Sylvan Hills couldn't solve Beebe's Wing T offense in the first half, but it had all the right answers in the final 24 minutes to coast into the playoffs.
The Bears held the Badgers to just 91 yards after halftime and scored the game's final 33 points to beat Beebe 47-21 at Bill Blackwood Field in Sherwood.
"It's tough to play them, but I was proud of our guys," Sylvan Hills Coach Jim Withrow said. "Coach [John] Shannon does such a good job of coaching his guys, he coaches them up well, and they play tough. But we knew it was going to be a tough game so this was a good win for us."
Senior running backs Deon Youngblood carried 23 times for 183 yards and 4 touchdowns while classmate Ty Compton ran 14 times for 142 yards and 2 touchdowns for Sylvan Hills (6-4, 4-3 5A-Central), which finished with 440 yards of offense to grab the final playoff spot from the 5A-Central Conference. Senior quarterback Ryan Lumpkin completed 5 of 7 passes for 119 yards and 1 touchdown.
[HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL SCOREBOARD: Thursday night's results + recaps, photos and more]
Senior running back Khalil Anthony carried 25 times for 90 yards and 2 touchdowns for Beebe (4-6, 2-5), which gave Sylvan Hills fits in the first half with its ground attack. Thirty-nine of the Badgers' 41 snaps in over the first two quarters were running plays, with only one resulting in lost yardage. Beebe, which held Sylvan Hills to just 15 plays, scored on all three of its possessions to hold 21-14 halftime lead.
"I told the guys at halftime to not get frustrated and keep playing," Withrow said. "Coach [Chad] Collins and our defensive staff made some nice adjustments, and then we made some plays. We didn't make many plays in the first half, but we finally made some in the second half."
Anthony's 4-yard touchdown run capped a 15-play, 70 yards drive to give Beebe a 7-0 lead with 5:02 left in the first quarter. Sylvan Hills answered 26 seconds later on Compton's 38-yard touchdown, but the Badgers responded on senior quarterback C.J. Cauldwell's 14-yard touchdown pass to junior running back Taylor Boyce to polish off a 13-play, 65-yard march.
Sylvan Hills tied the game at 14-14 on Youngblood's 3-yard run with 7:16 to go in the second quarter before Anthony's 2-yard score gave Beebe its seven-point cushion at the half.
The Bears slowed down the Badgers considerably in the second half. Sylvan Hills stopped the Badgers on fourth down three times and picked off Cauldwell to end another drive. Youngblood's 6-yard score tied the game at 21-21 with 6:41 remaining in the third quarter, and his 26-yard touchdown run with 3:03 showing gave the Bears the lead for good. Lumpkin's 63-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Peyton Terry pushed Sylvan Hills' lead to 34-21 early in the fourth quarter. Youngblood also added a 5-yard score with 6:46 left in the game, and Compton's 9-yard touchdown run at the 3:25 mark finished off the scoring.
Sports on 11/03/2017