Seven straight for Dawgs heading to Bradley showdown
KNOXVILLE — The old sports adage that “defense wins football games” certainly was true Friday night, Oct. 20, as the Bearden defense shut down Morristown West, winning 24-14.
Led by seniors Cody Clough and Kai Young, the Dawgs stopped MWHS twice on key fourth-down plays to bring Bearden’s record to 7-2 overall, recording the team’s seventh straight win, as the state’s No. 6-ranked Class 6A team improved to 4-0 in Region 2-6A heading to this Friday’s region title showdown at unbeaten Bradley Central.
In his postgame interview, the 5-foot-7 Clough put his successful night very simply. “I just wanted to get to them (the ball carrier) before he got to where he was going,” he said.
Clough, along with Young and teammate Rocky Brown, were a disruption to the Trojans all night long, spending much of their time in the offensive backfield shutting down runs.
Bearden head coach Josh Jones, when asked about his defense after the game, called his team “physical” while “continually playing hard and smart, with a lot of effort. We made some key stops.”
Bearden began the scoring on a 31-yard field goal by junior Daniel Kinney four minutes into the first quarter.
After the Trojans received the opening kickoff and went three plays and out, — on an aggressive Clough tackle on third down — MWHS punted to sophomore wide receiver Tory Beaufort, whose 40-yard return landed Bearden at the MWHS 28.
Junior quarterback Drew Parrott ran for 15 yards, but the drive stalled and Kinney’s kick gave Bearden a three- point lead.
After the Trojans again went three-and-out due to Bearden’s defense, continuing to hurry the MWHS quarterback, Bearden received the punt on its own 45.
Following runs by Jayzon Thompson and Torrian Riggans, as well as a 19-yard pass interference call, Parrott hit Beaufort on the first of his two touchdown passes, this one for 15 yards to make the score 10-0 with 4:49 remaining in the first quarter of play.
The score remained at that number until 14 seconds were left in the second quarter. Morristown West’s quarterback then scrambled and successfully threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to bring the halftime score to 10-7 in favor of Bearden.
Quarter number three started with a long eight-minute methodical drive from the Bulldogs, culminating in a missed 31-yard field goal. During the drive, Parrott twice found wide receiver Sam Timmons for key third-down passes.
After the missed field goal, MWHS marched down the field and scrored on a 32-yard pass to running back Josh Rosen.
Morristown West now led 14-10 with 2:48 left in the period. Eleven seconds later, Jayzon Thompson ran the ensuing kickoff back 80 yards on an electrifying return that resulted in a touchdown. Bearden now led 17-14, and allowed their defense to take over the game.
Again led by Clough and Young, Bearden stopped the Trojans on a fourth-and-2 on their own 28 yard line. Clough hurried the quarterback, and when he dumped off a short pass, Young was there to stop him short of a first down.
Four minutes later, Parrott again found Beaufort in the end zone, this time from 32 yards out to finish the evening’s scoring at 24-14.
Morristown West (4-5) threatened to score with four minutes to play, but one more time the Bulldog defense shut them down on a fourth-down goal-line stand, turning the ball over to Bearden with 3:30 left to play, as the Bulldogs were able to run out the clock.
“And how about my ... giant, Cody Clough, who is fearless, helping make that goal-line stand,” Jones said.
