JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. - By the end of Friday night's Big East Conference opener between Science Hill and Bradley Central, the chasm between the two schools on the scoreboard was sizable.
But the ability to execute was the main difference between the Hilltoppers and the Bears.
Science Hill drove into the red zone twice in the first half and was unable to score, while Bradley Central was able to find the end zone repeatedly in a 32-7 victory over the Hilltoppers at Kermit Tipton Stadium.
"The first half, with the right execution, fortunately we were able to punch a couple in and they didn't," said Bradley Central coach Damon Floyd. "So that's the difference in the game."
Cole Copeland did a masterful job of skippering Bradley's offense. The senior ran for a score and threw for another to stake the Bears to a 13-0 lead.
Meanwhile, the Hilltoppers had a pair of promising first-half drives bog down inside the Bears' 20 and turned the ball over on downs on both occasions. Penalties played a role in Science Hill's struggles, but the offense never seemed to hit its stride even when the flags didn't fly.
"A good football team exposes that," Science Hill coach Stacy Carter said of his team's miscues. "We've got some good players and we've got a lot to build off of, but things like the execution - the execution wasn't very good tonight."
Injuries also took their toll on Science Hill. After making a touchdown-saving interception in the end zone in the first quarter, Colby Jones left with an injury and was limited the rest of the way. T.J. Patton also got hurt, and with Tyrique Price looking on in street clothes, Science Hill's secondary was extremely thin against the top quarterback in the state.
With that being said, the inability to slow Bradley Central's run game was a huge problem for the Hilltoppers defense. Bears running back Adam Mullis rumbled for 132 yards on 20 carries with a pair of touchdowns.
"They probably ran the ball too much on us," Carter said. "With as good as (Copeland) passes, we needed to stop the run to make them one-dimensional, and it was hard to do that. They had a good plan and played very well."
Mullis ran in his first touchdown from 10 yards out with 2:30 left in the second quarter to put the Bears up 19-0. He added a 27-yarder less than two minutes into the third quarter to push the advantage to 25-0.
Floyd said his offense did a tremendous job of making good reads and keeping Science Hill off balance.
"We were able to check off at the line of scrimmage if we get certain looks," Floyd said. "If we feel like it's our advantage to run, we'll do that, and it's the same way with passing. The offensive line played really well tonight in pass protection and running the ball."
The Hilltoppers finally got on the board when Jaylan Adams scrambled around the backfield on a broken play and found a wide-open Aundre Butler for a 7-yard TD pass with 4:38 remaining in the third period. But Copeland put the game away with a 1-yard touchdown run of his own early in the fourth quarter.
Copeland finished with 181 yards passing an 52 yards rushing, leading Bradley Central to 428 yards of total offense.
Carter said finding a way to execute more efficiently on offense will be the goal moving forward after his team only managed 245 yards on Friday.
"We were a little short here and there and it added up on us," he said. "You can do that when you're better than a team, but when you're playing a team that has that talented of a quarterback, you'd better be making some plays.
"(Copeland) is the best player in the state, and there's a reason he's the best player. Great football player and a great team. I thought they played extremely well."