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BEARS 30 BARONS 14
Landon wins the 1st Bethesda Bowl by beating its second neighbor (WWHS was the first conquest) school by a convincing 30-7 margin. The Bear D help the Barons to one offensive touchdown; while the home team O earned 290 total yards. It is rare when a defensive player scored points (recovering a fumble for a TD), blocked two kicks (negating a PAT, the blocked punt), caused 2 fumble which resulted in a Landon TD, knocked down a pass and recorded 2 TFLs. Assuming that all of the notable events were captured, that’s a good day for Keith Simms, that’s a Bear.
Aaron Broner’s opening kickoff went into the end zone and BCC team was pressured on the initial series. Pressure by Landon forced the visitors on every down, culminating in an interception by John Geppert. Eight plays later, Joey Epstein drove 4 yards into the end zone for a score. A Jack Concannon to John Geppert to Broner PAT made the score 7-0 @6:38.
This Broner kickoff pinned the Barons back and nine plays later, the Bears forced a punt. The Landon offense ended its ensuing drive with a failed 4th down conversion attempt. The Barons held the ball for 7 plays and try to punt. Mr. Simms did his eraser move and blocked that punt. That action closed the first quarter.
With the ball and momentum, Landon quickly brought the ball to 4 yards from the goal, but a freakish fumble bounced into the hands of a BCC defender who printed 99 yards for a TD. The BCC PAT attempt again met the Landon eraser as Keith enveloped the kick in his hands. At 6:26 of the 2nd period, the score was Bears 7 Barons 6.
In the remaining minutes until halftime, the home team gained 26 yards, but had to punt. BCC retained possession until half. Their drive was stifled by TFLs by Justin Conner and then Brian Menendez.
HALFTIME BEARS 7 BARONS 6
The home team received the 2nd half kickoff; BCC’s Naomi Gross was the kicker. The home team quickly gave possession to BCC with a fumble, but the Barons returned the favor in four plays. More accurately Ben Goodfriend ripped the ball form the opposing ball carrier (his impressive 50 yard run was called back; the refs saw his knee on the ground as he stole the ball).
The Bear O drove 36 yards on three plays with Joey blasting the final 14 yards for a TD. The #1 to #8 to # 3 PAT successfully overcame a 5 yard penalty to make the score 14-6 @ 8:47 of Q3.
Keith created another offensive opportunity from his LB position. This time he caused a fumble and Jalen Williams sprinted 20 yards to and scored @4:30; the PAT was good to make it 21-6.
The Barons did not cave in and fought to score. The Landon D was called for a couple of pass interferences, but those markers were removed by TFLs by Steven Gee, then Joshua Chapman and finally John Slowinski.
The Bears’ next possession was 13 plays long, rolled the clock into Q4 but ended in a punt. Again the Barons’ O was frustrated, ending with a fourth down punt attempt. Keith Simms blocked the kick and recovered in the end zone for a TD@ 7:18 of the last period. The PAT missed so the score was 27-6.
The visitors found the home team to be inhospitable and lost the ball on downs. Landon brought the ball to FG range and Aaron Broner nailed a 25 yard kick to make it Bears 30-6 @ 1:58.
Much credit to BCC for it had the determination to drive for a TD and successfully converted a 2 point play to make it 14- 3.
Landon recovered the onside kick and freshman QB Jake Davidson perfectly executed the victory play on three plays to kill the clock.
FINAL SCORE BEARS 30 BARONS 14
STATISTICS
Rushing
Player Rushes Yards TDs
Epstein 14 89 2
Brown 8 45
Machen 6 47
Hunter 8 31
Conner 4 18
Williams 2 3
Passing
Player Passes Receptions Yards
Brown 5 3 57
Receiving
Player Receptions Yards
Menendez 2 41
Machen 1 16
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