Bayside 35, Faith 13

• Defense, special teams help Admirals offense exploit bonus opportunities in road win

Tony Whitehead
Posted 8/27/16

The Bayside Academy defense dominated the first half and maintained bend-don't-break pressure on the Faith Academy Rams the rest of the way

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Subscribe to continue reading. Already a subscriber? Sign in

Get the gift of local news. All subscriptions 50% off for a limited time!

You can cancel anytime.
 

Please log in to continue

Log in

Bayside 35, Faith 13

• Defense, special teams help Admirals offense exploit bonus opportunities in road win

Posted

WEST MOBILE, Ala.— The Bayside Academy defense dominated the first half and maintained bend-don't-break pressure on the Faith Academy Rams the rest of the way. Meanwhile the offense took advantage of turnovers and completed successful drives. The result was a 35-13 road win for the Class 3A Admirals (1-1) over the 5A Rams (0-1) in their non-conference meeting Friday.

Bayside will now open 3A Region 1 league play with visiting Clarke County at Freedom Field in Daphne (Sept. 2). Faith Academy travels to Class 5A Region 1 rival Jackson.

Bayside coach Phil Lazenby said he was proud of his players for executing their game plan and also for their hard work preparing for the game.

“They worked hard and we coached hard all week,” he said of his players and staff. “That’s what gets it done for us. We are not big enough, fast enough to beat somebody unless we work our hardest to get ready and then play to the best of our ability for a complete game.”

Special teams picked up the first score for Bayside when Bo Ezell recovered a dropped punt return in the end zone about seven minutes into the game. The Admirals Reid Norton then capped a late second-period drive with a 9-yard touchdown keeper. The 37-yard scoring drive was set up with an Austin White interception of FA quarterback Braxton Bell with 3:12 left in the half. Benjamin James took care of the point-after kicks all night for the Admirals who led led 14-0 at the break.

Lazenby also said special teams stepped up big.

“We covered well and our defense was playing well. So, we felt pretty confident about punting tonight rather than going for it in certain situations. Everyone executed their assignments well and that's very, very important. Because good things happen when you do what you are supposed to do. Especially like they did on that first score by Bo.”

Bayside extended the lead to 21-0 in the third quarter when Andrew Smith scored the first of his two second-half rushing TDs to cap drives of 55 and 85 yards.

Bell led the Rams to their first score late in the third quarter and tossed a 15-yard TD pass to John Griffin Bell in the fourth.

Pelham Henry blocked and recovered a Rams punt in the fourth to set up the Admirals' final scoring series at the Faith 15. John Bryant finished that possession with a 7-yard score for BA.