CLEVELAND, Tenn. – From a Cleveland perspective, there will be a bunch of hungry Bears for the next 12 months.
Jamarcus Mobley had 138 yards and three touchdowns and Cleveland limited the Bradley Central attack to 58 yards in the second half on the way to a 33-15 high school football victory Friday night in front of a crowd of about 9,000 at Bear Stadium.
The Blue Raiders all carried honey packets during the game, signifying a “Bear’s desire to eat.”
“It was something our chaplain did for us,” Cleveland coach E.K. Slaughter said. “This week he taught us all about Bears; Friday’s lesson was ‘How to kill a Bear.'”
The 212-yard first half for the Bradley offense was enough to keep Slaughter on edge.
“I was starting to get stressed,” he admitted. “We had to commit to the box and tackle, but the guys did a great job of that in the second half.”
The win was doubly sweet for Cleveland, having lost the 2009 meeting 28-27 in overtime on Raider Field.
“It feels good to get this win after last year,” said Cleveland receiver B.J. Davis, who had three catches for 99 yards and scored two touchdowns. “It’s my senior year and I didn’t want to lose to them again; it was payback.”
Aided by a 78-yard kickoff return by Mobley to start the game, Davis scored to give the Raiders a 7-0 lead. Bradley responded with an 11-play, 60-yard drive that ended in a 31-yard field goal by Clayton Steele. The Bears had the ball at the 5-yard line but were penalized for having 12 men on the field.
After a turnover on downs by Cleveland, the teams traded touchdowns, and Davis hooked up with quarterback Chad Voytik for a 29-yard score that made it 21-15 at the half.
The second half was a lot of defense and a lot of Mobley. The senior back had 14 carries and 68 yards in the final 24 minutes, scoring on runs of 2 and 10 yards – the final TD icing the game with 1:20 remaining.
Raiders receiver Jeremy Simpson had five catches for 78 yards, including two tough catches over the middle on the icing drive.
Bradley tailback Justin Houston finished with 94 yards rushing, while receiver James Stovall had five catches for 82 yards, including a 61-yard touchdown catch and run in the second quarter.
“I thought we fought, but in the end they made more plays,” Bradley coach Damon Floyd said. “We didn’t have the answer for them defensively, but the guys just have to understand that this is one loss and not the end of the season.
“We’re just going to go back to work on Monday.”