Our Game of the Week last week took us to the District Final matchup between the Belleville Tigers and the Saline Hornets, and from the start, this one was all Tigers as they showed they were the apex predator. The game ended with the Tigers coming out with a 65-14 victory.
Belleville
Men Among Boys
Belleville’s Running Backs were men among boys in this one. While Jeremiah Beasley acted as the primary Back for Belleville, his running mate Colbey Reed also played a huge role in this game. Beasley had 13 carries for 75 yards and two touchdowns in the 65-14 win over Saline. While the yardage doesn’t seem like all that much, he was a wrecking ball for the Belleville offensive attack. If Beasley was a wrecking ball, Reed acted as the speed for Belleville. Reed had eight carries for 93 yards. The two backs played well off of each other and created a strong dynamic for Belleville.
Complete Dominance
The Belleville Tigers dominated the game from start to finish. It was truly a completely dominating performance. On defense, they opened the game with a pick-six, which should have been a sign of things to come as they would go on to intercept CJ Carr three more times to give the Tigers defense four interceptions. The Tigers would then score seven offensive touchdowns, including four passing scores from Bryce Underwood. On special teams, they hit a 40-yard field goal and had a 97-yard kick return touchdown at the end of the game to put them up 65-14. All three phases worked together seamlessly to help give the Belleville Tigers their sixth straight district title.
Saline
Playing Scared
Saline looked like they were playing scared from the start. From the opening fumble recovery for a touchdown of the game to the final whistle, the Saline Hornets couldn’t get it going. Receivers were trying to get the ball and get out of bounds, so they didn’t have to get hit. The one receiver who came to play was Caid Fox. Fox did go down with an injury just before halftime after taking a big hit. The Hornets just seemed tight and scared from the moment of that pick-six.
MIA
The offense of the Saline Hornets was Missing in Action in this one. From star Running Back James Rush only getting six carries to CJ Carr having possibly the worst game of his career and not coming anywhere close to the 45.7 points they average in their games, it was an uncharacteristic performance for this Hornets team.