Bears swat down Eagles—Throttle Todd, 52-0

 

 

By Greg Moore

Banner Sports Editor

 

Butler and Ohio Counties have been rivals throughout many years, which creates a genuine dislike for one another but still respectful of the others’ competitiveness. At times, the heat of the moment has taken a turn for distaste; however, the number one goal for these student-athletes is to be respectful to the game and display exemplifiable sportsmanship.

Coach Robins yells, “Walk Away!” every time there seems to be an encounter and things are frenzied. His Bears have been doing a much better job maintaining composure to where they were when he started last season. As a matter of fact, several of his players were facing KHSAA suspensions to begin last year, before Coach Robins had led his team on the field for the first time.

As these young men have matured mentally, their work in the weight room/conditioning continues to pay dividends as they used their physical prowess to overpower the visiting Eagles, who were only able to muster 33 yards on the ground compared to the Bears’ 288.

Another eye-popping advantage was the chaos caused behind the line of scrimmage. Nine Bears for Coach Robins’ defense were credited with tackles in the backfield with sophomore linebacker, Brock Henderson, leading the way. Henderson had a sack and three tackles for a loss in the home opener.

While the Bears stayed run heavy, freshman quarterback, Brody Dockery, still kept the Eagles off-balance, going 6/9 passing for 37 yards and a touchdown. The three-yard TD pass to junior receiver, Cainan Vincent, helped tie the game at seven, a score that would stand at halftime as both defenses were not breaking despite some bend.

 

 

After an 85-yard drive in the third quarter, the Bears came up empty in the scoring column when Dockery was held up just shy of the goal line on 4^th down; it looked like the next one to score may win. A gutsy fourth-down call by the Eagles proved critical early in the fourth quarter. Kevin Robins ripped off his first of two touchdown jaunts shortly thereafter.

Once again, the Bears turned the visitors over on downs with a short field to work with. After a Kaiden Richardson gallop inside the ten, Robins blasted through for pay dirt as he sent two Eagles flying at the goal line. His two-point conversion extended the margin, 22-7.

Richardson’s 43-yard TD romp answered an Eagles’ touchdown before the Eagles scored as the time expired. Butler County improved to 2-0 with the 28-19 victory, which marked the sixth year in a row that they have beaten Ohio County.

The Eagles took advantage of the passing game against Butler County. Senior quarterback, Ayden Farris, threw for 242 yards and completed two touchdowns through the air, one coming late in the game when it was already decided. Farris crossed the goal line on the ground once; however, BC bottled him up nearly all night—he ran for only 16 yards on 15 carries.

Bears’ running duo, junior Robins and sophomore Richardson, have formed a new identity as Offensive Coach Ryan Emmick stays patient with his freshman QB. His running backs are delivering the load. Richardson ran the rock for 171 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries while Robins burst for 102 yards on just ten totes.

Richardson picked right back up against Todd County Central, who came to Morgantown with a 1-1 record this past Friday night. With the offensive line consistently winning up front, Coach Emmick had luxury in his play calling. He dialed up the running back’s number to join the scoring party on a 12-yard pass from Dockery. It came after the lightning delay, before the end of first half, putting the Bears up 26-0.

Dockery spread the ball around and kept the offense on the move. He found Carson Davis for TD grabs of 35 and 27 yards and the QB snuck a mishandled snap (the Bears had a few of those) in for six. Even with the ball on the ground at times, he made plays. Another time, rather than dropping on it for a loss, he scrambled and heaved it near half the field into Vincent’s mitts in the first half.

 

 

Richardson, who ranks near the top in the state in rushing, is contributing on defense, too. He stepped in front of a Rebels’ pass on the first play of the second half for a pick-six, 46 yards to the house, untouched.

The defense hardly allowed the Rebels to cross midfield. After giving the ball back to the Bears their second possession in the third quarter, Richardson would go untouched, again. This time, on an eight-yard screen pass, Dockery’s fourth passing touchdown of the night, which began the running clock.

 

 

Safety Clay Steff intercepted a tipped pass on the Rebels next possession. Instantly, Richardson shed a tackler and raced 80 yards down the sideline for his fourth touchdown on the night. Robins, who played at Todd his freshman season under his dad, also hit pay dirt on a 40-yard dash.

Jonathan Portillo, who is one top scorers in the state in soccer, connected on another extra-point to finalize the score at 52-0. Portillo made his debut for the football Bears against the Rebels. The junior brings an excitement to the kicking game.

More than excitement will be in the air this week. The Bears get to travel to Leitchfield, where the Cougars rubbed it in on the Bears a couple years ago under Coach Brandon Embry. Last season, at home, Coach Robins’ squad fell short by only six points. Like Ohio, there’s a dislike for Grayson County.

While the Bears (3-0) are running full steam, the Cougars (1-2) are limping. They suffered home setbacks to Anderson and McLean Counties after opening week’s win in Brownsville over the Wildcats of Edmonson County. Several of the current players remember the last time in Leitchfield; hopefully, some vengeance and a 4-0 start is in the cards for the Bears.