Booneville builds early lead, blanks Baptist Prep

BOONEVILLE 49, BAPTIST PREP 0

BOONEVILLE — The Booneville defense came away with key takeaways in the first half to help build a big lead, and the Bearcats didn’t look back after that Friday night.

Booneville forced four first-half interceptions and followed those possessions with touchdowns. That helped No. 1 Booneville pull away in a 49-0 victory against Baptist Prep in a first-round matchup of the Class 3A state playoffs at Bearcat Stadium.

“The interceptions were unreal,” Booneville coach Scott Hyatt said. “The defense played well. It’s one of those nights we came out ready to play. I’m proud of those guys and our entire team.”

Senior fullback Carson Ray led the way on offense for Booneville, finishing with nine carries for 98 yards and two touchdowns. Junior running back Andrew Robertson added 59 yards on two carries for two touchdowns.

“A lot of kids got to carry the ball tonight,” Hyatt said. “We had some great runs behind a great offensive line performance. I was proud of them. We took advantage of our drives.”

Baptist Prep (4-6-1) had its season end with the shutout loss, but the Eagles were able to make postseason play for the first time since 2015 in a turnaround season.

“I’m proud of the season we have put together,” Baptist Prep first-year coach Zach Welchman said. “They played hard and earned this opportunity to be here. This a great team we played. They aren’t a top team in the state for no reason.”

Booneville (11-0) was able to jump out to a 42-0 lead heading into the break by taking advantage of the four interceptions.

The Bearcats needed just

three plays to score on the opening drive of the game to take a 7-0 edge. Robertson capped it with a 23-yard rush.

Baptist Prep on its opening possession threw an interception on just the second play of the drive to Booneville defender Gabe Fennell.

Just six plays later, Booneville jumped out to a 14-0 lead when Ray scored on a 1-yard touchdown.

Baptist Prep was able to move the ball to the 50 but then turned the ball over on downs. Robertson scored again for Booneville to make it a 21-0 advantage when he scored from 36 yards out.

Ray found the end zone on a 28-yard run to open up the scoring in the second quarter for Booneville after Ray had an interception to stop the previous drive. That touchdown made it a 27-0 lead after a missed extra-point attempt.

Fennell picked off his second pass of the first half to set up the next touchdown for the Bearcats. Booneville’s Jeremy Elliott capped the drive with a 3-yard rush.

Junior quarterback Evan Schlinker, who set the school record for most touchdowns in a season last week with 13, found Ian Suttles on a twopoint conversion to extend the lead to 35-0.

Fennell capped the firsthalf scoring with an 8-yard touchdown in the second quarter that made the lead 420. Cam Brasher helped set up the score with an interception for the Bearcats.

The Bearcats advance in the playoffs and have only had one game decided by fewer than 21 points this season.

“As I was telling the kids right before the game, you have to take your game to another level each week in the playoffs,” Hyatt said. “We did that, and we’ll have to do that again next week.”

Baptist Prep was limited to 45 offensive yards on 31 firsthalf plays. Booneville was able to rack up 232 offensive yards on 30 plays before the break.

Starting field possession was key for Booneville on its scores in the first half. The Bearcats were able to start drives at the opposing 33, 24 and 8 after forcing turnovers.

“You have to be able to capitalize on turnovers in the playoffs,” Hyatt said. “The further you go in the playoffs, that becomes even more true. You have to have breaks go your way and see what happens. That happened for us tonight.”

Booneville was able to add to its big lead in the fourth quarter with the seventh rushing touchdown of the game. This time junior Chance Shigley found the end zone on an 18-yard touchdown late in the final quarter.