Bradwell Institute

Tigers slap 34-6 win on Groves

Groves High School at Bradwell Institute

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The Bradwell Tigers opened region play at home with a 34-6 victory at Olvey Field against the Groves High Rebels Friday night.
The Rebels muffed the opening kick off and the Tigers recovered the ball. It took four plays and around 60-yards for the Tigers to get their first touchdown barely taking three minutes off the clock. David Miller missed the point after attempt and it was 6-0 Tigers.
On their next possession, Tiger quarterback Wilson Brown carried the ball 25-yards and deep into Rebel territory. DeMario Day carried the ball for 11 and made it to the three-yard line, but a penalty moved them back five. Brown then connected with Alex Velasco to set up their second touchdown by a carry from Sheldon Barnes.
Miller made the PAT giving the Tigers a 13-0 lead.
The Rebels opened their second drive from their own 22-yard line and their quarterback went deep with a pass. But instead of a Rebel touchdown, DeAnte Day intercepted the ball just shy of the goal line and ran it back to the Rebels’ 40-yard line.
Velasco took a solid hit but held on to a pass by Brown and the Tigers were at the 15. Mike McGirt made the third Tiger touchdown and Miller’s kick crossed the bars as the Tigers extended their lead with 55 seconds left in the first quarter.
The Tiger defense didn’t let up, forcing the Rebels to punt. The Rebels drew an offside and their punter was pinned deep inside his own goal line. The Tigers had the ball at the 30-yard line and good field position. But this time, the Rebels held and Miller came out for the punt.
The Rebels would get their first and only touchdown five minutes before halftime when their fullback broke free from two tackles and took it 20 yards to the end zone. But the kicker missed the PAT as Manuel Crum almost blocked the kick leaving the Rebels’ trailing 20-6.
Barnes scored the next touchdown with 15 seconds before the half.
The Tiger defense held the Rebels for the remainder of the game. There were solid tackles by Shaquille Russell, Ja’Shan Thomas, David Swinford and Jerrell Inman.
Special teams played well with Miller scrambling on a low snap and still getting the punt off.
A Rebel player muffed a return and it was recovered by the Tigers to keep their drive going. But the Rebels held strong and Miller came out to punt again on fourth and six. The Tigers tried a trick play, snapping the ball directly to DeMario Day who carried it for five before being brought down just shy of the first.
The Tiger defense proved to be too strong for the Rebels. The Tigers added their last touchdown making it 34-6.
In the fourth quarter Tiger coach Jim Walsh rested his starters and put in backup quarterback Nick Smith who ran the second offense to close the game.
“I’m going to be wearing a different hat every week during region play and I’m going to give this first team hat to DeAnte Day,” defensive coordinator Jeff Smith said as he handed the hat to Day for the interception.
“We played well,” Walsh said. “But we still need to play better. We played physically the first half and did good, but in the second half we started making mistakes and started to shoot ourselves in the foot.”
Walsh said the region games just get tougher and he doesn’t want his squad to relax because they got a solid victory. He said it was upsetting to see all the penalties the Tigers got in the second half, one of which cost them a touchdown.
“We can’t continue to do that,” he said. “We still need to work on execution.”