Bethel Christian ends regular season in style with win over Community Christian
Story by Keith Spence / Special to ENC Moments
Seven Bethel Academy seniors suited up for the final time at home on Friday. To say they finished up in style would be an understatement.
The Trojans scored on the first play of the game and never really stopped reaching the end zone, generating a running clock by the end of the third quarter, and crushing Wilson Community Christian 62-22 to set up a semi-final playoff contest at Halifax Academy.
“We did everything we set out to do,” Bethel coach Brick Crowder said. “We won the game, created some momentum heading into the playoffs, and honored seven young men who’ve meant so much to our program. It was a great night.”
Bethel (5-2) made short work of the visiting Cyclones (3-4).
Malachai Ramsey took the very first snap of the game 41 yards to the house, setting up a 24-point first quarter and 46-point first half.
Ramsey added a 27-yard TD run in the first quarter and an 8-yard score in the final minute of the first half.
The freshman finished with 157 yards on 11 carries.
Junior Jaylen Sims would also excel, leading the Trojans in rushing (165 yards on 10 attempts).
Sims shredded the Cyclone defense for scoring bursts of 52, 4, and 27 yards.
Senior quarterback Easton Truett added a pair of rushing touchdowns as Bethel erupted for 394 yards on the ground.
Truett also threw a 39-yard TD pass to fellow senior Cooper Emory in the opening quarter.
“We played extremely well on both sides of the ball,” Crowder said. “Our line did a good job of blocking, and our backs ran extremely hard. Defensively, I thought we controlled the line of scrimmage and got good pressure on their quarterback.”
The Cyclones managed just 123 total yards and one offensive touchdown, a 22-pass from Landon Beamon to Aiden Smith.
That one reception was it for the visitor’s passing game.
Beamon, who entered the game averaging 169 yards passing per game with 10 touchdowns, completed just 1 of 16 attempts with an interception.
Smith, who hauled in 27 passes for 847 yards in the Cyclones’ first 6 games, was completely locked down by Bethel’s Ramsey.
“The success of their passing game worried us a bit,” Crowder said, “but we thought Malachai could hold his own defensively against their top receiver (Smith). He performed he even better than that.”
The Cyclones’ only scoring drive was a thing of beauty, an 11-play, 95-yard march that took 6:17 off the second quarter clock.
Seven other Cyclone possessions generated just 31 total yards.
“We got great contributions from just about everyone,” Crowder said. “But this night was about our seniors: Logan Bullock, Colby Eubanks, Easton Truett, Zach Tilghman, Gabe Ezzell, Cooper Emory, and Hunter Isenberg. Seven young men who do everything right on and off the field, are great examples to our younger players, and will be sorely missed. I love them all and can’t wait to see what the future holds for each of them.”
BETHEL CHRISTIAN 62, COMMUNITY CHRISTIAN 22
Community Christian 8 6 0 8—22
Bethel Christian 24 22 16 0—62
First Quarter
BCA—Malachai Ramsey 41 run (McKinnon Wade run), 11:44
BCA—Cooper Emory 39 pass from Easton Truett (Ramsey run), 8:59
BCA—Ramsey 27 run (Truett run), 6:59
CC—Copeland Farmer 41 fumble return (Aiden Smith pass from Landon Beamon), 3:52
Second Quarter
BCA—Truett 1 run (run failed), 11:57
CC—Smith 22 pass from Beamon (pass failed), 5:40
BCA—Jaylen Sims 52 run (Emory pass from Truett), 5:25
BCA—Ramsey 8 run (Wade run), :17.3
Third Quarter
BCA—Truett 4 run (Wade pass from Truett), 6:56
BCA—Sims 27 run (Zach Harrison pass from Truett), 1:46
Fourth Quarter
CC—Farmer 81 kickoff return (Beamon run), 11:32
CC BCA
First Downs 9 19
Rushes-yards 25-101 41-394
Passing 1-17-1 1-4-0
Passing yards 22 39
Total yards 123 433
Punts-avg 0-0 0-0
Penalties 3-20 5-55
Fumbles-lost 2-1 1-1
Individual Statistics
RUSHING—Community Christian: Landon Beamon 11-56, Noah Turner 8-37, Graham Norville 4-7, Aiden Smith 2-1. Bethel: Jaylen Sims 10-165, Malachai Ramsey 11-157, Easton Truett 8-36, McKinnon Wade 7-25, Zach Tilghman 5-11.
PASSING—Community Christian: Beamon 1-16-1 22, Smith 0-1-0. Bethel: Truett 1-4-0 22.
RECEIVING—Community Christian: Smith 1-22. Bethel: Cooper Emory 1-39.
Story by Keith Spence / Special to ENC Moments
Seven Bethel Academy seniors suited up for the final time at home on Friday. To say they finished up in style would be an understatement.
The Trojans scored on the first play of the game and never really stopped reaching the end zone, generating a running clock by the end of the third quarter, and crushing Wilson Community Christian 62-22 to set up a semi-final playoff contest at Halifax Academy.
“We did everything we set out to do,” Bethel coach Brick Crowder said. “We won the game, created some momentum heading into the playoffs, and honored seven young men who’ve meant so much to our program. It was a great night.”
Bethel (5-2) made short work of the visiting Cyclones (3-4).
Malachai Ramsey took the very first snap of the game 41 yards to the house, setting up a 24-point first quarter and 46-point first half.
Ramsey added a 27-yard TD run in the first quarter and an 8-yard score in the final minute of the first half.
The freshman finished with 157 yards on 11 carries.
Junior Jaylen Sims would also excel, leading the Trojans in rushing (165 yards on 10 attempts).
Sims shredded the Cyclone defense for scoring bursts of 52, 4, and 27 yards.
Senior quarterback Easton Truett added a pair of rushing touchdowns as Bethel erupted for 394 yards on the ground.
Truett also threw a 39-yard TD pass to fellow senior Cooper Emory in the opening quarter.
“We played extremely well on both sides of the ball,” Crowder said. “Our line did a good job of blocking, and our backs ran extremely hard. Defensively, I thought we controlled the line of scrimmage and got good pressure on their quarterback.”
The Cyclones managed just 123 total yards and one offensive touchdown, a 22-pass from Landon Beamon to Aiden Smith.
That one reception was it for the visitor’s passing game.
Beamon, who entered the game averaging 169 yards passing per game with 10 touchdowns, completed just 1 of 16 attempts with an interception.
Smith, who hauled in 27 passes for 847 yards in the Cyclones’ first 6 games, was completely locked down by Bethel’s Ramsey.
“The success of their passing game worried us a bit,” Crowder said, “but we thought Malachai could hold his own defensively against their top receiver (Smith). He performed he even better than that.”
The Cyclones’ only scoring drive was a thing of beauty, an 11-play, 95-yard march that took 6:17 off the second quarter clock.
Seven other Cyclone possessions generated just 31 total yards.
“We got great contributions from just about everyone,” Crowder said. “But this night was about our seniors: Logan Bullock, Colby Eubanks, Easton Truett, Zach Tilghman, Gabe Ezzell, Cooper Emory, and Hunter Isenberg. Seven young men who do everything right on and off the field, are great examples to our younger players, and will be sorely missed. I love them all and can’t wait to see what the future holds for each of them.”
BETHEL CHRISTIAN 62, COMMUNITY CHRISTIAN 22
Community Christian 8 6 0 8—22
Bethel Christian 24 22 16 0—62
First Quarter
BCA—Malachai Ramsey 41 run (McKinnon Wade run), 11:44
BCA—Cooper Emory 39 pass from Easton Truett (Ramsey run), 8:59
BCA—Ramsey 27 run (Truett run), 6:59
CC—Copeland Farmer 41 fumble return (Aiden Smith pass from Landon Beamon), 3:52
Second Quarter
BCA—Truett 1 run (run failed), 11:57
CC—Smith 22 pass from Beamon (pass failed), 5:40
BCA—Jaylen Sims 52 run (Emory pass from Truett), 5:25
BCA—Ramsey 8 run (Wade run), :17.3
Third Quarter
BCA—Truett 4 run (Wade pass from Truett), 6:56
BCA—Sims 27 run (Zach Harrison pass from Truett), 1:46
Fourth Quarter
CC—Farmer 81 kickoff return (Beamon run), 11:32
CC BCA
First Downs 9 19
Rushes-yards 25-101 41-394
Passing 1-17-1 1-4-0
Passing yards 22 39
Total yards 123 433
Punts-avg 0-0 0-0
Penalties 3-20 5-55
Fumbles-lost 2-1 1-1
Individual Statistics
RUSHING—Community Christian: Landon Beamon 11-56, Noah Turner 8-37, Graham Norville 4-7, Aiden Smith 2-1. Bethel: Jaylen Sims 10-165, Malachai Ramsey 11-157, Easton Truett 8-36, McKinnon Wade 7-25, Zach Tilghman 5-11.
PASSING—Community Christian: Beamon 1-16-1 22, Smith 0-1-0. Bethel: Truett 1-4-0 22.
RECEIVING—Community Christian: Smith 1-22. Bethel: Cooper Emory 1-39.
