The Bethel Bees football team took on the Tri-County North Panthers at Bethel High School this past Friday. The two teams came out featuring their run games, and after they traded scores back and forth, it was Tri-County North who was able to make more big plays and pull away as they finished with a 36-19 victory over Bethel.
The Bees came in with a record of 3-1 and were looking to improve on that record as they faced the visiting 3-1 Panthers of Tri-County North, but from the start the Bethel defense had a difficult time containing the strong offense of the Panthers as running back Tanner Booth ran in the game’s first score from the goal line and added the two point conversion to give Tri-County North an early 8-0 lead in the first quarter.
It was then early in the second quarter when the Bees struck for their first score of the evening as quarterback Jacob Evans rolled out to his right and found receiver Noah Burrowes in the end zone for a nine yard touchdown pass. Bethel was unable to convert their two point conversion attempt and kept the score at 8-6. The scoring didn’t subside, as a Tri-County North wide receiver was able to get behind the Bethel defense and caught a deep pass for a touchdown. Not giving in, the Bethel offense answered right back with another touchdown pass from Evans, this time to Tyler Terry for the touchdown, making the score 15-13.
It was a back and forth battle, but with nineteen seconds before halftime, the Panthers running back Tanner Booth again found the end zone and pushed the Tri-County North lead to 22-13 at the half. The Bees’ Nate Rimkus was able to recover a fumble on the opening kickoff of the second half, but Bethel was unable to convert the turnover into any points.
Into the fourth quarter the Panthers added two more touchdowns and were ahead 36-13 before Bethel quarterback Jacob Evans threw for his third touchdown pass of the night, when he found Nate Rimkus in the end zone for the touchdown. The late touchdown was not enough for Bethel as their record now moves to 3-2 on the season.
Bethel head coach Scott Clodfelter and his team, after suffering back to back losses, will look to get back on track next week when they will travel to face up against Miami East. Kick-off is scheduled for a 7:30 start.
