Bradley Bears outlast DobynsBennett
KINGSPORT, Tenn. — The home turf proved unkind to Dobyns-Bennett on Friday night.
Bradley Central’s onside kick late in the fourth quarter took a fortuitous Bears bounce, and after the recovery, they went on to bounce the Indians from the Class 6A playoffs with a 33-27 victory at J. Fred Johnson Stadium.
The win sends the Bears (10-2) to next week’s quarterfinal round at Maryville after the Rebels drilled Farragut, 38-7.
The sequence completed a Bradley comeback in which the Bears scored a trio of fourth-quarter touchdowns to rally from a 20-7 halftime deficit.
Stephen Muhonen tight-roped the end line to haul in a 26-yard pass from slot receiver Nick Howell on the first play of the fourth quarter to pull the Bears within a point, 20-19.
The Indians got a 38-yard kickoff return from Matt Diminick to set up a 44-yard scoring drive punctuated by Keyo Taylor’s 3-yard run to put the Indians back up, 27-19, with 8:13 to play.
Bear quarterback Dylan Standifer answered by finding Howell on a 22-yard strike. However, the Indians’ Jet Harris intercepted a two-point try that left it 27-25 and forced a decision by Bradley coach Damon Floyd.
“We were expecting the onside kick,” Dobyns-Bennett coach Graham Clark said. “They hadn’t stopped us in the second half. We hadn’t scored a lot of points, but they hadn’t stopped us.”
The Bears recovered at the Indians’ 45.
“That is something we work on every Thursday,” Dobyns-Bennett assistant Joey Christian said. “But it was a great kick, and you will never see one any better than that at any level.
“It was perfect, and maybe we should have been a little more aggressive, but all credit to them, it was well-executed.”
The Indians scored touchdowns on each of their first two possessions in the game. They controlled possession for the first 8:25 of the game, running 17 plays to take a 7-0 lead on Hicks’ two-yard drive.
After the Bears ran six plays and punted, the Indians expanded the margin to 14-0 on Diminick’s fingertip grab and run of 42 yards.
After Standifer sneaked in from a yard out to cut the margin in half, Diminick struck again. Taking a short inside route, Diminck curled back outside and outraced the Bear defense for a 55-yard touchdown to give the Indians their halftime cushion.