By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
Beebe drew first blood in its game Friday night against the Parkview Patriots at the J.A. Fair High School football field, and even though the Badgers got a few more blows in, it was all Parkview after that first score.
The Patriots beat the Badgers, 35-14, dropping Beebe’s record to two wins and five losses.
After the game coach John Shannon said, “We just got to keep playing and keep working hard. We’ve been hit by the injury bug and we are going to have to have some of our kids ready to play positions they haven’t. They’ll have to step up.”
Pushing the ball down field early in the first quarter, the Badgers scored on a 5-yard run by Taylor Boyce. A successful point-after kick by Jaime Rodriguez put Beebe on top at the 10:24 mark.
The Patriots fired right back two minutes later on a 14-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Geary Allmon to Joe Howard.
At the 3:31 mark, it was the Patriots again scoring, this time on a 13-yard run by Leonard Elebeke.
For the next 10-minutes the two teams stayed mostly around midfield, neither one gaining an advantage. But around the 7:30 mark, Patriots’ Zachery Smith managed to turn the corner on the right side and zip 32 yards for a touchdown, however a holding call brought it back. Next play Allmon tossed a dump pass to Demetrius Feemster and he took it all the way into the end zone again. This time no flags. A successful two-point conversion run made it 21-7 Parkview.
Boyce took the ensuing kickoff up to the 29-yard line before being tackled. An unnecessary roughness call added 15 yards to the run back, giving Beebe a first down on its own 43-yard line.
Strong runs by Boyce brought the ball down to Parkview’s 34-yard line. For a change of pace, Ahmad Nelson got the ball, rushing five yards to the 29, but a facemask tackle put the ball on the 15-yard line. A rare pass from quarterback C.J. Cauldwell connected with Boyce just across the goal line on the left side. An extra-point kick by Rodriguez brought the Badgers to within seven.
At the five-minute mark of the third quarter it was 21-14 Patriots.
It looked like Beebe would be on the move again after Cauldwell recovered the onside kick. Beebe worked the ball down to the 24-yard line before turning it over on downs.
The Patriots moved the ball well at first, but their drive stalled on the 43-yardline where Beebe took over on downs with just two seconds left in the third quarter. Boyce had a solid 19-yard run in a series of plays that stalled for the Badgers on the 40-yard line of the Patriots after a pitch from Boyce to Connor Bieker who tried to hit Alex Boyce close to the end zone just missed.
Parkview took over on downs and took 10 plays before scoring on a controversial mark of the ball. Smith, on a 19-yard run, was tackled at the one and fumbled the ball into the end zone where Beebe recovered it. At first the officials declared Smith down at the one-yard line, but that was overturned by another official who called it a touchdown, giving Parkview a 13-point lead with five minutes left in the game.
On Beebe’s next possession, the Badgers, like they did all night, were able to move the ball, but just couldn’t punch it in. On this series, Beebe moved the ball from their own 29 to Parkview’s 49-yard line before running back Gage House fumbled away a pitch from Cauldwell.
On a play by the Patriots that involved a holding call, the officials placed the ball seven-yards short of where it should have been, causing about a four-minute delay in the game as both coaches questioned the competency of the officials. In the end, the ball was placed 13 yards further back for the Patriots, making it third and 30 on the 30.
The Patriots were forced to punt, which went short and took a Beebe bounce to the 45-yard line of the Patriots. A deep pass by Cauldwell was intercepted by Parkview’s #6 on the 16-yard line.
But Beebe returned the favor a few plays later as Parkview quarterback Allmon overshot his receiver and Beebe’s Mason Walker grabbed the pass at ground level for the turnover. However, a sack and a fumble gave the ball back to Parkview on Beebe’s five-yard line. Three plays later Allmon hit Adrion Worthy for the score. Parkview added on two more points faking the point-after kick, making the score 35-14.
