The new gold jerseys made their Bearcat Stadium debut Friday night on Pink Out night and the Bearcats started red hot on the way to a 41-6 win over West Fork.
Absent was the normal salute explosion and black smoke signaling the Bearcats arrival inside the Home of Champions but there were very early fireworks came from Clayton Green, who recovered a fumbled opening kickoff at the West Fork 33-yard line.
The Bearcats (7-0, 4-0 Conference 3A-1) needed just four plays to score as Hunter Warren was in the end zone sporting the white painted BOONEVILLE end of the field. It was 7-0 after Oliver Loaeza’s point after kick.
The Tigers (1-6, 1-3) managed one first down before punting and the Bearcats proceeded to march 77 yards in six plays to double the lead to 14-0 with 7:29 left in the opening quarter.
Four of the carries, including the touchdown on a run of 4 yards, were by Damari Poole but it was Dylan Todd who set up the score with a 42-yard jaunt.
Poole finished the night with a team leading 115 yards on 14 carries.
A fourth down stop by Aiden Fox and Poole that was well short of the patch of green grass necessary for a Tiger first down would give the Bearcats the ball at the West Fork 42 for their next possession, but they would be unable to capitalize on the short field.
That was because a pair of yellow flags for false starts and another for a delay of game meant the Bearcats would be forced to punt the ball away themselves.
Three snaps later the Tigers were forced to punt and the Bearcat offense reasserted itself by marching 61 yards to another touchdown.
Poole’s second of three touchdowns – none of which were acknowledged by the fireworks associated with touchdowns due to a county wide burn ban – came on a 20-yard run on a fourth-and-1 play and it was 21-0 with 10:20 to go in the first half.
As the temperatures dropped, both offensive units went through a period of blues, combining to end each of the next four possessions with punts.
It was West Fork who found an spark from an orange ember. The Tigers used a 34-yard pass play to reach to Bearcat 28 then got a 20-yard scoring run to make it 21-6 – the PAT try hit the left upright and bounced back into the end zone.
If there was a silver lining in allowing the Tigers to get back into the game was the 51 seconds remaining on the clock and the Bearcats were seeing red.
Todd returned the ensuing kickoff 44 yards to the Tiger 32-yards line. Conner Lentz got 19 on the next play, then another yard and, after a time out, Jace Washburn hit Noah Harrel for a touchdown from the 12 and it was 27-6.
Out of the intermission the Bearcat offense returned to its royal purple standard but missed out on some brownie points, or rather a 2-point conversion.
The unit needed just six plays to put more distance between themselves and the Tigers. It was Poole ripping off a 33-yard run to set up his third touchdown run of the night from the 2 to make it 33-6 just 1:59 into the third quarter.
Lentz was stopped short on a conversion attempt.
West Fork would then have the ball for almost six minutes but would not score. Initially the Tigers were forced to punt but the kick would not be fielded cleanly and the Tigers recovered.
Poole (shown), who had seven total tackles registered a sack a play later but after an unsportsmanlike conduct call against West Fork the Bearcats awarded the Tigers a first down by roughing the passer.
That would be the green light for the Tiger offense to move inside the Bearcat 10-yard line, which would be where the drive ended on a Seth Wilson fumble recovery.
The Bearcats managed one first down after the turnover but it took a 38-yard punt by Dakota Mattson – his average for the night – to flip the field.
Negative yardage tackles by Conner Droemer and Poole on the final two plays of the third quarter backed the Tigers up even more.
With the Tigers in punt formation a short snap would lead to the Bearcat taking over at the West Fork 28.
The golden opportunity to enact the sportsmanship rule would not be wasted. Three carries by Warren went for 9, 9, and 10 yards for the touchdown.
Winning a race to the orange pylon bearing a Bearcat face, Todd ran for a 2-point conversion to hit the 35-point margin for the running clock at 41-6.
Warren, who ran 12 times for 92 yards and the two touchdowns, was done for the night, but two more fullbacks – Brody Chambers and Levi McMaster added 16 yards apiece on two carries each to give the Bearcats a total of 239 yards out of the position on the night.
A running clock meant Purple Rain would be forthcoming by the Bearcat band.
Up next for the Bearcats is a trip to Mansfield. The Tigers are 5-2 on the season but are the only other Conference 3A-1 team without a conference loss. Kickoff is at 7:00 p.m.
