There was only one thing pretty about Bradley Central’s 21-12 football victory over Class 6A 10th-ranked Soddy-Daisy on Friday: the result.
The Bears forced four turnovers and held the Trojans to 179 yards of total offense on their way to the District 5-AAA victory at Soddy-Daisy, evening the two teams at 2-1 in the district.
Bradley finished with only 207 yards but held Soddy-Daisy to negative-11 yards rushing in the first half, while Bradley’s A.J. Shelton had a big game defensively. The senior had a fumble recovery, a big stop on a third-down play and a 40-yard interception return for a touchdown in the second quarter that gave Bradley a 21-6 advantage.
“The defense put us in a good position,” Bears coach Damon Floyd said. “We just have to learn to finish; we just play two good quarters and have to play all four.”
The two good quarters Friday came in the first half, when the Bears jumped to a 15-point advantage. Taking advantage of a Soddy-Daisy fumble, the Bears scored three plays later when quarterback Bryce Copeland called his own number and scored from 4 yards out.
Soddy-Daisy did respond, when freshman quarterback Brett Standifer passed to Daniel Crawley for a 10-yard touchdown – capping a 10-play, 64-yard drive – but Bradley scored four minutes later when Dewaun Massengill ran it in from a yard out.
Standifer finished 9-for-21 for 80 yards, filling in for injured starter Trevor Card. Card had a bruised knee and high hamstring pull.
“Bradley just played more physical than us in the first half,” Soddy-Daisy coach Kevin Orr said. “That was not Soddy-Daisy football; we made too many mistakes and put ourselves in a hole.”
The Trojans cut the lead to 21-12 on a 3-yard run by Cedric Edwards but were not able to get any closer.
“I’m happy with the win, but we didn’t execute,” Floyd said. “We did overcome some adversity. Some bad things happened during the game, but we didn’t fall apart.”
Said Orr: “We’re still growing as a team; we’ll just have to continue to fight through.”