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Beavers put Bears in a cage

Beaver Local’s Kaydon Bobby runs for a touchdown against Oak Glen on Friday at Pastore Field. (Photo by Josh Blakeley)

CALCUTTA — Beaver Local is on a red-hot roll.

The Beavers won their fourth straight game in impressive fashion Friday night, pummeling cross river rival Oak Glen 62-0 in a running clock game before a large crowd at Pastore Field.

“I thought we had a lot of kids contribute and I think we’re becoming pretty explosive on offense, but our defense is playing really lights out right now too,” said a pleased Beaver Local coach Mike McKenzie. “They’re flying around.”

“We knew they were going to be a very physical team,” said Oak Glen coach Doug Taylor. “They’re an explosive team and we’ve got quite a few injuries. We ended up with like seven kids out in the first half and it kind of hurt us.”

In their past four wins against Columbus Linden McKinley, East Liverpool, Keyser and Oak Glen, the Beavers’ explosive offense has scored 200 points, an average of 50 points per game.

“We’re playing well now, we’re starting to pick it up,” stated McKenzie.

It was the 46th meeting between the two schools and the series is now deadlocked at 23-23 as the Beavers have won seven straight against the Golden Beavers. The two teams hadn’t played since 2018, a 69-25 Beaver win.

“They came out ready to go,” said McKenzie of his team’s outstanding start. “That’s a team (Oak Glen) that just beat Toronto last week and beat them pretty good, 25-8, so this is a good win for us, better than some people may think.”

With the win, the Beavers improved to 4-2

With the setback, Oak Glen is 1-4.

Beaver Local’s offense was right on cue against the Golden Bears. The Beavers — led by quarterback Austin Cline who threw four first-half touchdowns — scored on all six offensive possessions in the opening 24 minutes. Those marches covered 62, 58, 67, 67, 59 and 66 yards as the hosts led 41-0 at the break.

“Everything was working for us,” said Cline, who also had 54 yards rushing on just four carries in his one half of play. “They weren’t on our level — they were on the train tracks and we were ready.”

“He (Cline) had a real good half,” said McKenzie.

Cline was tremendous as he completed 13-of-16 passes in his half of work for 255 yards and four touchdowns. Those scoring strikes included 40 and 33 yards to Caden Foster, 11 yards to Noah Bowyer and 26 yards to Kaydon Bobby.

“We feel great, we love where we’re at, but we still have work to do,” said Cline. “It was a great momentum game for us and we’re going to take this into next week.”

On the ground in the opening 24 minutes, the Beavers’ backup quarterback Taylor Johnson added a 1-yard scoring run and Blake Lucas, who led all rushers in the first half with 68 yards on eight carries, scored on a two-yard run around the right side with 4.3 seconds left in the half, leading to 41-0 lead at the break, including four Kaleb Mays PAT kicks (five for the game).

Beaver Local, which led 21-0 after the first quarter, was also stellar on defense, holding the Golden Bears to just 14 yards offense in the first half and 58 yards for the game. By comparison, the Beavers racked up 409 yards in the first half alone and had 21 first downs to the Golden Bears’ 3. The Beavers ended up with 487 yards with their backups playing the entire second half.

“They (the Beavers) are pretty physical and I wish them the best of luck, they’re well-coached and we’re just going to have to try to get healthy and recoup for next week,” said Taylor.

Oak Glen running back Anthony Burt led the Golden Bears with 29 yards rushing on six carries.

Oak Glen’s six first-half drives ended with five punts in its own territory and an interception by Beaver Local’s Caden Foster.

“We have so many good players, they were all flying around and it’s hard to single anyone out because everyone is doing their job and they’re playing fast,” said McKenzie.

It all added up to a running clock in the second half with two 10-minute quarters.

Beaver Local’s backups scored on a 6-yard run by quarterback Taylor Johnson with 5:28 showing in the third period. Kicker Brayden Hall added the PAT boot, making it 48-0. The hosts also produced a one-yard scoring run by Tyler Prideau and the PAT boot by Hall, as the score ballooned to 55-0 with 56.5 seconds left in the third quarter.

Lineman Devon Barrett scored the Beavers’ final six-pointer on a one-yard run with 4:43 left in the game and Hall added the final point and closed out the scoring at 62-0.

Beaver Local linebacker Brock Severs had a second-half fumble recovery.

“It was a great job by our kids and coaching staff,” said McKenzie. “There was a lot of preparation. I think everyone looks at a game like this and doesn’t know how much time and preparation by the kids and the coaches that go into that. I’m very proud of everyone involved in the program.”

Game notes

¯ Beaver Local hits the highway next Friday night with a Buckeye 8 game at Harrison Central.

¯ Oak Glen will entertain Berkeley Springs next Friday evening.

“Berkeley Springs is a spread team, they like to run the football, play physical defense and right now they’re down a little bit this year,” said Taylor. “Anybody we play right now with the injuries we have is going to be a task for us.”

“Nothing but respect for coach Taylor and his staff,” said McKenzie. “We have a little more depth and they (the Golden Bears) got banged up a little bit but all respect to them.”

OAK GLEN: 0-0-0-0–0

BEAVER: 21-20-14-7–62

SCORING

BL– Caden Foster 40 pass from Austin Cline, 8:57 1st (Kaleb Mays kick)

BL– Noah Bowyer 11 pass from Austin Cline, 4:48 1st (Kaleb Mays kick)

BL–Caden Foster 33 pass from Austin Cline, 1:31 1st (Kaleb Mays kick)

BL–Taylor Johnson 1 run, 9:29 2nd (Run failed)

BL–Kaydon Bobby 26 pass from Austin Cline, 8:02 2nd (Kaleb Mays kick)

BL–Blake Lucas 2 run, 4.3 2nd (Kaleb Mays kick)

BL–Taylor Johnson 6 run, 5:28 3rd (Brayden Hall kick)

BL–Tyler Prideau 1 run, 56.5 3rd (Brayden Hall kick)

BL–Devon Barrett 1 run, 4:43 4th (Brayden Hall kick)

OG BL

First downs 6 27

Total yards 58 487

Rushes-yards 28-32 30-206

Passing 26 281

Comp-Att-Int 5-11-0 15-18-0

Punts 7-35 0-0

Fumbles-Lost 2-1 0-0

Penalties-Yards 3-35 7-65

——

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

RUSHING–Oak Glen, Anthony Burt 6-29, Kolton Goodlin 2-2, Landon Beatty 2-minus 16, Aiden Flowers 2-5, Tyler Mozino 2-2, Ethan Haenke 2-11; Beaver Local, Austin Cline 4-54, Blake Lucas 8-68, Caleb White 5-32, Taylor Johnson 2-2, Devon Barrett 1-1, Tyler Prideau 4-31, Brock Severs 1-1.

PASSING–Oak Glen, Landon Beatty 5-11-26-0-1; Beaver Local, Austin Cline, 13-16-255-4-0, Taylor Johnson 2-2-26-0-0.

RECEIVING–Oak Glen, Aiden Flowers 3-10, Kholton Goodwin 2-16; Beaver Local, Caleb White 2-47, Dylan Ferguson 1-12, Caden Foster 4-102, Kaydon Bobby 2-36, Noah Bowyer 1-11, Blake Lucas 1-11, Hunter Warrick 1-10, Keaton Heddleston 1-14.

INTERCEPTIONS–Beaver Local, Caden Foster.

FUMBLE RECOVERIES–Beaver Local, Brock Severs.

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