Cats Win Third in a Row with Victory over Bluefield
MCKENZIE, Tenn. -The seventh ranked Bethel Wildcats beat a good Bluefield Ram squad 61-14 Saturday in Wildcat Stadium. The Rams arrived in McKenzie receiving votes in the latest Top 25 Poll.
Bethel, like last week, jumped out to an early lead scoring twenty points in the first period. Two touchdown passes from Joaquin Collazo III to J.D. Dixon accounted for Bethel's first two scores. Collazo added a seven-yard run for the other score in the period.
Collazo and Dixon teamed up again in the second stanza on a five-yard score. Andrew Welch knocked in a season high 37-yard field goal to give the Cats a 30-0 margin. Dixon finished with eight catches on the day. Collazo, who was 27-of- 33 in the game hit tight end Tyrell Partee on a six-yard pass with 32 seconds left in the half to close out the scoring.
Mitchell Faulkner had two short touchdown runs in the third. The Cats led 51-0.
Leading 51-0 going into the fourth, the Cats had a 23-yard field goal from Welch and an electrifying seventy-five yard run from Dakota Braswell to close out the scoring. Braswell had a team high 90 yards rushing.
Along with his accuracy and four touchdowns, Collazo passed for 372 yards.
Jaylen Taylor had a team high nine receptions. He had a career high 120 yards in receiving yards.
The Wildcats had 199 rushing yards and 379 yards in passing for 578 total yards in offense. Bethel entered the game averaging 64.0 points per game which leads the nation.
As good as the offense was, the Cat defense was brilliant as well. The Wildcats held the Rams to minus six yards rushing in the game. The Cats had three interceptions in the game. Demetrice Gilbert picked off two Ram passes while Darian Burns had the other pick. Bethel has eight interceptions this season.
Bethel had five sacks and six tackles for losses in the game. C. J Bradley, Gilbert, and Burns led the Wildcats with five tackles each. The Rams were just 2-of-11 in third down conversions.
Bethel's special teams played well, giving the Cats good field position throughout the game.
It was the fifth meeting between the two programs. The Cats are 5-0 versus the Rams.
Bethel improved to 3-0 while Bluefield dropped to 2-1.
It was Bethel's 15th straight regular season win.
Coach Michael Japer was pleased with the win. "I'm excited for our program today. That was a solid effort in all three phases against a good football team. So proud of the way our defense played lights out and the way the offense went out and executed at a high level. Guys were flying around and making plays everywhere today and it was great to see all around. Can't say enough about the game-plans Coach Bright, Coach Springer, and Coach Kincaid put together. Our entire staff went to work this week and the kids went out and did everything we asked them to do. This is an incredible team and I'm blessed to lead them every day. We will enjoy it for 24 hours or so then get right back to it preparing for Thomas University."
Next Week:
The Cats remain at home to host Thomas University at 1 p.m. It will be Military Appreciation Day at Wildcat Stadium.