It was a dominating effort from the opening kickoff, which Ben Madon booted through the end zone for a touchback. The Rockets went three and out and just never matched the Bobcats’ intensity.
“That was Bell County football at it’s best,” coach Dudley Hilton said after the game. “The kids played so hard for me, not for me but just for the Bell County School and theirselves. You can throw the records out the door. Rockcastle has got a good football team. We beat a good football team tonight.”
Madon passed to Matt Raines for a first down, then Cory Davenport took a pitch to the left. He made a couple of moves to shake two defenders and sprinted down the sideline for a 55-yard touchdown. Davenport would run for 180 yards and two TDs on 11 carries in the game. John Dudley Hilton added the extra point and Bell led 7-0 with 8:34 remaining in the first quarter.
The Bobcats (11-1) again forced a three and out and once again it was Davenport making a big play. This time he started to his left, stutter stepped and found open space back across the middle of the field. He went 57 yards to the end zone, picking up a key block from Raines at about the 12 along the way. With 5:50 to play in the first Bell’s lead was 14-0.
Madon’s next kick also reached the end zone, but Rockcastle’s Clarke Rowe jumped to catch it at the goal line and brought it back 39 yards. That was the only big play the sophomore standout running back would make on the night as Bell held him to just 44 yards on 17 carries.
“I thought that was probably one of the best defensive efforts we’ve had all year long,” Hilton said. “Number 20 (Rowe), he’ll probably make some all-state polls and he’s one of the leading rushers in the state. I think he had something like (12 rushes for 17 yards) at halftime and we didn’t let him get a whole lot more in the second half.
“This team came in averaging about 35 or 40 points a game and we shut them out. I’m just proud of our defense.”
Bell’s defense continued to shine. They got big performances all across the field: Billy Lawson, Cody Marcum anchored things in the middle of the line; Dominic Carton, Josh Brown and John Dudley Hilton all made plays from the linebacker spots, ends Keith Lowe and Justin Patterson contained the outside and the secondary kept everything in front of them.
Rockcastle (5-7) only had four first down in the first half and one of those came on a pass interference penalty. For the game the Rockets were held to 141 yards of total offense and just 96 on the ground.
Coach Hilton said the key was playing assignment football.
“It was a team effort and they trusted their buddies,” he said. “That was one of our mottos before the game. We had a guy speak to us today and one of the things he talked about was being able to trust that your buddy next to you was doing what they were supposed to be doing. And we did that.”
After an exchange of possessions, the Bobcats took over at their own 23. One play later Madon found Raines with a step on Dustin Bishop deep down the right sideline. Raines hauled in the pass at around the Rock 45 and went untouched for a 75-yard touchdown.
Jonathan Polly recovered an onside kick and the Bobcats were back in business in Rocket territory. Madon scrambled for 19 yards and a first down on third and long, then hooked up with Cody Davenport on a 19-yard touchdown to stretch the Bell lead to 28-0 with 5:57 to play in the first half.
The elder Davenport found the end zone again with at the 2:11 mark, taking a short pass from Madon for a 40-yard TD and the Bobcats took a 34-0 lead into halftime. That touchdown was set up by Raines after he stripped the ball from Rowe and returned the fumble 30 yards.
Madon finished 6-of-11 for 159 yards passing with three touchdowns and added 39 rushing yards on seven carries.
“They kind of play you dishonest because they take all your running game away from you and dare you to pass the ball,” Hilton added. “Usually, if you can complete them you’re going to get the big play and that’s what Ben did.”
Madon capped the opening drive of the third quarter with a 20-yard touchdown run on 4th and 18. Madon went airborne and flipped head over heels as he pushed the ball across the pylon on the play.
“He had a great night,’ Hilton said of his quarterback. “He might have messed up on a couple of passes, but I know Ben and he’ll work even harder and hopefully cut a couple of those things out.”
John Dudley Hilton capped the scoring with a two-yard blast up the middle early in the fourth. With the score 48-0, the clock rolled continuously from the 11-minute mark on. Hilton finished with 44 rushing yards on six carries.
For Rockcastle, Bishop was held to 7-of-14 passing for 45 yards.
Up next for the Bobcats is undefeated Lawrence County. The 12-0 Bulldogs knocked off Knox Central 19-0 Friday night.
“The last time they lost was when they came here in the playoffs last season,” Hilton said. “We’re bringing an undefeated team in here to Log Mountain, we should pack this place next week.”
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