Bradley Central senior quarterback Dylan Standifer throws a touchdown pass behind the blocking of Jerad Fox during Thursday night’s game against Soddy-Daisy in Cleveland, Tenn.CLEVELAND, Tenn. – In what was expected to be a track meet on grass, Bradley Central’s offense was in full stride before Soddy-Daisy ever got out of the starting blocks Thursday night.
The Bears scored on their first three possessions, needing just seven plays to score their first two touchdowns while racing to a commanding first-half lead and rolling to a 42-8 nonregion win.
“We’ve had a few slow starts this year, so we wanted to come out fast and finish,” said Bears senior quarterback Dylan Standifer, who completed 21 of 25 passes for 353 yards and two touchdowns and ran for a score.
“By this point in the season, our miscues should be behind us and we should be starting to play our best.”
Bradley (5-2) opened the game with a 38-yard completion, but it wasn’t Standifer throwing it. Sophomore receiver Tray Curry took a lateral and found Ashton Boyd in stride, and two plays later, Standifer highlighted the quick-strike drive with a 34-yard touchdown throw to Saylor Clark.
After Standifer found Boyd for a 44-yard touchdown on Bradley’s next possession, the hosts kept the Trojans back on their heels with an 11-play, 94-yard scoring drive that was capped by Standifer’s 1-yard run.
Soddy-Daisy responded with a 12-play, 70-yard drive to cut the deficit to 21-8 midway through the second quarter, but Bradley answered right back with a seven-play, 78-yard drive, with Standifer accounting for all but 2 of those yards.
“We wanted to be aggressive early,” Bears coach Damon Floyd said. “What they do on offense is tough to stop, so it was really big to jump out on them early and make them one-dimensional. Dylan is an all-state player, and he did just what you’d expect him to. He made some nice throws, and our receivers beat their one-on-one coverage to keep things going all night.
“I was really proud of our defense, too. It was just a total team effort.”
While earning its seventh straight win in the series, Bradley held the Trojans (3-3) to minus-5 yards rushing in the second half and just 23 yards of offense in the final two quarters. The Bears outgained Soddy-Daisy 523-166 in total yards.
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293. Follow him on Twitter @StephenHargis.