Beth-Center forces 6 turnovers, clinches playoff berth in win over Frazier
Mark Marietta
FREDERICKTOWN – What better way to celebrate homecoming than clinching a playoff berth?
For Beth-Center, it’s been a long time coming, but for the first time in eight years it will be part of the WPIAL football playoffs.
The Bulldogs forced six turnovers, including five interceptions and Enzo Brown rushed for four touchdowns in a 48-24 win over Frazier in Class A Tri-County South Conference play Friday night at Beth-Center Stadium.
Beth-Center improved to 5-0 in conference play an 8-0 overall, while Frazier fell to 3-2 in conference play and 4-4 overall.
“It’s awesome,” Brown said. “We haven’t been 8-0 in a while. To know it is us and that it’s our team…nothing’s better.
A pair of touchdowns 14 seconds apart in the third quarter helped cement Beth-Center’s place in the WPIAL football postseason for the first time since 2018.
The Bulldogs had the opening possession of the third quarter and used its ground game to march down the field. Big runs from Enzo Brown set up a 15-yard touchdown run by Homer Headlee, which made it 21-12 with 8:18 remaining in the frame.
“We always tell each other we’re a second-half team and we have been all year,” Brown said. “To come out in the second half and score was huge. We always try to defer to get the ball in the second half to open up the second half with seven points.”
Then, 14 seconds later, Hunter Bobbs put another Beth-Center touchdown on the board by picking off a Brady Secrest pass and returning it 16 yards to the end zone. Bobbs kicked the extra point, and the Bulldogs lead was 28-12.
“I saw his hips turn, so I read it and saw the ball,” Bobbs said. “Just caught it and went into the end zone.”
Frazier didn’t go away quietly.
Secrest found Kevin Etling with a 40-yard touchdown, but a missed two-point try kept it a two score game at 28-18.
Frazier successfully executed a pooch kick that was recovered on the sideline at the Beth-Center 35. A bad snap a few plays later foiled any momentum gained.
The snap went high over Secrest and he lost a race for the ball with Brody Bebout, who recovered at the 40.
Interceptions by Antonio Davis and Bobbs were the fifth and sixth turnovers.
Bobbs pick was his second of the night.
“We saw on film that they were gunslinging it around the field, especially to (Alekson),” Bobbs said.
Brown scored on runs of seven and 14 yards in the fourth after the interceptions.
The junior running back finished with 207 yards rushing eclipsed 1,000 yards during the second quarter.
Beth-Center coach Tim Trump was proud of his team’s all-around effort.
“They play hard for me,” Trump said. “They do everything I ask them to do. I love this group. They play together. That’s what is special about them.”
Two missed extra points by Frazier were the difference on the scoreboard in the first half.
The Commodores got on the board first when Secrest hit Brant Alekson on a 14-yard touchdown midway through the first quarter.
Beth-Center responded in four plays. A 28-yard connection between quarterback Chase Bebout and wide receiver Daniel Duncan set up an Enzo Brown 18-yard touchdown. Hunter Bobbs’ extra point gave the Bulldogs a 7-6 lead at the 3:55 mark of the quarter.
Frazier moved the ball on its next drive, but miscommunication between Secrest and his receivers led to an interception. Secrest threw a short pass right into the waiting arms of Duncan.
Beth-Center failed to turn the interception into points. The Bulldogs got all the way to the Frazier six-yard line, but a fourth-down pass fell incomplete. A touchdown for Brown was wiped off the board because of a holding penalty prior to the turnover on downs.
But the Bulldogs got another turnover on the next drive and this time cashed in.
Nick Miller intercepted a Secrest pass and returned it to the Frazier 12. Brown scored on the first play of the ensuing drive and the Bulldogs took a 14-6 lead with 5:31 remaining in the half.
Frazier scored on its final drive of the half, which lasted 14 plays and was aided by two Beth-Center pass interference penalties.
Secrest hit Alekson on a quick slant for an 8-yard touchdown with :35 seconds remaining in the half.
The two combined for a third touchdown from 27 yards late in the fourth quarter.
Beth-Center sophomore Shane Cronin scored on a 29-yard run in the final 30 seconds to close the scoring.
Frazier threw more passes (30) in the first half than Beth-Center ran plays (28). The Commodores attempted only nine runs in the first two quarters and eight of them were by Secrest. The only handoff for the Commodores was on the first play of scrimmage, which was a run by Kevin Etling for minus-2 yards.