Shorthanded BCA falls to Halifax Academy in shootout

What started as a game Bethel Christian Academy wanted to win ended as a game the Trojans just tried to survive.

Already playing without four players suspended during last week’s forfeit at Wayne Christian, short-handed Bethel lost a handful more to injury on Friday and fell to visiting Halifax Academy 70-48.

Fortunately, none of the Trojan injuries were considered too serious.

“We were already missing four players and then we lost that many more during the game to injury,” Bethel coach Brick Crowder said. “That’s a lot of attrition for an 8-man football team. The good news is that everyone who got hurt should be okay with a few days of rest.”

The Trojans (3-2) played without five defensive starters, and it showed.

Halifax (5-1) rolled up 613 yards of total offense, despite the fact both teams agreed to a running clock midway through the third quarter. Running back Eli Harris was a one-man wrecking crew with 383 rushing yards and six touchdowns on 24 carries.

Harris scored on runs of 18, 34, 9, 57, 76 and 52 yards. Three times he scored on either the first or second play of a Halifax possession.

Amazingly, Harris didn’t even record the longest run of the night for a Viking ballcarrier — that distinction belonged to Cody Dickens, who bolted 80 yards to paydirt on his team’s first offensive snap.

Bethel also erupted for some offensive fireworks, especially when it handed off to Josh Sutton.

The junior tailback sliced through the Halifax defense for 224 yards and four rushing TD’s on 11 carries. He also returned a kickoff 98 yards for a score.

The Trojans collected 393 total yards, most under the direction of back-up quarterback Easton Truett, who played extremely well after starter Conner Williams went down early with a hip injury.

Truett also picked off a pass on the defensive side of the ball.

“Offensively, I thought we did a lot of things well,” Crowder said. “We moved the ball and mostly just stopped ourselves (three lost fumbles). We must learn to protect the ball better, and, of course, we had no answer for their offense with a young and inexperienced defense on the field. Despite the loss, I’m very proud of the way we hung in there against a very good football team.”

Halifax Academy 70, Bethel Christian 48

Halifax  12           30           20           8—70   

Bethel   6              24           12           6—48

First Quarter

H—Cody Dickens 80 run (run failed), 9:48

H—Eli Harris 18 run (pass failed), 5:15

B—Josh Sutton 17 run (pass failed), 4:36

Second Quarter

B—Sutton 1 run (Gabe Gurley pass from Easton Truett), 11:57

H—Harris 34 run (Harris pass from Bryce Cooke), 9:39

H—JC Branham 36 run (Harris pass from Cooke), 6:56

B—Jalen Sims 62 run (Gurley pass from Truett), 6:38

H—Ayden Woodall 46 pass from Cooke (run failed), 3:15

H—Harris 9 run (Dickens run), :34.3

B—Sutton 56 run (Gurley pass from Truett), :14.3

Third Quarter

H—Harris 57 run (run failed), 11:11

B—Sutton 57 run (pass failed), 10:54

H—Cooke 2 run (Harris run), 8:50

B—Sutton 98 kick return (run failed), 8:07

H—Harris 76 run (pass failed), 2:35

Fourth Quarter

B—Truett 1 run (pass failed), 7:40

H—Harris 52 run (Harris run), 4:17

                                H             B

First Downs        20           10

Rushes-yards     36-568   29-372

Passing                 2-5-1      2-5-0

Passing yards     45           21

Total yards          613         393

Punts-avg.          0-0          1-46.0

Penalties             6-33       6-45

Fumbles-lost      3-1          6-3

Individual Statistics

RUSHING—Halifax: Eli Harris 24-383, Cody Dickens 6-132, JC Branham 2-39, Bryce Cooke 3-9, Ayden Woodall 1-5. Bethel: Josh Sutton 11-224, Jalen Sims 9-126, Easton Truett 4-14, Conner Williams 4-9, Treyvon Phillips 1-(minus 1).

PASSING—Halifax: Cooke 2-5-1 45. Bethel: Truett 3-2-0 21, Williams 0-2-0 0.

RECEIVING—Halifax: Woodall 1-46, Dickens 1-(minus 1). Bethel: Gabe Gurley 2-21.