Bees blank Northside

The Brookville Bees wasted no time shaking off any rust that might have threatened to tarnish their perfect season after a two-week layoff.
The Bees took their opening possession 74 yards against the visiting Northside Vikings before stalling out on the five-yard line and settling for a short field goal and an early 3-0 lead. Although the offense produced another 35 points, those three were all the Bees would need on a night where their defense took center stage, allowing just 85 yards in the 38-0 win.
“We were able to take away a majority of their offense and I have to give credit to the kids for being coachable, working hard, and playing physical,” said coach Jeff Woody.
As good as the defense was, the offense matched them stride for stride and did not punt until eight minutes had gone by in the third quarter. A punt of another kind, this one a fake, kept that opening scoring drive alive. Star quarterback Logan Thomas took the snap and floated a soft pass over two outstretched Vikings to senior Jarrett Bateman. Bateman almost scored an early touchdown on that same drive, but he was unable to hold onto a pass from Thomas in the corner of the end zone on third down.
“I caught it, but when I came down it popped out,” said Bateman.
The all-district defensive tackle atoned for the dropped ball in the third quarter when Thomas found him in the middle of the end zone on third down.
“That’s our bread and butter,” said Bateman. “Anytime we need a big pass play we’re going to go to that play.”
Thomas spearheaded a Bees attack that produced 338 total yards. Although he was responsible for 239 of those yards, Woody was pleased with the way that Thomas distributed the ball throughout the game.
“In order for us to be good, we’ve got to distribute the football. … Logan is a gifted athlete, he loves the game, but we’ve got a lot of other gifted athletes around him and we’ve got to spread the wealth,” Woody said.
Thomas rushed for 79 yards on 11 carries and was 11 of 18 through the air for 150 yards. Tailback Stacey Houston was solid out of the backfield as well, scoring two touchdowns and rushing for 85 yards on 19 carries. Thomas and Stacey accounted for 324 of Brookville’s 338 yards and scored all five touchdowns.
Despite the lopsided score, the second half was marred by numerous unsportsmanlike penalties from both teams. The on-field emotions came to a boiling point with five minutes left in the fourth quarter and Brookville leading 31-0. The Vikings were flagged for two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties which resulted in a 30-yard penalty. A Thomas touchdown just one minute later added insult to injury.
“When push comes to shove, we have to keep our composure. Regardless of what is being done to you, talk with your shoulder pads and retaliate in a fair way,” said Woody.
The Bees (11-0) advance to next week’s Division 3, Region III championship game against Robert E. Lee (10-1). The Fighting Leemen knocked off Liberty 35-7 on Friday.