Mistakes Hurt Cats in Tough Home Loss to Georgetown
MCKENZIE, Tenn. - Two early mistakes by No.6 Bethel would prove to be costly for the Wildcats as they fell behind 14-0 to No. 19 Georgetown Saturday afternoon and would eventually suffer their first loss of the season losing 52-24 before a stunned crowd at Wildcat Stadium.
Georgetown held Bethel on the opening drive of the game. After a GC drive stalled at midfield the Tigers punted and the Wildcats took over at their own four -yard line.
On the first play of the Wildcats' drive, Georgetown's Jayson Hayes picked off a Joaquin Collazo III pass and took it eight yards for a Tiger score. Drew Radar's point after gave the Kentucky visitors a 7-0 lead.
After another exchange of punts, Bethel drove the ball down inside the GC ten. On the first play of the 2nd quarter, Andrew Welch missed a 22-yard field goal attempt, keeping Georgetown ahead, 7-0.
A muffed punt return by Bethel was recovered by Georgetown at Bethel's five. GC's Darius Neal who had a game high 180 yards rushing ran in to give the Tigers a 14-0 margin.
Bethel answered with a nice drive which resulted in a Welch 31-yard field goal to make it 14-3.
Georgetown came back with a drive to score to give the Tigers a 21-3 lead. The one -yard plunge by QB Gehrig Slunaker was set up by a Neal 25-yard run. The short drive ensued after a GC 65-yard kick-off return.
Bethel answered immediately with a 47-yard TD pass to get back within 21-10. Collazo found Avont Burrus from 47 yards out to make it 21-10 at the half.
Another long kick-off return opened the third stanza for the Tigers. It resulted in a 43-yard Rader field goal and the Tigers led 24-10.
The Cats pulled to within 24-16 after a Taylor Yancey four -yard scamper. The extra point was no good.
After a poor Bethel punt, the Tigers scored to give GC a 31-16 margin.
Later the Wildcats were forced to punt from their own 12 and a poor punt gave Georgetown the ball at the Bethel 20. The Tigers scored and led 38-16.
Collazo and J D Dixon teamed up for a 17-yard touchdown strike to cut the GC lead to 38-22. Jaylen Taylor caught a two-point conversion pass from Collazo and the Cats trailed 38-24. The score came after a four play 72-yard drive.
The Tigers drove 75 yards and Neal ran in from 25 yards out and GC seized complete control.
Jayson Hayes would pick off another pass and 18 yards later Georgetown would win 52-24.
The ability to run the ball was a key for the Tigers. Entering the game, Bethel was allowing only 75 yards per game in rushing defense, but the GC offensive line was a big factor as Georgetown finished with 247 yards on the ground.
The Wildcats finished with a season low of 103 yards rushing. Bethel had 232 yards in passing yards. Dixon caught seven passes for 107 yards.
Brian Hughes and Brody Franks led Bethel with eight tackles each.
The loss snapped a Bethel 17 game regular season winning streak.
It was the 17th meeting between the two programs. GC has a 13-4 advantage in the series.
The Wildcats are 5-1 overall and 1-1 in the MSC. Georgetown is 3-1 and 1-0.
Coach Micheal Jasper commented, "This loss is on me. We were not prepared and focused from the very start. You cannot make the kind of mistakes we made today against a team like Georgetown and expect to have success. I thought Georgetown took it to us and we did not respond the way the way we are capable of. We will go back to work and get ready for a good Roosevelt team next week."
The Cats remain home hosting Roosevelt College next Saturday at noon. It will be WRAP Day and Coach to Cure MD Game.
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