Carvers Bay bears down on Hemingway

HEMINGWAY — In the minds of many of the fans that flocked Tiger Field, the Class A Division I lower state championship was being decided Friday night when Hemingway squared off against Carvers Bay.

Maybe the pressure of such lofty expectations got to both teams. The Tigers and Bears combined for more turnovers (7) than points (4) in the first 40 minutes before Clayton Geathers’ 1-yard run with less than two minutes left gave Carvers Bay a 10-2 victory in what was actually a second-round matchup.

Carvers Bay will host the winner of tonight’s semifinal between Lamar and Hannah-Pamplico, which was washed out Friday because of heavy rain.

“(Getting out of here with a win) is a relief,” said Carvers Bay coach Nate Thompson, whose Bears lost to the Tigers 13-8 on Sept. 26. “When you come into (Tiger Field), it’s a tough place to play because Hemingway plays so hard.

“It bodes well for our conference that two teams from (Region 8-A) were in the semifinals.”

Despite the loss, Hemingway coach Ken Cribb said his team came a long way through all sorts of adversity to get as far as the Tigers did.

“I couldn’t be prouder of this team,” he said. “Teams that had fewer problems than us would have folded.

“This team never quit. They never stopped playing football.”

With the game tied at 2 and 2:38 remaining in the fourth, Geathers broke off a 29-yard run that set up first-and-goal from the Tiger 9. Three plays later, on fourth-and-goal from the 1, Geathers scampered untouched to paydirt to give the Bears (10-2) their first lead of the game.

Geathers then added the two-point conversion, and Carvers Bay led 10-2 with 1:44 left.

Geathers finished with 109 yards on 16 carries and a score to lead the Bears.

“It never was (a pretty game),” Thompson said. “I have a great coaching staff, a great group of kids and a group of fans that never gave up.”

A combination of spectacular defense and sloppy offense dominated the game from the outset as both teams combined for three turnovers in the first quarter.

Hemingway’s defense provided the first points of the contest when James Linder brought down Geathers in the end zone for a safety and a 2-0 lead at the 11:54 mark of the second quarter.

The Tigers and Bears each had multiple scoring opportunities throughout the game. But each time, both teams’ defenses stepped up to make key plays that stopped drives and kept points off the scoreboard.

“It was a little bit of (good defense and bad offense),” Cribb said. “These are two of the better defenses in Class A.

“We had plenty of chances to put the game away. We just couldn’t get it done.”

Hemingway tried to salt the game away with its running game before disaster struck. From the Tiger 14, Quintin Brown’s option pitch eluded Antonio Mitchum. Several players from both teams tried to corral the ball before it squirted out of the end zone for the game-tying safety at 6:10 of the fourth.

Mitchum rushed 14 times for 76 yards to lead Hemingway.

“(The play) was one I wish I could have back,” said Cribb, whose Tigers finish the season 8-4. “We just didn’t execute on that play.”

Said Thompson. “If you keep knocking on the door, eventually you’re going to get in.”

Geathers slammed the door shut on Hemingway during its final drive, intercepting Brown’s fourth-down pass with 1:07 remaining to seal the win.