Chargers beat Bears to advance in Region C

Bath County Chargers (l-r) Dillon Fry, Josh Crouse, Derek Brinkley, Alex Dressler, Harvey Wolfe, and Jeremiah Pauley get set to attack the Bland County Bears. The Charger defense forced two turnovers and held the Bears scoreless for three quarters in Friday's 17-13 Charger win. Bath defends the Region C title tomorrow (Friday) night at Holston. (Recorder photos by Geoff Cox) BASTIAN — The Bath County Chargers took a step toward defending their Region C title by holding off a hard-charging Bland County Bears team, 17-13, last Friday night.

After scoring on two fourth-quarter drives following a Jim King field goal that put the Chargers up 17-0, the Bears were intercepted by King with a minute left to end their post-season and seal the win for Bath.

With their sights set on a ninth Region C trophy one day before deer season opened in Bath, the Charger defense had a special one-day permit for Bear.

A dominant defensive outing began with stops for negative yardage by Charger senior captain Jeremiah Pauley (-five) and sophomore Dillon Fry (-six) giving Bath the momentum early in the first quarter as the Bears tried to find a seam in the tight Charger D.

Charger first-team all-district defensive end Derek "Bam" Brinkley tackles Bear Kris Kennedy behind the line of scrimmage for a loss in Friday's 17-13 win. Brinkley leads Bath in sacks (10) and tackles for loss (12) on the year. Fry's tackle, on a fourth-and-nine trick play by the Bears, gave Bath the ball with 5:57 to go in the opening quarter. Rushes by Fry, quarterback Michael Robertson, J.P Plecker, and Dustin Bratton moved the chains until the drive stalled on two incomplete passes on the Bland 38-yard line.

Facing fourth down with eight yards to go, coach Fields called for his own trick play, the wideout motion pass. King went in motion to his left, stopped before he went out of bounds, and heaved a pass downfield to senior captain Matt O'Conner.

O'Conner beat his man and made the catch at the seven. Robertson punched the scorecard on a two-yard run, and, with King's PAT, Bath led with a minute left in the quarter.

Dillon Fry shakes a tackle and runs for yardage in the Charger victory. Fry ran six times for 27 yards against the Bears and is averaging 5.4 yards a carry on the season. On the third play following the ensuing kickoff the Bath defense upped the pressure. Bland quarterback Josh Shrader's pitch was broken up, and a swarm of Chargers fell on the fumble at the Bland 33.

After the quarter ended, Bath commenced a drive that, with the help of a roughing the passer call, resulted in a quick back-to-back score.

The penalty moved the ball into the Bears' red zone and Charger senior captain Dillon Perdue took a third-and-12 draw call into the end zone for a 13-point lead eight minutes before the half.

The chain crew from Bland oohed and ahhhed as King kicked the PAT over the concession stand. "We don't get to see that a lot," said one of the chain gang, remarking that King's first PAT didn't go in the river like most long kicks do. "It went over the river!" he said.

Behind the eight ball, the Bland Bears made a drive near the end of the half that finally crossed midfield. Again the Bath defense made plays for negative yards to hold the lead.

Senior running back Dillon Perdue crosses the goal line for a score to put Bath up 14-0. The 15-yard carry was Perdue's second touchdown of the year. First, Derek Brinkley and Fry ganged up to stop Bear Kyle Kennedy for a four-yard loss. On the next play, Brinkley broke into the backfield again, this time for a six-yard sack of quarterback Shrader, forcing the Bears to punt as the half ended.

Both teams made adjustments at the half that resulted in a stalemate until Bath mounted a scoring drive from their own eight-yard line, following an 85-yard punt by Bear Nicholas Leighton.

On third-and-10 Robertson connected with King on a crucial 21-yard pass to give Bath some breathing room. After a flag for holding, the combo connected on a 26-yard pass and grab to cross midfield.

The drive stalled on the 20-yard line however, and gave the chain crew an opportunity to see a King field goal. King split the uprights from 37-yards, and Bath held a 17-point advantage.

Bland Bear quarterback Josh Shrader fights off Charger Ryan Newmarker's tackle in the fourth quarter of the regional semifinals. Frantically but methodically, the Bears finally got things going. Staying with the ground game, Bland found a seam, and Kory Kennedy burst through for a 39-yard carry to put Bland at the BC 41 as the quarter ended, and four running plays later Shrader scored from the 10 putting Bears on the board.

The Bears defense forced a three-and-punt from Bath and began a second scoring drive.

A fake punt on fourth-and-six for a first down was followed by a 12-yard catch on a third-and-eight to keep the drive alive. From the 20, penalties on Bath gave Bland 15-yards, and Kyle Kennedy scored on a three-yard run to close the gap to four points.

A PAT block by Bath's Fry kept it at four, and Bland squibbed the kickoff as the referee's earmuffs kept his ears warm and the comments from the Charger fans muffled.

With four minutes left, Bath began to run the clock out on the ground. To stop the ticking, the Bears used all three of their timeouts and had two minutes left when they forced Bath to punt.

Senior and first-team all-district kick returner Matt O'Conner races up the sideline toward the end zone. O'Conner was stopped just short of pay dirt twice in his attempt to get a return score this year. Both returns were called back on penalties. Bath earned a season-high nine of the 15 flags thrown by the referees. King booted a fifty-yarder that Bland fair caught on the 30 to begin the final drive.

A near sack by Plecker and a tackle for no gain by Brinkley held the Bears, but a nine-yard catch on third down and a fourth-and-one keeper by Shrader for a first down kept the Bears alive. However, with time running down and no way to stop the clock, the Bears took to the air.

Then it was time for King's heroics. King read the play, picked the pass, and the Chargers ran out the remaining time for the victory.

"We played a good second half," said Bland coach Harris Hart. "We played a tough football team ... just needed more time."

"Wasn't going to happen," said Bath first-team alldistrict defensive lineman Pauley.

"They're a second half team," said Fields. "They came out at halftime with their guns blazing ... A win's a win."