Beavers take 4-3A title
GLEN ROSE – A 7-7 game at the half, the Glen Rose Beavers would open things up in the second half on their way to a 34-14 win over the Baptist Prep Eagles on senior night Friday at Beaver Stadium in Glen Rose. The Beavers clinched the outright 4-3A Conference title with the win and a No. 1 seed going into next week’s 3A state playoffs.
Beaver junior Ethan Taylor had a monster game on Friday as he rushed 23 times for 252 yards and three touchdowns, including Glen Rose’s first three scores.
Baptist Prep (3-7, 3-4) would strike first when Alex Brooks scored on a 7-yard run in the second quarter, but it was all Glen Rose after that. Taylor would tie things up at 7-apiece with a 20-yard TD run for the 7-7 halftime lead.
Taylor scored the lone TD in the third quarter on a 3-yard run for the 14-7 after three, and the Beavers would tack on in the fourth with Taylor going 21 yards
for pay dirt for the 21-7 advantage.
Glen Rose (8-2, 7-0) junior Wesley Launius would hit senior receiver Matthew Clark for a 35-yard TD for the 28-7 game, and the Beavers scored their 34th unanswered point when senior Colby Steed ran for a 43-yard TD before Brooks bookended the Beavers’ run with an 11-yard TD to set the 34-14 final.
Steed finished with 85 yards and a TD on nine carries, while Launius ran 14 times for 77 yards, also completing 6 of 21 passes for 124 yards and a TD vs. one interception. Clark finished with three catches for 86 yards and the TD, while Steed added a reception for 13 yards in the win.
Defensively, the Beavers picked off three passes with Clark (42-yard return), junior Jace Cheatham (12yard return) and senior Gavin Chaney all netting interceptions.
The Beavers will begin their run to a 3A state title on Friday when they host the 3-3A No. 5 seed Walnut Ridge Bobcats (6-4, 3-4) at Beaver Stadium. Kickoff is 7 p.m.