Beth-Center slips past Carmichaels, 28-22
Beth-Center running back Anthony Welsh scores a touchdown against Carmichaels.
Beth-Center’s Anthony Welsh defends a pass to Carmichaels wide receiver Colby Smith (19) in Friday’s game played at Carmichaels. (Photo by Dave Rafferty)
Beth-Center running back Anthony Welsh escapes a tackle by Carmichaels Ty Metcalf and other Mikes defenders for a gain in the first quarter of Friday's game at Carmichaels.
CARMICHAELS — It’s been no secret that the Beth-Center Bulldogs have been the class of the Tri-County South Conference since moving over in 2008. They have won three conference titles in five years, including the last two. They have recorded a 36-3 record, including an unbeaten string against nearby Carmichaels.
The string of success continued Friday night in Carmichaels as the Bulldogs narrowly defeated the Mighty Mikes, 28-22.
Carmichaels had came into the contest after winning its first two games, both against two of the Tri-County South playoff teams from a year ago, including a dramatic victory at Frazier last week.
Despite a valiant effort from the Mikes (2-1, 2-1), Beth-Center came out on top once again. The Bulldogs (3-0, 3-0) used a 54-yard touchdown run by sophomore back Anthony Welsh on a fourth-and-one play at the 6-minute mark of the fourth quarter to move the lead back to two touchdowns.
The Bulldogs then recovered a late onside kick attempt to hold on for a key early season victory.
“That (touchdown run) was big,” said B-C head coach Ed Woods. “We were going for it regardless. I felt good about us getting it. We felt we could get it on the outside. Anthony is obviously playing exceptionally well.”
Both teams started out slow in the first quarter offensively. Welsh finally got the Bulldogs on the scoreboard when he scored from six yards out on a 12-play drive. The missed point after kept it a 6-0.
Carmichaels battled back in the beginning of the second quarter as fullback Mike Blasinsky took advantage of a rare carry to score on a one-yard touchdown run to tie the contest. That was all for the first half scoring as the teams went into the break tied 6-6.
Beth-Center used special teams to build a 21-6 lead with two touchdowns in the third quarter. B-C returned the opening kickoff deep into Carmichaels territory to set up an 18-yard touchdown pass from Gino Faieta to Tyler Beyer. A defensive stop led to a long punt return for the Bulldogs to set up Welsh’s second touchdown, this one from 13 yards out at the 3:42 mark.
“Special teams is a big part of the game,” Woods said. “We could improve a little bit more, it is a big third of the game. You have to be solid on special teams against good teams like Carmichaels.”
Carmichaels tried to battle back, taking advantage of a bad snap on a Beth-Center punt attempt. Senior running back Brennan McMinn rushed it in from six yards out on the first play of the drive and added a two-point play to cut the B-C lead to 21-14 with 8:15 to play.
However, on the ensuing drive, Welsh raced 54 yards on the big fourth down play to extend the lead back to 14 points. Carmichaels added a late touchdown with 42 seconds left as quarterback Brandon Lawless snuck in for a one-yard touchdown. McMinn added another two-point play to make it 28-22 but that is as close as the Mikes could get.
Carmichaels coach Ryan Krull said he liked his team’s effort and ability to fight to the wire.
“We wanted to win and these kids are disappointed,” Krull said. “We stress to them to finish no matter what they do. We just ran out of time. I thought our defense played tough. We were playing on too short of a field in the second half.”
The Bulldogs limited the Mikes to just six yards passing in the first half. The Mikes had tossed five touchdowns through the air the first two weeks, all to senior Tyler Aeschbacher. Aeschbacher was held to just three catches for 35 yards. McMinn led Carmichaels with 70 yards on 18 carriers.
After going 2-1 through a tough three-week stretch to start the year, Carmichaels steps out of conference to take on Vincentian Academy next week. Beth-Center looks to remain unbeaten against winless Bentworth.