Bearden's defense on rise after win over West
Sam Coffin hasn’t forgotten Bearden’s 1-9 football season in 2014.
It motivates the senior every day.
“That 1-9 season was really hard,” Coffin said. “But it drove us to just hit the weight room, get strong and really grind and grind and build around discipline, just really getting after it day in and day out.”
Bearden’s defense got after it Saturday night at West, and the result was a 17-3 victory in the season opener for both teams.
West gained 19 rushing yards on 17 attempts. Rebels quarterback Drake Peer threw for 182 yards on 19-of-36 passing. Peer completed four passes for 63 yards on West’s last drive, which ended with an interception by Nick Ingrando in the end zone.
It was Bearden’s third interception.
“Our defense played their hearts out tonight,” Bearden coach Morgan Shinlever said. “I can’t say enough about our defense.”
West displayed a formidable defense, giving up 23 rushing yards and 157 passing yards. It was penalties and turnovers on offense that doomed the Rebels.
The two teams combined for more than 200 yards in penalties.
“The first game is going to boil down to which team makes the fewest mistakes, and we did that,” Shinlever said. “I haven’t looked at the stats yet, but I would say that we were the more disciplined team tonight, and that’s going to result in coming in on the right end of things.”
Bearden scored on its first possession. Sophomore Collin Ironside threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Dawson Houser.
A.J. Simon’s fumble recovery at West’s 7 set up Caleb Wilkins’ 21-yard field goal for a 10-0 lead after one quarter.
West’s Logan Bowers kicked a 31-yard field goal with 4 minutes, 2 seconds left in the half.
Coffin intercepted a pass by Peer and returned it 29 yards to West’s 31 late in the half. Ironside threw a 30-yard pass to Jacob Klenck, and D.J. Cox scored on the next play for a 17-3 lead.
“All in the preparation,” Coffin said of the defense’s play. “Give all the credit to our defensive coordinator, Coach (Brian) Milan. He prepped us so hard.”
Bearden went 6-5 in 2015 and 4-7 last season, losing in the first round of the Class 6A playoffs both years.
The Bulldogs look to take the next step this year – a far cry from the 2014 season.
“A lot of these seniors played early on when they were in high school,” Shinlever said. “They played their freshman and sophomore years, and they took a lot of bumps and bruises those first couple of seasons.
"The list goes on and on for our seniors. They understood where we’ve been and where we’re going, and they had a tremendous drive to them in this offseason to be the team that gets us in the right direction.”
Dave Link is a freelance contributor.