The game to forget
Bulldogs look to rebound versus Science Hill
Any athlete will tell you that, sooner or later, he or she has a game they would rather forget.
Friday night at home, Bearden High School’s football team had just such a game.
Regional 2-6A foe Maryville High School came to town, and the result was a forgettable night for the Bulldogs. A struggling offense, plagued by five interceptions, resulted in a 56-0 loss.
The halftime score was 42-0, which triggered a mercy-rule continuous clock for the second half. ‘Dogs’ coach Brad Taylor took the loss in stride and plans to get back right to the practice field.
“We gotta go back to work,” Taylor said. “We gotta take care of the football. That makes it 21 points difference just taking care of the football. We need to continue to go to work every day.”
“We took care of business,” Rebels’ coach Derek Hunt said. “We moved the line of scrimmage on the offensive line. The defensive line got after it.”
BHS’s first-quarter possessions resulted in two
punts and a fumble and a 21-0 MHS lead early in the second.
Bearden then showed life, driving to the Rebels’ 25
after four consecutive completions by quarterback Aiden Thacker; but on first down, Thacker was picked off by
Andrew Smith – one of Smith’s three on the night – and
the resulting Bulldogs’ TD
put the game long out of
reach.
In the first half, BHS picked up a mere 7 yards on the ground. Thacker was eight of 13 for 74 yards, including a 40-yard completion to Grant Cross.
MHS gained a balanced 310 yards in the half, 163 by rushing, 147 through the air.
The obvious difficulty
of winning with multiple
turnovers was hardly lost on Taylor.
“I don’t think we executed as well as we could have,” he said. “I mean, they’re a good football team, but I felt like we didn’t take a step forward like we needed to take.”
