A night of firsts
Bears defeat Canton 20-17 as Ryan Epperson scores three times
By Chad Wilson Editor

Sophomore quarterback Zack Bailey dives for a first down during the Bears 20-17 win over the Eagles.

For the first time in five years the Brownsboro Bears defeated the Canton Eagles last Friday night in Brownsboro by the score of 20-17.

Brownsboro's last win over Canton came in 2002 as the current Senior Class was in Junior High. Head Coach John Settle also recorded his first victory over Canton as a head coach in the win.

Not only was it a big night for Settle and the Bear football program the win was also the first of the season at home for the Bears and most importantly the first win in District 14-3A play for Brownsboro.

Heading into last Friday's game the Bears chances of defending their District Title looked slim after dropping the first two games of district play.

Hope was revived last Friday as the Bears earned their first win and both Van and Chapel Hill lost their first district games of the season.

As of Monday the District 14-3A races were all knotted up. Chapel Hill, Van and Athens are all tied for first place in District with a 2-1 record while Bullard, Canton and Brownsboro are tied with a 1- 2 record.

Touchdown machine Ryan Epperson runs in for the score, his first of the game, during the Bears win over Canton. He scored three times on the night. This season he has scored 72 of the Brownsboro Bears 240 points.

Brownsboro will host Bullard this Friday in Brownsboro with game time set to begin at 7:30pm.

Bullard defeated Chapel Hill last Friday night by the score of 28-21 in Chapel Hill after dropping games to Athens and Van to start District play. Both of Bullard's losses this season came with seconds left in the game.

The Panthers used a balanced attack on offense led by quarterback Charlie Moore to defeat the Bulldogs. Moore passed for 167 yards on six completions while leading the team in rushing with 139 yards on 16 carries.

Van was upset last Friday by Athens 45-31 in Athens.

Ryan Epperson led the Bears to victory last Friday over the Eagles as he scored all three Brownsboro touchdowns.

Trailing 10-0 with 7:26 left in the first half Epperson bruised his way into the endzone from four yards out for the Bears first score of the game. The extra point attempt was missed leaving the score 10-6.

The Brownsboro Golden Girls Drill Team celebrated their 25th anniversary before, during and after the Brownsboro versus Canton District 14-AAA game last Friday. Before the game the current and former Golden Girls had a "birthday party" and during the halftime show the current Golden Girls performed a pom routine concluding with a 25 before the former Golden Girls walked onto the field with the "Happy 25 Birthday" sign above.

Brownsboro forced Canton quarterback Casey Bell to fumble the ball on the next drive. The loose ball was recovered by the Bears' Daniel Suggs.

Following a 25 yard pass from Zack Bailey to Seth Martin, Epperson scored from five yards out to give the Bears their first lead of the game 13- 10 after the Tyler Smith kick.

Leading 13-10 returning from the half the Bears used an eight play drive to increase their lead as Epperson rushed in from four yards out. Leading 20-10 after Smith's kick with 8:10 left in the third the Bears defense kept the normally high powered Eagle offense at bay.

Canton's final score of the game came with 3:02 on the clock in the fourth quarter as the Bear defense kept the Eagles scoreless on their first three offensive drives of the second half.

Following the Eagles final score the Bear offense held control of the ball the remainder of the game.

The Eagles took a short lived lead on the Bears in the first half as Bell raced in from three yards out on an option keeper with 3:02 left in the first quarter. Travis Renegar extended the lead with a 30 yard field goal with 11:34 left in the first half.

Brownsboro totaled 333 yards of offense in the win with Zack Bailey passing for 225 yards on 14 of 29 completions. Bailey's leading receiver was Jerqualyn Dora. Dora caught three passes for 65 yards.

Bailey connected with seven different receivers in the game. He also had five passes for 20 yards or more the longest being 47 yards to Collin Wilson. Wilson caught two passes for 50 yards and Seth Martin pulled in two passes for 37 yards.

Tristian Warren had 32 yards receiving on two catches while Keith Johnson pulled in a pass for 13 yards.

On the season Bailey has passed for 1,846 yards on 135 of 250 pass attempts.

As a team the Bears rushed for 108 yards on 34 carries. Epperson led the team in rushing with 44 yards. Will Jones carried the ball six times for 32 yards and Bailey picked up 28 yards on the ground.

Canton totaled 264 yards of offense with 150 coming through the air and 114 on the ground. Casey Bell completed 15 of 27 passes for 150 yards throwing one interception. Alex Williams led the Eagles in rushing with 77 yards on 11 carries.

Tristian Warren intercepted a Bell pass in the third quarter. Warren has four interceptions on the season including two for touchdowns. David Rudd also has four interceptions this year for the Bears.

Damion Green, Will Jones and David Rudd all had sacks in the win for the Bears while Ryan Epperson and Dustin Lackey created havoc on defense.

The Bears (5-3, 1-2) will conclude the 2007 regular season in Athens at Bruce Field on Friday, November 9. The game will in all likelyhood have major playoff implications for both squads.