Weaver wallops Lexington

The matchup may have looked even, but the Bearcats took care of that early; reach third round of playoffs for only the second time in school history

By Brant Locklier
For East Alabama Sports Today

WEAVER (Nov. 11) — Wow! Were the Weaver Bearcats ever ready to play Friday night at Bill Bryan Stadium.

The Bearcats totally dominated the Lexington Golden Bears, scoring their first-ever playoff shutout 42-0 to advance to the third round of the Class 3A playoffs for only the second time in school history.

The two teams came into the match up with a lot of similarities: Identical 8-3 records, their opponents total records, both coaches in their seventh year, both teams lost a star running back midway through the season, both won on the road last week and both of their deepest runs in the play-offs came in 2005, to name a few.

However after one drive it was clearly apparent that Weaver was not paying any attention to those similarities.

The Bearcats (9-3) scored on their first four possessions of the game and their first two of the second half to cruise out to a 42-0 lead. Their defense held Lexington to just 38 yards of offense until the last five minutes of the game. The Golden Bears only got past Weaver’s 40 once and that was with 2:59 to go in the game.

“We are playing our best football at the right time,” Weaver head coach Daryl Hamby said. “Our schedule helped us get ready for these type of games.”

Paul Hubbard controlled the game with his passing and running for three quarters. He rushed for 120 yards on 10 carries and was 5-of-5 passing for 76 yards and a touchdown pass to Maurice Goodman. Goodman caught four passes for 58 yards and rushed three times for 27 yards.

Tyrick Hall ripped the Golden Bears defense for 132 yards on eightcarries and three touchdowns on runs of 56, 20, 27 and 1 yards.

“Our line did such a great job of opening holes for our backs,” Hamby said. “We have had some great backs since I have been here, but did not have the line to run through — but we have the line this year. They did a really good job out there tonight.”

Weaver led 28-0 at the half and it stuffed any comeback attempt the Golden Bears might make when when Goodman picked up 17 yards on a fake punt from his own 30 to narrowly pick up a first down. The Bearcats drove it in for a touchdown to extend the lead to 35-0.
“Maurice is a dynamic player and as crazy as it sounds, we give him a free reign back there on punts,” said Hamby. “We just want to make sure he makes good decisions. He got the first down by inches this time.”

Weaver now travels to region champion Piedmont (12-0) next week in a Class 3A Region 5 rematch of their Sept. 30 regular-season clash (won by Piedmont 49-15). Randolph County (10-2) travels to Ohatchee (11-1) in the bracket’s other Class 3A Region 5 rematch.

These 4 region rivals are 8-0 in the playoffs and at halftime of all four games Friday night they led by a combined 88-7 score.

“We were hoping that all four of us could get to the North semifinals,” said Hamby. ”We had talked about it. We are excited to be here. We know how good Piedmont is and we know why they are No. 1 in the state. We are just going to go over there and give it our best shot.”

Weaver 42, Lexington 0
Lexington 0 0 0 0 — 0
Weaver 14 14 14 0 — 42

W — Tyrik Hall 1 run (Riley Benavides kick), 7:35 1Q
W – Maurice Goodman 7 pass from Paul Hubbard (Riley Benavides kick), 1:39 1Q
W – Tyrik Hall 56 run (Riley Benavides kick), 11:41 2Q
W — Tyrik Hall 20 run (Riley Benavides kick), 5:28 2Q
W – Tyrik Hall 27 run (Riley Benavides kick), 8:05 3Q
W — Shamar Spinks 1 run (Riley Benavides kick), 3:34 3Q

Team stats Lex Wea
First Downs 7 21
Rushing yds 100 428
Passes 2-8-0 5-5-0
Passing yds -1 76
Fumbles-lost 1-1 2-2
Penalty yds 35 105

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