LIZTON — Down by just one point to Lebanon at halftime, the Tri-West Bruins might have been just three plays away from holding a 21-7 lead. But, a multitude of second half mistakes and the significant presence of Lebanon quarterback Matt Beard took a quick toll on the host Bruins as they went down to a 37-13 defeat in their Sagamore Conference opener on Friday night.
Beard, a four-year starting signal caller, made three of his eight completions good for touchdowns and set up the Tigers’ other two scores on the way to generating 204 combined rushing (90) and passing (yards). He also made a critical takeaway on defense with an interception in the end zone that denied Tri-West a score in the first quarter.
But, as good as Beard’s individual play was, Tri-West coach Chris Coll acknowledged his opponent’s intangible contributions as a key in the decision.
“Matt is a clear leader for that team,” Coll said. “From our sideline, his leadership is outstanding and he makes it all work for them. Mentally, we just weren’t as strong as they were. (Beard) is a good player, but he’s an even better leader.”
Coll mostly liked what Tri-West did in the first half.
“We played pretty hard in the first half,” Coll said. “We made some mistakes in that half, but we made a couple of plays, and that’s what helped keep the score where it was. We made a couple of bonehead plays, but they a couple of breakdowns that allowed us to stay with them.”
Tri-West got a good jump start as Cody Coll took the opening kickoff past midfield. On the Bruins’ second scrimmage play Austin Hendershot floated the ball over the defense to Joe Gramling for a 46-yard touchdown. But, Gramling missed the extra point kick, the first in a potential 15-point swing for the half.
Take away a touchdown on Beard’s interception cut off a 12-play drive, and the Bruins lost out on another seven points.
Tri-West did make up for that scoring miss with Cody Coll finding a seam in the defense for a 12-yard scoring rush that put the Bruins up 13-7 early in the second quarter.
The final seven points in the sway came with Bruins still leading as the clock dwindled toward the end of the half. Mitch Alexander ended up chasing down a bad snap on a punt attempt with just 2:20 left in the half. The Tigers got a 14-13 lead at the half with Beard finding Adam DeBard for a 23-yard touchdown pass.
While Tri-West was right in the game for the opening half, Coll admitted things didn’t go right after halftime.
“We weren’t very good in the second half—we self-destructed,” Coll said. “It was a lack of discipline and a lack of focus, and we haven’t had that. We kind of fell apart and that’s disappointing. But, (Lebanon) was a pretty good team, but we’ve got to worry about ourselves and try to fix what needs fixed.”
Tri-West’s first team offense had just one first down after the break. Meanwhile, the Tigers came out with a long kickoff return of their own to start the second half and never looked back.
The Tri-West breakdowns were numerous and unnerving for the Bruins—from the kickoff return, to 50 yards lost in seven penalties, to a long 46-yard rush for Beard, to a tipped pass interception, to a broken play two-point conversion going to Lebanon. The second half was decisively in Lebanon’s favor.
Tri-West fell to 2-1 overall and 0-1 in Sagamore Conference play. The Bruins will suit up again next Friday with another top conference opponent as they play North Montgomery.
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