The Bedford Bearcats beat the visiting Alliance Aviators 34-13 in a non-conference game Friday evening. The win was truly a team effort, as four different players scored touchdowns for the Bearcats, the offensive line dominated their opponent most of the game and many players on defense stepped up and made decisive plays.
The Bearcats held a 14-0 lead early in the first half after rushing touchdowns by junior running back Caleb Hunter and senior quarterback Raymell Hester. Both scores were the culmination of drives where Bedford was able to continue to move the sticks by running the ball and getting good chunks of yardage. The offensive line, particularly the right side, was doing a fine job opening lanes for the running backs. Senior running back Daniel Lymon was used effectively out of the backfield getting first downs on the ground and also as a receiver.
On the defensive side, the Bearcats held Alliance to a pair of three-and-outs on its first two drives. Senior defensive lineman Isaiah Pettis and defensive back Hester both had notable tackles in the first series to stop the Aviators. In the second series, senior defensive back Sean Conway stepped up and had a great open-field tackle, followed by a coverage sack by Pettis and junior defensive lineman Trent Thomas on a third-and-11.
Still, the Aviators were able to chip away at Bedford’s lead as they answered with two scores of their own during the second quarter. Sophomore quarterback Brendan Zurbrugg, who is 6’3″, found success running the ball against the Bearcats on those scoring drives, coupled with a few timely pass plays. The Bearcats were hurt by some ill-timed penalties that helped Alliance, including a facemask and a roughing the passer call.
While still young, the Aviators’ Zurbrugg, who seemed to be a head taller than most of the players on the field, showed flashes of excellence with both his feet and his arm on the two scoring drives. He could be a player to keep on eye on in the coming years.
The score at halftime was 14-13 in favor of Bedford. Fortunately for the Bearcats, they were able to shut down any further scoring by Alliance the rest of the game. Alliance received the ball first in the second half and was stymied immediately for a three-and-out, punctuated by sophomore linebacker Tyquan Goodman break-up of a pass play on second-and-12.
In the next series, Bedford drove the ball down the field and scored on a third-and-11 screen to Lymon for a 39-yard touchdown. The score put the Bearcats up 22-13 with 7:33 left in the third quarter. On Alliance’s next series, Bedford once again held them to a three-and-out, which included an impressive stop by senior defensive lineman Leonard Sharp.
Bedford scored on their next possession on a 2-yard run by Hester, that was set up by a fourth-and 5 pass to Sean Conway for 33 yards. This put Bedford up 28-13 with 3:22 left in the third quarter.
Bedford added another touchdown as senior wide receiver Jaylon Clark caught a 23-yard pass from Hester in the fourth quarter, leading to the final score of 34-13. Earlier in the same drive, Clark also had a 55-yard run.
Both teams entered the contest 0-2 on the year, with Bedford having lost its first game 47-18 to Nordonia (3-0), and its second game 14-6 to Elyria (3-0). Bedford’s next game will be at home against Lorain (0-3) who lost to Elyria in their last game, 37-0 according to maxpreps.com.
Lake Conference Scores and Standings Week 3 (MaxPreps):
South 31, Maple Heights 14
Cleveland Hts. 46, Euclid 14
Hubbard 47, Shaw 14
Green 33, Garfield Hts. 0
Dublin Jerome 24, Shaker Hts. 20
Elyria 37, Lorain 0
Team Standings, Total, Conference Total
Cleveland Heights, 3-0, 1-0
Maple Heights, 2-1, 0-0
Bedford, 1-2, 0-0
Shaw, 1-2, 0-0
Garfield Heights, 0-3, 0-1
Shaker Heights, 0-3, 0-0
Lorain, 0-3, 0-0
