didn't turn out to be the celebration it had hoped as the seventh-ranked Blue Raiders took it on the chin in a key Region 2-6 battle in front a very small fall break crowd.
Falling behind on the fourth snap of the game, Cleveland couldn't make up the difference as Bearden doubled the Raider output with the 38-19 lopsided win.
After a 5-0 start, Cleveland (5-2, 1-1 Region 2-6A) has dropped back-to-back games and will head to third-ranked and unbeaten Maryville (7-0, 3-0) next Friday.
With the loss to Bearden (4-3, 3-1) the Raiders need to sweep their final three region games to earn a home playoff game.
After Maryville, Cleveland heads across town to archrival Bradley Central (3-4, 1-2) before capping the regular season at Hardin Valley (1-7, 0-3).
Bearden will face non-league opponents Oak Ridge (4-3) and Morristown-West (2-4) before finishing the season entertaining Bradley on Nov.
1.
The Bulldogs struck quickly as senior QB Drew Parrott hit Deameion Leavell for a 63-yard s coring strike just 89 seconds into Friday's contest.
Bearden tacked on a 45-yard field goal by William Pendergrass to cap their second series for a 10-0 edge.
Cleveland answered quickly with sophomore QB Kason McGowan, who got his first varsity start, dropped a dime to junior Bradyen Carroll on a 41-yard TD toss three plays after the ensuing kickoff.
The Bulldogs from Knoxville added a score in the second frame when Torian Riggs bulled in from the 4 just 47 seconds before the halftime break. Pendergrass booted his third of five PATs for a 17-6 advantage.
After the short intermission, the Raiders took the second half kickoff and went to an all-Wildcat offense, driving 70 yards on 11 plays, plus getting the benefit of four Bulldog penalties.
After chewing 6:23 off the clock, Carroll did the honors with a four-yard scoot but for the second time in the game, the two-point conversion run was stopped short, leaving the the score at 17-12.
After scoring on three of its four first half possessions, Bearden found the end zone on three more in the final two frames.
The first came on another Parrott to Leavell hook up, this one for 61 yards, once again pushing the difference to double digits with 2:39 on the third quarter clock.
The Raiders came right back with a six-play, 78-yard march with Carroll finding paydirt for the third time on a two-yard run before Sloan Bolaños made good on his only extra-point kick opportunity to close the gap to 24-19, with 40 ticks left on the third quarter clock.
Bearden pulled away with a pair of final frame TDs — a five-yard run by Riggs and an 80-yard dash throw the middle of the Raider defense by Beaufort.
Beaufort led the Bulldogs with 169 total yards — 109 on five carries, plus four catches for 62 more.
Leavell finished with 139 yards on five catches, while Riggs collected 57 yards on 15 carries. Bearden's high-recruited RB Jayzon Thompson had 50 yards on 11 carries before leaving the game in the second quarter.
Parrott completed his first half dozen aerials before finishing the night 10-of-13 for 218 yards, plus he gained 37 yard son seven rushes.
The Bulldogs put up 457 yards of offense and held Cleveland to just 258 and their first sub-20 point performance of the season.
Davis collected 124 all-purpose yards with 11 carries for 69, plus four catches for 42 more and a 23-yard kickoff return.
Carroll finished with 46 yards on nine "Wildcat" carries, 53 yards on a pair of receptions, plus completed his only pass attempt to Davis for 28 yards.
SCORING SUMMARY
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BEARDEN
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10
|
7
|
7
|
14
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--38
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|
CLEVELAND
|
6
|
0
|
13
|
0
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-- 19
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First Quarter
B — Deameion Leavell 63-yd pass from Drew Parrott (William Pendergrass kick), 10:39
B — Pendergrass 45-yd field goal, 1:24
C — Brayden Carroll 41-yd pass from Kason McGowan (run failed), :33
Second Quarter
B — Torian Riggs 4-yd run (Pendergrass kick), :47
Third Quarter
C — Carroll 4-yd run (run failed), 5:37
B — Leavell 61-yd pass from Parrott (Pendergrass kick), 2:39
C — Carroll 2-yd run (Sloan Bolaños kick), :40
Fourth Quarter
B — Riggs 5-yd run (Pendergrass kick), 11:05
B — Tory Beaufort 80-yd run (Pendergrass kick), 7:14
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STATS
|
B
|
C
|
|
First Downs
|
19
|
14
|
|
Rushes-Yards
|
39-239
|
77-150
|
|
Passing Yards
|
218
|
108
|
|
Total yards
|
457
|
258
|
|
Passing (Comp-Att-Int)
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10-13-0
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10-19-1
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|
Fumbles-Lost
|
2-0
|
0-0
|
|
Penalties-Yards
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17-156
|
5-36
|
|
Punts-Average
|
1-30.0
|
1-31.0
|
Individual stats
Rushing: Tory Beaufort 5-109 TD, Torian Riggs 15-57 2 TDs, Jayzon Thompson 11-50, Drew Parrott 7-37 (B); Isaiah Davis 11-69, Brayden Carroll 9-46 2 TDs, AJ Westfield 2-24, Nathan Shropshire 1-1, Kason McGowan 3- -8 (C).
Passing: Drew Parrott 10-13-0 218 2 TDs (B); Kason McGowan 8-16-1 82 TD, Brayden Carroll 1-1-0 28, Trent Collins 1-1-0 -2, Chase Stephens 1-2-0 -2 (C).
Receiving: Deameion Leavell 5-139 2 TDs, Tory Beaufort 4-62, Tyler Tummins 1-17 (B); Brayden Carroll 2-53 TD, Isaiah Davis 4-42, Trent Collins 3-13, Jay'un Smith 1-0 (C).
Records: Bearden 4-3, 3-1 Region 2-6A; No. 7 Cleveland 5-2, 1-1 Region 2-6A.