By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Bellevue football coach Woody McMillen said he might have pealed a little paint off the locker room walls while he was chewing out his players at halftime of a home game against Bishop Brossart on Thursday.
“We thought Brossart played a little harder than we did in the first half, and played a little tougher,” McMillen said. “We kind of challenged them to dig down deep and find a gear that we hadn’t seen out of them and we thought was there, and they really responded.”
The Tigers stepped up their game on both sides of the ball and outscored Brossart 12-0 in the second half to come away with a 26-17 victory. Each team now has a 2-1 record.
The Bellevue offensive unit picked up 264 yards in the second half while the defense limited Brossart to 147 yards and kept the Mustangs from scoring on two drives that moved the ball inside the 10-yard line.
“We were real pleased with the way our kids played in the second half, they really battled,” McMillen said. “We’ve got a lot of young, inexperienced offensive lineman and I really questioned them at halftime. I felt like they grew up a little bit and played much better than they have the previous two games.”
Brossart defeated Bellevue by margins of seven and three points the last two years. Thursday’s game was a tight battle as well with the lead changing hands five times.
With 1:59 remaining in the first half, Brossart senior running back Jack Howard scored on a 15-yard pass from junior quarterback Tyler MacDonald and Bryan Duffy kicked the extra-point to put the Mustangs ahead, 17-14.
Brossart had another chance to score in the final seconds of the first half. After getting the ball to the 15-yard line, however, Duffy missed a 32-yard field goal attempt as time expired.
The Mustangs moved the ball well on their first two possessions of the second half, but they weren’t able to put points on the scoreboard once again. They turned the ball over on downs at the 6-yard line on the first drive and the second one ended with a pass interception in the end zone.
On both drives, a false start penalty seemed to break Brossart’s momentum after moving the ball inside the 10-yard line.
“This team is just making too many mental errors,” said Brossart coach Paul Wiggins Jr. “I know we’ve got a couple freshmen out there on the (offensive) line filling in for guys who are injured, but it’s real simple to know the snap count. I give some credit to Bellevue, but I think we were inside the 20 three times and walked away with nothing, and those are brutal.”
After Brossart turned the ball over on downs in the third quarter, Bellevue took a 20-17 lead when wide receiver Seth Evers caught a short pass and raced 77 yards to score his second touchdown of the game.
“You just try to make plays out there when you can,” Evers said. “That’s a play that’s worked a lot.”
When Bellevue defensive back Charlie Schreiber intercepted a pass in the end zone, the Tigers got the ball on the 20-yard line and their final scoring drive covered 80 yards in 11 plays.
Senior quarterback Eric Atkins kept that drive alive by picking up 22 yards on a fourth-down play. After a pass interference penalty against Brossart moved the ball to the 8-yard line, junior running back Will Ryan took a hand-off on the next play and scored the game’s final touchdown.
Bellevue finished with a 411-403 advantage in total yardage. Ryan picked up 97 of the Tigers’ 171 rushing yards. Atkins completed 12 of 21 passes for 240 yards and three touchdowns. Evers had five catches for 145 yards and two TDs. The other scoring pass was a 30-yarder to senior Tyler Thompson.
“Tyler Thompson made a couple huge plays and made four or five catches that were difference-makers, especially in the first half,” coach McMillen said.
Brossart had 277 yards passing and 126 yards rushing. MacDonald completed 20 of 39 passes with one touchdown and three interceptions. The Mustangs also lost a fumble and turned the ball over on downs twice.
BROSSART 10 7 0 0 — 17
BELLEVUE 6 8 6 6 — 26
BRO — Duffy 29 field goal
BEL — Evans 52 pass from Atkins (kick failed)
BRO — Neltner 6 run (Duffy kick)
BEL — Thompson 30 pass from Atkins (Atkins pass from Thompson)
BRO — Howard 15 pass from MacDonald (Duffy kick)
BEL — Evers 77 pass from Atkins (pass failed)
BEL — Ryan 8 run (kick failed)
RECORDS: Bellevue 2-1, Brossart 2-1.