It has been a rollercoaster season for the Bethel Bees on the football field this fall. After opening the year with three consecutive wins, they saw three consecutive conference opponents earn victories, meaning they needed to get back on track Friday night against league for Twin Valley South.
Thanks to a big fourth quarter, they did just that.
Bethel broke open a tie game in the fourth quarter, scoring twice in a span of one minute as they defeated the Panthers 30-15 on a Homecoming evening at Bethel High School.
“It was a really nice win, we have had a nice rivalry with them the last couple of years,” said Bethel coach Scott Clodfelter. “Last year we beat them by one point, so we knew it was going to be tough game for us.”
“We came out strong in the first quarter, but they were big kids up front and we had a little trouble adjusting to their size,” he added. “They ran a nice offense.”
Bethel came out strong in the opening period when Ian Anderson scored on a 12 yard run, and after the Bees converted the two-point conversion, they jumped in front 8-0.
Later in the first quarter, the Bees went back to work again, driving down the field and capped the drive with a 13 yard from by Nate Rimkus to increase their lead to 15-0.
Twin Valley South answered with a pair of scores of their own, tying the game at 15 heading to the third period.
“We changed a couple of little things at halftime, and got a big stop in the third quarter,” Clodfelter said. With the game tied at 15, the Panthers were driving inside the Bethel five yard line, and the Bees defense stepped up and stopped the Panthers on a fourth down to get the ball back on downs.
Bethel turned the ball back over on down early in the fourth in Panthers territory, but the Bees defense stepped up again and forced them to punt, setting up the go-ahead drive for the Bees.
Starting at their own 43, the Bees drove downfield using the legs of Rimkus and Burrowes. On a third down play at the 20, Jacob Evans hit Tyler Terry on a 20-yard scoring pass with 5:32 left in the game, giving the Bees a 23-15 lead. Again, they converted on a two-point conversion from Burrowes.
A quick three-and-out by the Bees defense including a huge deflection on a third down pass set up the Bees to put the game away.
Burrowes broke free for a 55 yard touchdown run with 4:21 left, giving the Bees a 30-15 lead, and the victory.
Bethel returns to action on Friday at National Trail for a 7:30 game.
