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Last-second TD changes momentum as Dawgs whip Irish
Tom Mattingly - Sat, Oct, 31, 2009
Trailing 16-7 57.5 seconds before halftime Friday night at Catholic and having just given up a touchdown off an intercepted pass, you couldn’t blame Bearden High head coach Brad Taylor if he had decided to kill the clock and take his chances in the second half.
An iffy first half suddenly looked a great deal better after Kyle Riemer tossed a 27-yard TD pass to Stefon Stephens to close the halftime margin to 16-14.
The Bulldogs (8-2, 5-2) dominated the second half to take a 35-16 District 4-AAA win that brought home the win in another West Knoxville “rivalry game” Oct. 30. Catholic finished 5-5, 3-4 in the district.
“That was a play that got us a momentum swing,” Taylor said. “It enabled us to come out and set the tempo in the second half. I thought we really played a complete, well-rounded second half.”
Bearden rushed for 375 yards on the night, with Devrin Young carrying 25 times for 216 yards and three TDs and Peyton Landers adding 11 carries for 136 yards and one score.
Young now has 1,202 yards for the year and continues to make the tough yards.
“Devrin had a fantastic game,” Taylor said. “He’s had a couple of games where he’s not felt good, but he’s feeling better again, and you can tell it.”
There was a brief Bearden lead at 7-3 early in the second period, but Catholic got the lead back midway in the quarter, and things really looked bleak, what with a missed field goal and another being blocked.
This Bulldogs team is, however, nothing if not resilient, and they proved it again on this night.
Bearden started at the 49 after Young’s return. Landers had an 11-yard run, and Riemer got outside to his left for 8 yards to the 27.
Riemer then sent the flow one way and found Stephens all alone in the far right corner for the score with 2.4 seconds left.
That proved to be a dose of adrenaline for the Bulldogs.
“At halftime, coach just we had to run the ball well, executing the plays they called,” center Bradley Ternes said of the second half momentum. “The offensive line was executing, and the receivers were blocking down field. It was a good team effort.”
After stopping Catholic on the first possession of the second half, the Bulldogs started at the 47 and converted the favorable field position to a quick score.
Landers got loose for 29 down the sideline and with a facemask call, the Bulldogs were knocking on the door at the 17.
Young went left for 10 yards, and then scored on a 7-yard run with a nifty move that froze at least one Catholic defender.
“The offensive line played great,” Landers said of the offensive effort. “We came with more stunts and blitzes in the second half defensively and disrupted their timing.”
The Bulldog defense held again, and things didn’t look so hot when Young fielded a punt at the 4 and was swarmed in his tracks.
It didn’t take Devrin long to redeem himself.
Young hit right end and was suddenly wide open down the right sideline. A Catholic defender appeared to have an angle, but Devrin found another gear and ran away from everybody, 96 yards for the score.
Catholic had one major drive to the Bulldog 23, but Bulldog defenders had the answer, with the ball going over on downs.
Then came a 17-play, 76-yard drive, that didn’t garner points, but took 8:59 off the clock bridging the third and fourth quarters, leaving the Irish at the 1.
Cisco Carter had an interception at the 33, and after a couple of penalties, Landers ran for 16 and finally scored on a bull-in-the-china-shop run from 24 yards out.
Brackets for the 2009 TSSAA football playoffs were set to be released Saturday. (Saturday morning’s original release of brackets in Class 6A, 5A and 4A were pulled back by TSSAA due to seeding mistakes)
Check www.1045thezone.com and www.tssaa.org for final pairings.
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