Andrew Kirk jumps up for a catch against the Tigers on October 25, 2024.
Bracken County’s Ashton Buchanan makes a run toward the end-zone against the Beechwood Tigers on October 25, 2024.
The Bracken County Polar Bears hosted the Beechwood Tigers on the football field Friday night.
Both teams previously undefeated in the district, the Polar Bears and Tigers faced off for the district championship in a game that was competitive and hard fought throughout each minute of the contest. In 2023, the two teams faced off for the first time, with Bracken County falling 41-0. Having not forgotten that loss, the Polar Bears entered the contest focused and eager to jump out ahead of the Tigers early, hoping to build up and maintain a solid lead over the Tigers to pull out another district win.
After receiving the kickoff, the Polar Bears marched their way down the field, working past the Beechwood defense as they gradually closed in on the end-zone. Bracken County fought their way in to score, with a successful PAT attempt sending the Polar Bears over the Tigers 7-0 with just over six minutes left in the first quarter. This lead wouldn’t last long, however, with Beechwood able to run the ball in to score off of the following kickoff return, tying the contest 7-7 with a successful extra point kick.
“That first touchdown that’s exactly what we wanted to do.” said Polar Bears head coach, Steven Tarter, “We thought we’d be able to move the ball. That was the game plan and it worked out perfect, they made a great adjustment on us coming into the second quarter, and they were able to stop us a few times. That kickoff, that’s one you just don’t want. We had planned all week to kick it to the sideline, get it out of bounds on that 30, we just didn’t get it there so, it is what it is, we’ll just learn from it and get better from it.”
In the second quarter, the Tigers would fight their way down the field, slowly working their way toward the end-zone as Bracken County worked to hold them back. Beechwood then successfully attempted a field goal, to lead 10-7 over Bracken County, a lead the Polar Bears were hoping to close shortly after.
Unfortunately for Bracken County, the Tigers’ defense would be able to hold them back throughout the remainder of the first half, with another touchdown scored by Beechwood late in the quarter to send them over the Polar Bears 17-7. A ten point lead built up by halftime, the Tigers felt good heading into the third quarter, but Bracken County refused to give up and continued to fight throughout the remainder of the contest.
Beechwood would score two more touchdowns this quarter furthering their lead over the Polar Bears to 31-7 despite continuous efforts from the Bracken County defense.
“We just keep striving on defense. These kids, we just got to get a little bit faster. I think our coverage was great, that’s what I was worried about all week, I think we played the throw really well, that quarterback scramble is what killed us. We’ll go back to watch film, we’ll see these guys again. We’ll adjust for some things and get ready for them, hopefully we do see them.” said coach Tarter.
As the game continued, the Beechwood defense would successfully hold off Bracken County’s offense. The Polar Bears would nearly be able to bring the ball in to score one more touchdown with just under five minutes left in the contest, but an interception in the end-zone would prevent Bracken County from scoring. Beechwood worked their way into the end-zone one more time following this interception, ending the contest up 38-7 over the Polar Bears.
“Offense is a new role. We put Greg back there and hopefully it will work out for that mobile thing. We moved Jack around off of that, he’s our better thrower I feel like, but I gotta go back to the drawing board to see what’s best for the team moving forward. I like the way Jack can throw the ball around, and I like the way Greg can get us yards so, I don’t know, gotta see who we’re facing and maybe change some things up.” said coach Tarter.
Despite dropping to Beechwood in the district championship game, the Polar Bears will enter the postseason the number two seed, and are guaranteed at least one home playoff game. Coach Tarter was proud of the team’s performance despite the loss, and will head into next week’s contest against Lewis County prepared and ready.
“It’s hard to feel good about a loss, but I feel good. It was a hard fought loss, I feel like the boys put it all out there. It was a couple things, a quick kickoff return. The defense played great, it doesn’t show, yeah they scored 38 points, but I feel like our defense played great. I told the guys not to drop their heads, we have a playoff, we’ll see this team again.” said coach Tarter.
