The Bedford football team had a tough time stopping Cleveland Heights Tigers offense Friday night at Bearcat Stadium. The score by the end of the first half was 35-6, with Cleveland Heights having scored on its first five series from scrimmage. Many of those touchdowns were a result of a punishing ground game, peppered with pass completions that came just at the right moments.
Unfortunately, Bedford was not able to match the firepower of the Tigers, but the Bearcats did have their moments to shine. Their second drive of the game was one of the best this season so far. Down 14-0, with 6:13 left in the first quarter, the Bearcats took over with a first-and-10 at their own 22-yard-line.
The drive that followed saw quarterback Raymell Hester first hit receiver Malik Simmons for a 30-yard gain. Receiver Jaylon Clark and running back De’sean Courts also helped to cover ground on plays as Bedford moved down the field. The Bearcats converted two fourth-down attempts, the first one near midfield and the second one, a fourth-and-11, from the 19-yard line. On the second conversion, the Bearcats called up a beautiful bubble screen to Courts who sprinted through tacklers for the score.
At that point in the game, it was still only 14-6 in favor of Cleveland Heights. But the Tiger offense continued to grind away, and the game started to slip away from the Bearcats. The Tigers took their biggest lead at 42-6 close to the beginning of the second half.
Bedford actually outscored the Tigers in the second half, though, adding 17 points before the end of the game. Bedford’s scoring came first from a safety by Tyler Craft. Next, running back Caleb Hunter rumbled for a touchdown followed by a two-point conversion completion from Hester to Simmons. The final score of the game was a touchdown reception from Hester to Clark with an extra point added by Sam Laffin.
Bedford’s next game is Friday Oct, 2 at home against Shaw.
The play on the field was not the only excitement of the evening. The football team came out in brand new, almost completely white, satin uniforms. Also, the Bearcat Band made an appearance at the beginning of the games to help get the crowd going. This was their first time on the field during a game this year due to COVID restrictions.
