Haney’s career night lifts Bulldogs past Govs, 41-33

Josh Haney rushed for 223 yards and three touchdowns, and for the second straight week, Bearden held off a late comeback attempt – this time in a 41-33 win over William Blount on the road. The Governors scored with 5:09 left in the game and were successful on the two point conversion attempt to close the gap to the final margin, but the Bulldog offense responded. Haney and the Bulldogs (2-1) went on a methodical march down the field, eating up five minutes of clock and forcing William Blount (1-2) to use all of its timeouts. “Getting a district win, that is what we needed,” Bearden coach Brad Taylor said. Haney scored on runs of 1, 16, and 70. Haney also had two receptions for 12 yards, a 35-yard pass, and two kick-off returns for 56 yards – a total of 326 all-purpose yards. “I was just trying to get to the end zone, just to help my team get the W,” Haney said. “We knew we could not go down tonight.” Junior running back Trent Waters put the Bulldogs up 41-25 with a 33-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter. “When the team watches the tape,” William Blount coach David Gregory said, “I think that they will realize that they had a big opportunity to win a football game tonight.” The first of Haney’s touchdowns came with just a minute left in the first half to put the Bulldogs up 13-7, ending a fairly mediocre half for the Bearden offense. “There was a lot of fun stuff tonight, but there was also some stuff that makes you want to bang your head against the wall,” Coach Taylor said. Most of Coach Taylor’s head banging ended at halftime, as the Bulldog offense came out smoking to start the second half. Haney’s second and third touchdowns both came in the third quarter. The 70-yard score looked a lot like something number 33 would have given the Bulldogs last year. “I learned a lot from Devrin (Young),” Haney said. Two plays after his 70-yard scamper, Haney intercepted a pass and gave the ball right back to his hot offense. Waters broke a 58-yard run, which helped set up quarterback Nicky Frizen for a 14-yard touchdown run. “I don’t know if we stayed in the dressing room,” Coach Gregory said. “We didn’t adjust well to what they were doing.” Of course, none of the scoring runs could have been possible without a stellar performance by the Bulldog offensive line. “Our offensive line played their butts off our last two games,” Coach Taylor said. While there is still much to work on for the Bulldogs, the game was an encouraging night for the Bearden faithful. “It is nice to be able to correct after a win,” Coach Taylor said. The Bulldogs will look to continue to make those corrections when they face Rhea County (0-3) at home next Friday.