Brahmas cruise to next round
IOWA COLONY — East Bernard hasn’t had leading rusher Kobe Brown since the first round of the playoffs.
The Brahmas aren’t slowing down to wait for him.
East Bernard jumped out to an early two-score advantage on two long touchdown runs then rolled to a 30-10 win against District 14-3A Division II foe Ganado on Friday night at Freedom Field.
“We got after it,” East Bernard coach Wade Bosse said.
“We didn’t quite do what we wanted to do the second half, but luckily we played extremely hard that first 24 minutes, got a lead, and the defense came through in the second half (and) did a super job.”
The win in the Region IV final sends East Bernard (14-0) to the 3A Division II semifinals for the second straight season. It will face Pewitt for a place in the state finals at AT&T Stadium.
All three Brahmas running backs scored in the first half, helping East Bernard bag its 30-10 lead by halftime.
“We were playing hard before, so there wasn’t any adjustment,” Bosse said of playing without the speedy Brown. “Other guys step up, and we’ve got guys who will play hard, and that’s what they did.”
The Indians (10-4) spotted East Bernard a 2-0 lead less than two minutes in, sending the snap for a punt sailing out the back of the end zone for a safety. Then Tanner Baggett sprinted around the right edge for a 55-yard score on East Bernard’s second play. Devin Chapman took a misdirection handoff 30 yards for a TD on the first play of East Bernard’s second drive.
The fourth series wasn’t nearly as successful.
Ganado’s Ryan Williams blocked a punt, giving his team the ball at East Bernard’s 4. Two plays later, Ethan Guerra ran 3 yards for a touchdown.
The Brahmas responded with another touchdown 13 seconds later, a 70-yard score by Kameron Matthews.
East Bernard linebackers Andrew Schmidt and Cole Polak intercepted QB Kyle Bures-Guerrero in the third quarter to help seal the regional championship.