5 takeaways from Beech's 45-28 BlueCross Bowl loss to Knoxville Catholic

COOKEVILLE – Here are five takeaways from Beech's 45-28 Class 5A BlueCross Bowl loss to Knoxville Catholic on Thursday at Tennessee Tech's Tucker Stadium. 

Fumbling it away

While Knoxville Catholic led almost the entire way on Thursday, it was a crucial Buccaneers turnover that all but sealed the Fighting Irish’s second state champion in three seasons.

Trailing by 10 late in the third quarter, Catholic defender Larry Liverman ripped the ball free from Beech quarterback Nelson Smith, and Stiles Moore scooped up the fumble before sprinting 33 yards to put the Irish in front 38-21 with 1:48 left in the third quarter.

Beech never quite recovered from the critical error.

Sluggish start

The Buccaneers suffered through a less-than-stellar start to their first BlueCross Bowl appearance since 2012, surrendering three Catholic scores in the first 15:36 of action.

First, senior quarterback Jack Sompayrac found Central Michigan commitment Dashon Bussell for a 16-yard touchdown pass to give the Irish an early first-quarter advantage before Paxton Robinson connected on a 23-yard field goal to make the score 10-0 with 2 seconds left in the opening period.

Minutes later, senior Joshua Brown, who ripped off a 47-yard first-quarter run, barreled into the end zone from a yard out to spot Catholic a 17-0 lead with 8:24 to play in the second quarter.

Sized up

Led by 5-foot-5, 145-pound running back Kaemon Dunlap, Beech is by no means considered a big team. However, the previously unbeaten Buccaneers looked downright small in the face of the Thursday’s foe.

Knoxville Catholic’s receiving corps, for instance, featured 6-foot-5 Cam Blakely and 6-foot-3 Dashon Bussell. Beech’s secondary, meanwhile, consisted of 5-foot-4 Jahmall Robinson, 5-foot-8 Ty Dean, 6-foot Chaz Williamson and 5-foot-8 De’Andre Brown.

The size differential was even more noticeable in the trenches.

In addition to enjoying a substantial height advantage, the offensive front of Knoxville Catholic, which featured five-star offensive tackle Cade Mays, outweighed the Beech defensive line of Delaney Williams, Christian Brinkley and Alex Metcalf by an average of 41 pounds per man.

Kept it check

Dunlap has been the driving force for Beech, racking up 2,365 yards rushing and 33 touchdowns on the year, but the Station Camp transfer and Mr. Football semifinalist was pretty well bottled up on Thursday.

Dunlap, who scored on a 20-yard third-quarter run, managed to notch his 13th 100-yard performance, finishing with 109 yards on 20 carries, but it was well below his 168.9-yard-per-game average.

Instead, Dyilin Hoosier served as the offensive catalyst for Beech, hauling in four receptions for a season-high 83 yards and a pair of scores. 

Airing it out

For one of the few times in his career, Smith, a three-year starter at quarterback, got the opportunity to show off his arm Friday, firing three touchdown passes.

Smith, who completed 5-of-12 passes for 123 yards in the loss, connected with Hoosier on second-quarter touchdown passes of 19 and 33 yards, and he later hooked up over the top with David Johnson from 40 yards out. 

Reach Michael Murphy at mfmurphy@tennessean.com, 615-259-8026 and on Twitter @Murph_TNsports.