The Junior High Bearcats stayed perfect Thursday with a 28-0 win at Billy Mills Field in Hackett.
Allowing 24 total yards, the Bearcat defense registered its fourth shutout with four sacks and a pair of turnovers.
Karson Tillery had two sacks and Chase Posey had one. Rowgan Haller had the other, which was also one of the turnovers (shown) as Posey snagged the football in the air after Haller knocked it loose and returned it 37 yards to the Hackett 20-yard line.
The offense? Cooper Smithson ran for 105 yards on 11 carries and scored three touchdowns. He also scored a pair of 2-point conversions.
But it was Drake Brackney who accounted for the first points of the night, scoring on a 15-yard run that capped a 61-yard drive to make it 6-0 with 2:48 left in the opening quarter. A 2-point try failed.
The Bearcats (6-0, 3-0) lost a touchdown to a penalty – 12 flags resulted in 86 yards in penalties on the night – and would find themselves in a first-and-26 due to penalties on their third possession.
That possession ended in a turnover on downs 35.6 seconds before the intermission but Brackney got the Bearcats the ball back with an interception he returned to the Hornet 7.
Smithson scored from there and also ran for the 2-point conversion and a 14-0 lead.
Smithson scored again, on a 44-yard run, on the second play of the second half and again added the conversion run and it was 22-0 with 7:42 to go in the third quarter.
Hackett moved to the Bearcat 27 on the ensuing possession before consecutive negative yardage plays by Asher Penny and the Haller sack/fumble that Posey collected.
The Bearcats were unable to capitalize on the turnover but would get the ball back with 7:27 to play.
A 30-yard run by Edwin Garcia set up Smithson’s third touchdown run, which covered 13 yards, and it was 28-0 with 4:40 to play.
The Bearcats will be on the road again next week, traveling to Greenland. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
DEFENSE KEYS JUNIOR HIGH BEARCAT WIN OVER HACKETT
