Bowled over at Beech: Pioneers give up 50 for second straight week
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With the loss the Pioneers fell to 0-4 on the season, and extended the program’s losing streak to 13 straight games.
After the contest, coach Gerald Tidwell noted while his squad came out on the short end of another lopsided score, he saw signs of improvement at different points in the game.
“It sounds kind of silly saying this, but our kids made progress tonight,” Tidwell said. “They did some good things. We’re not doing them anywhere near as consistently as we need to be a winning football team, but they’ve made strides.
“We’ll continue working, and we’ll make more strides.”
Beech got on the board late in the first quarter, when R.J. Meadows rushed for the first of his three touchdowns on the night. His second score came early in the second period, on a 46-yard punt return, and John Michael Carver scored on a 24-yard run just before halftime to give the Buccaneers a 22-0 edge at the break.
“The first half, we really fought,” Tidwell said. “We don’t have the overall talent that a team like Beech does, but the kids kept on fighting.
“They could’ve been in the ballgame, and should’ve been within a touchdown at halftime, but we weren’t there. So we talked at halftime, and said what we wanted to do was keep their score at 22, and get on the board ourselves.”
Unfortunately for the Pioneers and their fans, that goal wasn’t attained, as Meadows returned the opening kickoff of the second half 82 yards, then went in from the 2 two plays later to begin a 21-point third quarter that took the wind out of the Pioneers’ sails.
“We gave them two quick ones to start the third quarter, and then it snowballed on us,” Tidwell said. “We came back, and they were fighting, but I’m no dummy, either. I know we had some of our better players in, and they didn’t.”
After an 8-yard run from Beech’s Thomas Sheffield gave the Bucs a 50-0 lead, Warren County posted two successful scoring drives against the Buccaneer reserves.
Sophomore running back Preston Smith recorded his first touchdown on the varsity level, going in from the five, and Jonathan Bratcher engineered the Pioneers’ final scoring drive of the night, picking up 22 yards on a fourth-down keeper then throwing a 12-yard TD pass to Heath Crisp for the game’s final score.
Smith finished with 101 yards on 13 carries, while fullback Ramsey Black turned in a 56-yard night. Tidwell said the tandem provided a good 1-2 punch out of the backfield, with Smith using his speed to get outside and Black using power up the middle.
“I think Preston realized tonight that he’s got some ability to get outside and provide some speed for us,” Tidwell said. “He’s got to be more consistent at practice, though, being there all the time and working hard. I think he learned that tonight, and he showed the ability to be a breakaway-type back.
“Ramsey Black just works his rear end off every day, so we expect that kind of workhorse mentality from him, and we get that every day.”
Carver finished with 70 yard on nine carries for Beech, while Meadows had 37 yards on six attempts.
The Pioneers return to region play next Friday, when they play host to Cookeville.
“The thing we’ve got to do is continue to keep the kids’ chins off their chests, keep working hard, and having fun,” Tidwell said. “We talked about having fun this week, and we did that, even when it was 50-0.
“Our goal is to play 11 football games, and if we can find a way to win two in the region, we’ll get to play 11. These kids won’t quit, they’ll go back to work, and we’ll go from there.”