Bearcats strong, all day long
- Updated: September 5, 2015
[corner-ad id=2]Hubbard, Forbes, defense keep pressure on as Weaver holds on to big lead
Pleasant Valley’s defense surrounds and takes down a Weaver ballcarrier early in their game Friday night. (Photo by Shane Whitehead)
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
WEAVER — The painful memory of last week’s second-half collapse still burned when Weaver took the field for its region opener Friday night.
The Bearcats were determined not to let it happen again.
A week ago, Weaver couldn’t hold a two-touchdown lead in the first half and lost to Jacksonville. When confronted with a similar situation Friday night, it flourished.
The Bearcats were opportunistic with their defense, added to their halftime lead and beat Pleasant Valley at Homecoming in Bill Bryan Stadium 46-13.
“We were determined that wasn’t going to happen again,” defensive end Matt Elston said. “We just put our mind to it and we got it done.”
The Bearcats seemed to have Jacksonville on the ropes last week, opening a 28-14 lead in the first half. It was 28-21 at the break, but they wound up falling 35-28.
This week, they opened a 26-7 halftime lead and scored on three straight possessions midway through the second half to win going away.
“I don’t think we’re going to let that happen again,” quarterback Paul Hubbard said. “We talked about it every day. That feeling after the game was the worst; we don’t want that any more. We knew what we had to do and we did it.”
The Weaver defense made its presence felt right from the start. Caleb Allison tackled Josh Preston in the end zone on the Raiders’ first offensive play from scrimmage and Delo Forbes scored the first of his three first-half touchdowns on the possession following the free kick and by the end of the quarter the Bearcats were up 18-0.
Forbes scored on runs on 14, 7 and 91 yards. The last touchdown was a real backbreaker. It came right after the Bearcats stopped a potential momentum-changing drive that could have cut the Raiders’ deficit to four.
Instead, Forbes broke out of the backfield and raced 91 yards to help his team extend the lead. Forbes rushed for 128 yards on nine carries.
“We were down but he brought us back up,” Hubbard said. “He knows what he needs to do to get us going and he did it. I think that was the turning point in the game. It got everybody going.”
The Bearcats didn’t need much offense in the second half, but they were productive with what they had. Their defense, meanwhile, stymied PV with three interceptions in the second half and held it to 106 yards.
Most of the Raiders’ second-half yards came on a sustained drive that consumed two-thirds of the fourth quarter. The Raiders went 73 yards in 17 plays – and two five-yard penalties that went against them — capped by Elijah Borders’ second touchdown pass of the game on the final play.
“We said this is a new chapter, the first chapter of the book,” Weaver coach Daryl Hamby said. “What happened last week is done, we’re not worried about the past anymore, let’s move forward. And we’re moving forward.”
WEAVER 46, PLEASANT VALLEY 13
Pleasant Val. 0 7 0 6 — 13
Weaver 18 8 6 14 — 46
W – Safety, Caleb Allison tackles Josh Preston in end zone, 9:12 1Q
W – Delo Forbes 14 run (Paul Hubbard run), 7:12 1Q
W – Forbes 7 run (Maurice Goodman pass from Hubbard), 0:40, 1Q
PV – Caden Turner 34 pass from Elijah Borders (Borders kick), 8:17 2Q
W – Forbes 91 run (Hubbard run), 1:46 2Q
W – Hubbard 37 run (pass failed), 2:01 3Q
W – Lawrence Copeland 34 pass from Dalton Hamby (Goodman kick), 10:51 4Q
W – Giovanni Mosley 31 run (Goodman kick), 7:55 4Q
PV – Reagan King 6 pass from Borders (no attempt), 0:00 4Q
Category PV Wea
First downs 14 10
Rushes-yds 43-65 29-238
C-A-I 8-25-3 1-5-1
Passing yds 90 -7
Fumbles-lost 0-0 1-0
Penalties-yds 7-43 4-50
Punts-avg 4-34.0 4-29.0
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