CLEVELAND, Tenn. -- Overcoming a double-digit halftime deficit, McMinn County rallied to down Bradley Central for a second straight season-opening victory, Friday at Bear Stadium.
After getting shutout and trailing 10-0 at the intermission, the Cherokees found the end zone three times in the second half pull out a 21-17 win in the state's second longest continuous rivalry.
Bradley opened up the 102nd meeting between the programs with 185 yards of offense in the first half, scoring on its second third possessions.
Taking over on its own 1 yard line after a 49-yard McMinn punt was downed just before the goal line, the Bears overcame a trio of penalty flags to drive to the Tribe 18.
Helping the 10-play march senior Kenyon Phelps broke loose on a 16-yard run and gained 11 yards on a pass reception, while a 47-yard hook up between sophomore QB Tucker Cook and highly-recruited senior Brayden Carroll also moved the ball across midfield.
Faced with a fourth-and-11 situation a few moments later, veteran Bradley head coach Damon Floyd sent out sophomore kicker Noah Samayoa for his first try of the season and he split the uprights from 35 yards out for the game's first score with 1:35 left on the opening quarter clock.
After the Bear defense forced the third of four McMinn first half punts, Bradley's offense cashed in on its next series as well, needing just a half dozen snaps to cover 58 yards.
After a 19-yard connection between Cook and senior Regie Hubbard III, plus nice runs for eight and 11 yards by Phelps, set.
up the Bear signal caller finding Carroll on a 25-yard scoring toss, where the Cleveland transfer made a highlight catch, pulling the ball away from a Tribe defender in the end zone.
Samayoa tacked on the extra point kick to up the hosts up 10-0 with 6:46 left in the first half.
After the bands performed at halftime, the tables turned.
A 19-yard loss when the ball was snapped over Cook's head on the third play, forced a Bear punt to end the opening possession of the second half.
After a two-yard loss on when Bear junior Zane McIntosh trapped a McMinn ball carrier behind the line of scrimmage on the first play, Cherokee QB Luke Lawson found Drake Frazier, who had slipped behind the Bradley secondary, for a 49-yard TD toss to start the comeback.
Tribe kicker Mike Kraskouskas made good on the PAT to trim the deficit to 10-7 just over three minutes into the third quarter.
A penalty on the ensuing kickoff return set Bradley's offense back to its own 5 yard line.
More laundry on the field, plus another high snap that was fumbled, but recovered in the end zone and barely brought out to the 2 by Cook, pushed them back even further.
Although Phelps was able to power for a seven-yard gain it left the hosts with a fourth-and-6 situation.
Sending out the punting unit after the snap into the end zone, the Bear punter threw the ball instead, catching the Cherokees off guard, but the pass was incomplete, turning the over to the boys from Athens at the 9-yard line.
After a flag pushed the visitors back five yards and Tulane commit AJ Westfield made one of his three tackles for loss on the first play, McMinn sent a pass into the end zone, where Bear defender Jeremiah Brownlow almost intercepted it and was able to break up the play.
However, Bradley was flagged for pass interference for a hold by another player on the potential intended target.
Moving the ball to the 7-yard line, Lawson found Frazier for a five-yard gain before senior Jakaryn "Peanut" Dyer bowled in from the 2 to give the Tribe a 14-10 lead, thanks to another Kraskouskas kick, with 4:45 on the third period clock.
Suddenly behind, Bradley retook the edge quickly as Hubbard fielded the ensuing kickoff at returned it 98 yards for a touchdown, tying Boo Carter's program record.
The speedy Hubbard, who gained 183 yards on five kick/punt returns on the evening, pulled in the ball in the corner just before the end zone on the visitors sidelines, spun around and headed across to the home sideline, broke four tackles, plus stiff-armed a McMinn defender at the 5-yard line and carried him across the goal line as he dove in for the score.
Samayoa was true on his third PAT kick, giving Bradley a 17-14 advantage with 4:24 on the clock.
McMinn appeared to immediately answer with Dyer scampering 76 yards on the first snap after the ensuing kickoff, but a block in the back flag, negated the score and cut the run down to 47 yards, leaving them on Bear 39-yard line.
After giving up a first down three plays later, the Bear D enclosed the Cherokees with three straight tackles for loss by junior Tay Linsdey, Westfield and a combo takedown by McIntosh and senior Walker Valley transfer Spencer Makuch.
McMinn coach Bo Cagle, in his 20th season also directing his alma mater, sent out Kraskouskas for a 23-yard field goal, but the attempt slipped outside the goal post.
After the teams traded a trio of punts, the Tribe took possession at midfield and four plays later Lawson hit Nathan Kessler, who also had slipped past the Bear secondary, for a 39-yard TD toss.
Kraskouskas came on for the final point of the contest with 6:35 remaining.
Despite four flags on their final two possessions, the Bears had a chance to win the game after Hubbard returned the game's final punt 25 yards to midfield, plus a Cherokee facemask call moved the ball to the Tribe 44.
A shuttle pass to Makuch gained 11 yards with McMinn stripping the ball loose at the end of the play, but Phelps pounced on it to keep the Bear hopes alive.
Getting pushed back by two straight flags, Cook found junior Brady Lewis for a 20-yard toss and two plays later hit Hubbard, who leapfrogged a Tribe defender on his way to an 11-yard gain.
Faced with a first down at the McMinn 13 and just over 56 seconds on the clock, Bradley fired a pair of passes into the end zone and both were knocked down. On third down another aerial went into paydirt, but Cherokee Maddox Frazier stepped in front of the receiver to pick off the interception and fell forward out of the end zone at the 1-yard line with 42.4 on the clock.
Using their "heavy package" with 6-foot-4, 330-pound West Virginia commit Camden Goforth taking the snap and falling forward three straight times, McMinn was able to run out the clock for win.
With the result, Cagle upped his head-to-head record with Floyd to 11-9, although the Bears still hold a 56-43-3 advantage in the 102 meetings, dating back to 1927.
McMinn put up 256 yards of offense, with Lawson completing 13-of-21 passes for 152 yards, with Drake Frazier pulling in a half dozen for 66 yards, plus Kessler three for 51.
Dyer was held to just 50 yards on 16 rushes as the visitors had just 104 yards on 27 running plays.
For the Bears, Phelps finished with 69 yards on 13 carries, while Brayden Carroll pulled in four passes for 91 yards in the opening half before being sidelined the rest of the night.
In his first game as a Bear, Hubbard put up 206 all-purpose yards with a trio of catches for 24 yards, 140 yards on three kickoff returns and 43 more on a pair of punt returns.
"Special teams had great moments with Reggie's big kickoff return for a TD and Brady (Lewis) flipped field position a couple of times (averaging 35.8 yards on five punts, with a long boot of 46 yards)," Coach Floyd praised.
GAME SUMMARY
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MCMINN COUNTY
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0
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0
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14
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7
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--21
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BRADLEY CNTRAL
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3
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7
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7
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0
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--17
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SCORING SUMMARY:
First Quarter
BC — Noah Samayoa 35-yd. field goal, 1:35
Second Quarter
BC — Brayden Caroll 25-yd. pass from Tucker Cook (Samayoa kick), 6:46
Third Quarter
MC — Drake Frazier 49-yd. pass from Luke Lawson (Mike Kraskouskas kick), 8:54
MC — Jakaryn Dyer 2-yd. run (Kraskouskas kick), 4:45
BC — Reggie Hubbard 98-yd. kickoff return (Samayoa kick), 4:24
Fourth Quarter
MC — Nathan Kessler 39-yd. pass from Lawson (Kraskouskas kick), 6:35
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TEAM STATS
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McMinn Co
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Bradley
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|
First Downs
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12
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13
|
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Rushes-Yards
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27-104
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19-39
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|
Passing Yards
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152
|
166
|
|
Total yards
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256
|
205
|
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Passing (Comp-Att-Int)
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13-21-0
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15-31-1
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Penalties-Yards
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8-48
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14-106
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Punts-Average
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6-41.5
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5-38.5
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Fumbles-Lost
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0-0
|
2-0
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Individual Stats
Rushing: Jakaryn Dyer 16-50 TD, Lincoln Watson 4-37, Luke Lawson 4-11, Brayden Webb-Harvey 1-6, Jack Goodin 2-0 (MC); Kenyon Phelps 13-69, Spencer Makuch 1-0, Reggie Hubbard 1- -1, Tucker Cook 2- -8, Team 1- -19 (BC).
Passing: Luke Lawson 13-21-0 152 2 TDs (MC); Tucker Cook 15-30-1 166, Brady Lewis 0-1-0 0 (BC).
Receiving: Drake Frazier 6-66 TD, Nathan Kessler 3-51 TD, Marshall Goodner 2-23, Logan Alston 1-6, Drew Bottoms 1-6 (MC); Brayden Carroll 4-91 TD, Brady Lewis 3-34, Reggie Hubbard 3-24, Spencer Makuch 2-12, Kenyon Phelps 3-5 (BC
Punting: Luke Lawson 6-41.5 Long 63 (MC); Brady Lewis 5-38.5 Long 46 (BC).
Defense: Jake Ramey 4 solos, 3 asts.; Christian Edwards 3 solos, 1 TFL; Spartan Lyle 2 solos, 1 ast., 2 TFL (MC): Wiley Suskawicz 1 solo, 7 asts, 1 TFL; AJ Westfield 3 solos, 5 asts., 3 TFL, deflected punt, QB hurry; Andrew Carroll 2 solos, 5 asts., 1 TFL; Spencer Makuch 2 solos, 4 asts.; Tay Lindsey 3 solos, 3 asts.; Jeremiah Brownlow 3 solos, 1 ast. 2 pass breakups; Zane McIntosh 2 solos, 2 TFL, 1 QB sack (BC.
Records: McMinn County 1-0; Bradley Central 0-1.
Next up: McMinn Co. travels to Cleveland (0-1), while Bradley Central is on the road to walker valley (1-0).
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