Bellaire too much for Red Knights
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BELLAIRE -- Bellaire built some offensive momentum in the second half of its opening victory against River last week.
The Big Reds carried that momentum into Saturday's home opener against Toronto at sun-baked Nelson Field.
Bellaire racked up 359 yards of offense in the opening half and scored touchdowns on seven straight possessions en route to a convincing 47-20 victory against the Red Knights.
"We had some carry over from last week, which was great because that's what we need to do," Bellaire head coach Mark Spigarelli said.
One thing the Big Reds did against Toronto quite well was spreading the wealth. They did so in all facets. Obviously, after stretching the lead into mercy rule for the majority of the second half, the Big Reds substituted freely.
However, prior to that, Bellaire's offense spread the ball around quite well once again. For instance, six different players scored a touchdown in four different ways. They also had three players rush for 50 or more yards and six players caught at least one pass.
"For us to keep winning, we need to play that way," Spigarelli said. "Guys cannot be jealous about who is getting the ball or if they're getting enough playing time. Our skill guys played well and our linemen blocked their butts off."
Bellaire's attack was fueled by junior quarterback Jake Heatherington, who was a sharp 10-of-12 through the air for 132 yards. He landed touchdown passes to Colt Sechrest, covering 44 yards, and Ray Ray Pettigrew, measuring 30 yards.
On the ground, the Big Reds averaged over 10 yards a carry and had five rushes of 20 yards or more and nary a negative play. Brayden Roth was the leader, carrying eight times for 105 yards and he scored the first touchdown from 33 yards out.
Sechrest, who did yeoman's work as a blocker and at linebacker, ripped off a 46-yard touchdown run and finished with 52 yards on just two carries. The third member of the Big Reds' backfield triumvirate was Joey Lewis and he finished with 68 yards on five carries, including a 31-yard burst.
Bellaire followed up Lewis' scoring jaunt by getting its defense in the mix. Junior Jake Dowling stepped in front of a Toronto pass and hauled it back 30 yards untouched for a touchdown.
And the Big Reds capped their scoring in the early moments of the third quarter when senior Jaiden Kesterson, who was targeted twice in the passing game, fielded a Red Knights' punt and raced it back 90 yards for a touchdown. Add in five Lucas Littell PAT kicks and it was an all-around good day for the Big Reds.
"We can do great things on offense as long as we keep guys healthy, but I think we did a super job on defense of getting guys lined up to defend Toronto's formations," Spigarelli said. "Overall, this was a great effort."
Toronto actually knotted the game at seven after it capitalized on Bellaire's lone real mistake of the game. The Knights pounced on a muffed punt and punched it on a few plays later when senior quarterback Aiden Mick found freshman Aiden Filby on an 8-yard touchdown.
After the Pettigrew touchdown, the Big Reds appeared ready to begin pulling away then, but junior Zane Kinsey returned the ensuing kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown.
"We hung with them a little bit, but some injuries in that second quarter really hurt us because we had to move some guys around who weren't playing where they typically play, so we had to throw them to the wolves a little bit and that's usually not a good thing," Toronto head coach Josh Franke said. "We were trying to improvise at times, but give credit to Bellaire. They're a heck of a team and I don't think they'll lose too many games."
All told, the Red Knights simply couldn't muster much against the Big Reds' defense. They rushed 33 times for 138 yards and completed just 4-of-9 passes for 24 yards and a touchdown.
"I told our kids that when you're playing a really good football team, you can't afford to play poorly and we just didn't play our best game (Saturday)," Franke said.
Both teams are back in action on Friday. Toronto returns home to take on Lisbon, while the Big Reds load up for Cadiz to meet Harrison Central.
Bellaire 47, Toronto 20
Bellaire 14 27 6 0 -- 47
Toronto 7 6 0 7 -- 20
B -- Roth 33 run (Littell kick).
T -- Filby 8 pass from Mick (Keenan kick).
B -- Sechrest 44 pass from Heatherington (Littell kick).
B -- Pettigrew 30 pass from Heatherington (Littell kick).
T -- Kinsey 85 kickoff return (kick failed).
B -- Sechrest 46 run (kick failed).
B -- Lewis 31 run (Littell kick).
B -- Dowling 30 interception return (Littell kick).
B -- Kesterson 90 punt return (kick failed).
T -- Bouscher 9 run (Keenan kick)
RUSHING: Toronto, 33-138-td (Kinsey, 7-36; West, 4-(-13); Bouscher, 4-18-td; Mick, 9-34; Keenan, 2-2; Wiegand, 2-42; Jett, 4-29; Team, 1-(-10)). Bellaire, 22-249-3td (Sechrest, 2-52-td; Lewis, 5-68-td; Roth 8-105-td; White, 5-16; Evans, 2-8).
PASSING: Toronto, 4-9-24-1td-1x (All by Mick). Bellaire, 10-12-132-2td (All by Heatherington).
RECEIVING: Toronto, 4-24-td (Filby, 1-8-td; Kinsey, 1-6; Nett, 1-10; West 1-0). Bellaire, 10-132-2td (Pettigrew, 4-52-td; Sechrest, 1-44-td; Kesterson, 2-15; Dowling, 1-2; Edgar, 1-9; Frazier, 1-10).
First Downs: Toronto, 9; Bellaire, 14.
Fumbles: Toronto, 6-1; Bellaire, 0-0.
Penalties: Toronto, 3-35; Bellaire, 2-20.