When a Farragut touchdown in the middle of the fourth quarter of Thursday night’s game tied things up, Bearden fans could be forgiven for feeling like this was something they had already experienced this season.
In the first two weeks of the season, Bearden’s losses to defending 5-A state champion West and defending 3-A state champion Alcoa both turned on late fourth quarter comebacks. The Bulldogs had also suffered consecutive single-digit losses to the Admirals in 2021 and 2022.
But this time was different.
After three and outs from both teams, quarterback Drew Parrott calmly brought his team down the field, and Jayzon Thompson found a crease in the Farragut defense on a 4th and 1, taking it 36 yards for the score, giving Bearden a 21-14 lead.
Then, it was up to the defense to close it out.
It didn’t take long for that to happen, though, as the first play on the Farragut drive was an Ethan Couvertiere interception, sealing the win for Bearden (3-2, 2-0 Region 2-6A).
“It makes my job a lot easier by having a great defense,” Parrott said. “They are able to provide us with great field position often which makes it easier to score. We have the athletes on that side of the ball, and that is huge for the team.”
Leadership played a big part in the defense stepping up at the end of the game. Senior safety and captain Sam Tummins came up big on the drive that got Bearden the ball back, making a key tackle on third down.
“My first three years of high school football, I got to focus mainly on just playing,” Tummins said. “This year, I have had to really mold myself into the captain role, and it’s been difficult. But luckily we have a great senior class, especially on defense, who kind of take that stress off my back.”
The losses in the first two games of this season caused the two sides of the ball to reflect and ensure that each is playing for the other now.
“The [responsibility for the] game-winning drives from the first two weeks [was] on both the offense and the defense,” Tummins said. “Obviously, we can’t let the offense drive down the field and score late, but the offense also needs to put us in the right situation.
“This is something that we have worked on since then, and it went well for us against Farragut.”
While Thursday’s win got the attention of the East Tennessee football community, a win on Friday can put the Bulldogs into the conversation of one of the best teams in the state.
Bearden will travel to traditional powerhouse Maryville on Friday night, looking to win their 4th straight game. The two opponents have met each year since 2008, with the Rebels (4-2, 1-1) winning every meeting.
While the team understands the history behind this game and the historical dominance of the Maryville program, they most importantly see it as a chance to improve their region record and cement their place at the top of the league standings.
“Our mindset going into this game is to leave Maryville 3-0 in the region,” Parrott said. “They are a great team as history shows, and we would love to beat them because of who they are, but in the end it’s a region game that will shape our playoff run.”