Bearcats Hold Off Apaches in Homecoming Thriller

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By Richard Bravo

The Ray Bearcat football team hosted the Apaches of Fort Thomas last Friday for Homecoming as they escaped with a 46-42 victory in front of an ecstatic crowd at Dave McFee Memorial Field. The Bearcats were anxious to get this game started and received the opening kickoff.

Special team player Dominic Bravo took the kick and ran 30 yards to put the Bearcats in good field position at the Apache 44 yard line. It didn’t take long for the Bearcats offense to make their presence known as quarterback Destry Yocum hit receiver Bravo on a quick slant for a 30 yard touchdown pass. Yocum then hit Bravo on the two-point conversion play to put the Bearcats up 8-0 early in the first quarter.

The Bearcat defense was set to take the field and like the offense, they made their presence known. Linebacker Clarence Baptismo striped the ball out of an Apache ball carriers hands on their third play of offense and it was quickly picked up by Bravo to give the Bearcats the ball on their own 45 yard line. The Apache defense did not allow the Bearcats to capitalize on the turnover when they forced the Bearcats to give the ball right back on a failed attempt on fourth down.

With a little momentum on their side after the stop on fourth down, the Apaches found it difficult to move the ball against the Bearcat defense as they go three and out and are forced to punt. Punt returner Jacob Wernett got the Bearcat fans on their feet when he returned the punt 64 yards for a Bearcat touchdown. However, a yellow flag on the field for a block in the back denied Wernett of the touchdown taking the ball back to the 45-yard line of the Bearcats.

The Apaches played tough on defense forcing the Bearcat offense to punt after just three plays. Punter Jacob Pace with an excellent punt pinned the apaches back at their own 10 yard line. The Apaches offense started to click as they moved the ball with a mix of run and pass plays to drive down the field 80 yards putting them in good position to score at the end of the first quarter.

The Apaches started the second quarter taking only two plays to punch it in for their first points of the game. The two point conversion was successful tying the game at 8-8 with 11:25 left in the first half. With another terrific run back of 35 yards by Bravo on the kickoffthe ball was placed on the Apache 45 yard line, but a block in the back penalty added another 10 yards to spot the ball on the 35.

The Bearcats took only four plays to score as running back Nick Lara crosses the goal line from 1 yard out to put the Bearcats up 14-8. After a touchback by kicker Daniel Harmon the Apaches start from their own 20 yard line. The Apaches quickly moved the ball up field on two big receiver screen passes to put the ball in Bearcat territory.

The Apaches tried another pass down field but, Bearcat linebacker Bravo stepped in front of the Apache receiver to intercept the pass and ran 46 yards before being brought down at the Apache 35 yard line. The Bearcats capitalized on the turnover when running back Wernett took the hand off and scrambled 10 yards for another Bearcat touchdown to put them up 20-8.

The Apaches answered back as they go 60 yards in 5 plays on their next offensive possession to cut the lead to just six points with 1:19 left in the first half. The Bearcats got the ball back in good field position when the Apaches attempted an onside kick that was recovered by the Bearcats at the Apache 48. With under a minute left in the first half and timeouts remaining, the Bearcats scored again when quarterback Yocum connected with Wernett on an 11 yard touchdown pass with 15 seconds remaining.

The two point conversion failed and the Bearcats took a 26-14 lead into the lock room.

The second half of the contest started with the Apaches taking the kickoff back to the Bearcat 45. The Apaches tried to find some solution to pick apart the Bearcat defense and found it in their running game.

They quickly scored with just two minutes into the half when the Apache quarterback ran it in on a keeper. The two point conversion was good and the Bearcats held a four point lead with 10:00 left in the third quarter. The Apaches attempted the onside once again and unlike their previous attempt they were able to come up with the ball at mid field. The Apaches struck right away hitting a pass for 40 yards to the Bearcat 10 yard line.

Two plays later, the Apache ball carrier ran it in for the score. The two point conversion was good and the Apaches took their first lead of the game 30-26. The Apaches did not want to give the lead back to the Bearcats and tightened up their defense as they held the Bearcats on their following possession. After a booming punt by Pace of 60 yards the Bearcats were unable to pin the Apaches deep in their own territory when the Apache returner ran 32 yards to their own 40 yard line.

The Apaches drove the Bearcat defense forcing another turnover as the ball carrier from the Apaches lost the ball and it was recovered by the Bearcats on their own 46-yard line. The Bearcats made the Apaches pay for their mistake when Wernett took the hand off on the second play of the drive and out ran the Apache defense for a 50-yard touchdown.

The two-point conversion failed giving the Bearcats a 32-30 lead going into the fourth quarter.

In the final quarter of play the Apaches found themselves with the ball on their own 3 yard line trailing the Bearcats by two points. It took only a minute in the quarter to change that as the Apaches go 97 yards in four plays to retake the lead 36-32 with 11:00 left in the game. Special team player Bravo allowed the Apaches only a few seconds to celebrate their lead. Bravo took the ensuing kickoff 70 yards for his second touchdown of the night putting the Bearcats back on top 38-36 early in the fourth quarter.

With a good return on the kickoff, the Apaches started their drive from their own 42-yard line. Not wasting much time off the clock, the Apaches celebrated another 42 yards on 5 plays to gain back the lead 42-36 with 8:32 left in the game. The Apaches did not take any chances of another run back and they attempted the onside kick, but failed to recover, giving the Bearcats the ball on their own 44-yard line.

The Bearcat offense worked with a short field stay on the ground pounding the Apache defense when quarterback Yocum capped the drive with a 5-yard touchdown run. The two point conversion was good by Wernett, giving the Bearcats a 46-42 lead with 5:11 left in the game. With plenty of time left in the game the Apaches put all the pressure on the Bearcat defense when they marched down the field setting up a first and goal from the Bearcat 10 yard line.

The Bearcats did not fold under pressure and stopped the Apaches on the first three attempts setting up a fourth and goal. With the game on line for the Bearcats, Wernett came up with the game winning stop as he sacked the Apache quarterback in the back field forcing the Apaches to turn the ball over on downs with two minutes left in the game. The Bearcats offense needed to run down the clock to secure their victory.

They came up big on the third down when Wernett shined again with a Bearcat first down. Quarterback Yocum took a knee on the following to run the clock out and gave the Bearcats a 46-42 Homecoming victory.

The Bearcats racked up a total of 418 yards of offense. Quarterback Yocum completed 8 passes for 92 yards and two touchdowns. Running back Wernett led the rushing attack with 127 yards on 11 carries and 2 touchdowns, Yocum added 75 yards on 8 carries and 1 touchdown, Baptismo had 33 yards on 10 carries, and Lara had 2 carries for 10 yards and one touchdown.

Receiving Bravo had 4 catches for 56 yards and one touchdown, and Baptismo with 2 catches for 25 yards. Bravo came up big on special teams with 135 yards and a touchdown.

Defensively, Wernett had a stellar performance as he led the defense with 12 tackles, 3 assist and 5 sacks, Yocum had 8 tackles and 2 assist, Bravo had 7 tackles, 1 assist, and an interception, Pace had 5 tackles, 3 assist, and 2 sack, Rexx Sosa and Ryan Bickley helped out with 4 tackles each.

The Bearcats hope to continue their winning streak as they travel to Cibecue to take on the Wildcats Friday at 2:00 pm. If you cannot attend a game, you may also follow the Bearcats on the Copper Basin Facebook page at www.fb.com/copperarea during their games for score updates. Good luck Bearcats!

To comment on this article and others  visit the Copper Area News Facebook or send us an email at CBNSun@MinerSunBasin.com 

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