Cats Pull off another Upset by Taming the Tigers
MCKENZIE, Tenn. – The Bethel Wildcats outlasted the Georgetown Tigers Saturday afternoon in Wildcat Stadium in McKenzie. With the thriller going down to the wire, the Cats eked out a 25-24 victory over the visitors from the Commonwealth.
Bethel took the lead in the first quarter on a spectacular catch by Dieuly Aristilde. He leaped to catch a Nolan Chowbay pass at the 8:54 mark. Luis Morales nailed the point after to give the Cats a 7-0 lead. With 48 seconds left in the quarter, GC's Brandon Burgess tied the game with a 17-yard run. Those plays would be the only scores of the first half.
Georgetown scored a touchdown on its first series out of the break and added a safety to score nine unanswered. The Cats appeared to be in trouble with 39 seconds in the third. A safety gave the Tigers a 16-7 margin.
Another Chowbay pass to Aristilde early in the fourth put Bethel on the board again to make 16-14 Tigers. With 9:18 left, Morales nailed a 30-yard field goal to give Bethel a 17-16 lead. Georgetown came back with a Burgess six yard run to retake the lead at 22-17. Burgess then hit Jake Johnson on the two-point conversion and the Tigers led 24-17. The Wildcats rallied with a 68-yard drive which was capped off by a De'Ontay three-yard run. Bethel trailed 24-23. Without hesitation, Coach Mike Jasper sent the troops out to go for two. This time it was James Dixon with a remarkable reception to give the Cats a thrilling 25-24 win.
With less than a minute left, Georgetown tried to get something going, but Jerwin Young squashed that with a batted down pass on fourth down. BU took the knee to finish it off and for the second time this season upset a Top 10 team at home.
Chowbay was 13-of-32 in the air for 325 yards. Tate was Bethel's leading rusher with 74 yards on 21 carries. The 4th leading rusher in Bethel history now has 2,900 career rushing yards. Aristilde caught six passes for 136 yards.
Burgess highlighted the Tiger attack with his three rushing touchdowns.
Jakobe Griffin, Bethel's leading tackler on the season led the Cats with seven total tackles. Fellow linebacker, Brody Franks followed with six total stops. Vonte Bates contributed with six tackles. Brandon Moore had an interception in the big win.
Coach Jasper expressed how proud he is of his young men. "I am so proud of this program. Before every game we set our intentions with a war cry and this game was the epitome of our chant. Those guys fought and fought, stood tall, proud, and then fought some more. We must find a way to protect the ball better and execute at a higher level, but a win is a win. Hats off to my staff as well. Those guys are phenomenal educators and mentors to our young men and deserve the utmost respect. Our program deserves respect, and we are willing to go out and take it."
Bethel hits the road again traveling to UPIKE next Saturday. Action kicks off at 12:30 CST.
Live video:
https://upikebears.com/sports/2020/10/14/upike-sports-network.aspx
Live stats:
https://bethelathletics.com/sports/fball/2021-22/boxscores/20211016_7x9r.xml
