BCHS 31, RHS 8

Tigers outlast Bears for 6A Region 1 win

By John Underwood, john@gulfcoastmedia.com
Posted 10/23/18

ROBERTSDALE, Ala. -- The Baldwin County High Tigers collected their third 6A Region 1 win of the season, evening their overall record to 4-4 with a road win against the Robertsdale Golden Bears (2-7, …

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

BCHS 31, RHS 8

Tigers outlast Bears for 6A Region 1 win

Posted

ROBERTSDALE, Ala. -- The Baldwin County High Tigers collected their third 6A Region 1 win of the season, evening their overall record to 4-4 with a road win against the Robertsdale Golden Bears (2-7, 2-5) at J.D. Sellars Stadium in Robertsdale.

“Any time you can get a road win in this league is huge,” said BCHS Head Coach Nathan McDaniel. “(Robertsdale Head Coach Chase Smith) has done a great job with this team and we knew coming in that they would be well-coached and ready to play.”

The Tigers scored first with just 16 ticks off the clock when senior La’trell Hollaway returned the opening kickoff 86 yards for the score.

The Bears came back to take the lead driving 74 yards in eight plays, aided by a pair of Tiger penalties. Quarterback Tristian Stevens connected with Robert Barnett twice for 30 yards, including a 12-yard touchdown pass, then connected with Romaro Settles for the 2-point conversion to give the Bears an 8-7 lead with 7:41 to play.

It was a lead the Bears would hold onto until early in the second quarter when Stevens was picked off by Randy Jones, who returned the ball to the Robertsdale 7. Joshua Crook ran it in from there and a missed extra point left the score at 13-8 with 10:49 left in the half.

Baldwin County scored again before the half, going 63 yards in just four plays behind the running of James Stanley and quarterback A.J. Mix with Mix taking it in himself from two yards out.

Mix and Crook would trade quarterbacking duties throughout the night with Crook passing to Javis Achison for the 2-point conversion to put the Tigers up 21-8 with 6:58 left in the half.

The Tigers held the Bears to two punts, but turned the ball over on downs near midfield to keep the score 21-8 at halftime.

“I thought our defense played well overall,” McDaniel said. “We had some issues with penalties that will need to be addressed, but overall, I think they did well. Offensively, we had some good moments, but were too sporadic. We’re going to have to play more consistently if we’re going to take this team to the next level.”

After holding the Bears to three-and-out, the Tigers ate up the clock on a 13-play, 65-yard drive, capped by a 30-yard fieldgoal from Josh Burton with 4:37 left in the third quarter

The Tigers added another score with 9:06 to play in the game. Mix took the ball for a 22-yard gain, then connected with Jermaine Coleman on a 55-yard strike. Burton’s extra point gave BCHS a 31-8 lead.

From there the two teams traded punts before Robertsdale mounted a 62-yard drive behind the running of Barnett and Taven Curry, but time ran out on the Bears at the Tiger 3.

Mix led the Tiger offense with 79 yards on 16 carries, while completing 3-of-10 passes for 69 yards with a rushing and a passing touchdown. Stanley chipped in 45 yards on 10 carries. Crook added a rushing touchdown, a pass for a 2-point conversion and was 2-of-2 passing for 13 yards.

After having 64 yards of offense on its opening drive (with two Tiger penalties that accounted for 10 yards), the Bears managed just 96 yards offensively for the rest of the game with only 72 yards of offense in the second half, not completing a pass in only two attempts.

Stevens was 5-of-10 passing for 56 yards and added 13 yards on seven carries (including three sacks for minus-11 yards), but sat out most of the second half with Barnett and sophomore Grant Driver taking most of the snaps in the final 24 minutes of play. Barnett gained 64 yards on 10 carries, while Curry had 27 yards on 15 carries for the Bears (including five negative rushing plays for minus-26 yards).

The Tigers (3-4 in 6A Region 1 play) finish up their 6A Region 1 schedule Friday night at home against winless B.C. Rain before traveling to 5A Region 2 Charles Henderson (4-4, 3-3) Nov. 2. The Bears will have a week off before taking on 6A Region 1 foe St. Paul’s (5-3, 4-2) on the road.