Brock Baker leads Bells over Comanche in Texas 3A area round football playoffs
With Brock Baker paving the way, Bells pounded Comanche on the ground in a 50-25 victory in the UIL 3A Division II area round playoffs on Thursday night.
Baker rushed 16 times for 163 yards - a staggering 10.2 yards per carry - and 4 touchdowns in the blowout win.
“We’ve got a special group of seniors,” Bells head coach Dale West said after the game. “Our goal is to play as long as we can with this group. They’re unlike any group we’ve ever had. We want to make sure we play as long as we can, and to do that we’ve got to go game by game.”
After getting a defensive stop, Bells went right to work offensively, marching 53 yards to set up its first touchdown of the game, a two-yard run by Baker.
Two plays into the next drive, Jacob Aaron came up with an interception to give Bells excellent field position. The Panthers were held to a field goal, but a roughing the kicker penalty gave them a fresh set of downs. Baker capped off the drive again with a 5-yard scoring run to make it 14-0 after one quarter.
On the opening drive of the second quarter, Grady Waldrip found the end zone with a 4-yard touchdown run to extend Bells' lead to 20-0. Waldrip also had a big game, totaling 142 yards on 18 carries and 3 touchdowns.
Comanche quarterback Layden Welch found Kyler Beaty on a deep post route to get Comanche on the board in the second quarter, cutting the lead to 20-6.
Photo by Brian McLean
But Bells only needed three plays to score as Waldrip broke free and raced 28 yards to pay dirt, giving Bells a 27-6 lead.
Welch had a good game for Comanche, completing 11 of 19 passes for 227 yards and 3 touchdowns.
The Indians were able to close the gap with a 25-yard touchdown pass from Welch to Miguel Martinez, but the Panthers answered just before the half on a 5-yard run by Waldrip to make the score 35-12 at the break.
Bells continued the domination early in the second half as Baker busted off a 49-yard touchdown run, extending the lead to 43-12 after the two-point conversion. On the ensuing drive, Spencer Hinds came up with an interception in the end zone.
The Panthers were able to drive all the way down to the Comanche 1-yard line before the third quarter ended. On the first play of the final quarter, Baker capped off the drive with his fourth touchdown of the game to make it 50-12.
Comanche kept fighting and tacked on two late touchdowns. Welch connected with Beaty on a 40-yard touchdown pass and Sawyer Wilkerson tacked on a 3-yard touchdown run.
Aaron finished with two interceptions for Bells.
“Our expectations are high,” West said. “We’ve been trying to take the next step every year in the program. Our kids know what our ultimate goal is and it’s not to necessarily win a second round game. We’re trying to be the best team in Bells history.”
Bells (10-2) moves on to face the Holliday Eagles (12-0) in the next round of the UIL playoffs.
PHOTO GALLERY
(All photos by Brian McLean)
Photo by Brian McLean
