CLEVELAND, Tenn. - After a close first half Friday night, Bradley Central scored two third-quarter touchdowns to pick up a 21-7 Region 2-6A home victory over McMinn County.
"It wasn't pretty, but we found a way to win," Bradley coach Damon Floyd said. "But any time you beat another rival, it's a big win."
Floyd said his team needs to focus on the basics to improve.
"We need to continue to get better at those little things like lining up correctly, communicating, tackling, blocking. We turned the ball over too much tonight," he said. "Little things like that is what is going to get you beat."
The first half was a defensive battle.
Bradley Central drove more than 50 yards on its opening possession, but McMinn's Parker Manning picked off a pass at the Cherokees' 21-yard line to stop the Bears' advance.
The Cherokees were forced to punt, but the Bears fumbled the ball on their next possession, handing the ball back to McMinn County. The Cherokees threatened this time, driving inside Bradley's 10, but lost a fumble at the 1-yard line.
The Bears broke the scoreless stalemate with 1:35 to go in the first half. Ricky McCleary capped that drive with a 2-yard scoring run. Clay Shoemaker tacked on the extra point to make the score 7-0.
McMinn turned to its two-minute offense and answered. The Cherokees quickly drove 61 yards and scored as the final seconds of the first half ticked off the clock. Federico Banuelos tied the game 7-all with his extra-point boot.
Bradley took the lead again on its first possession of the second half. Quarterback Dylan Standifer scrambled for a 42-yard rushing score.
The Bears defense forced an interception on McMinn's next possession, which set up Bradley's next score - and what turned out to be the final score of the game. Standifer passed to Saylor Clark for a 16-yard touchdown at the 4:35 mark in the third quarter.
The teams traded possession during the fourth quarter, and Bradley was able to hold on for the win.
Contact Brett King at sports@timesfreepress.com