Missy Carter

Sports Corespondent

DECATUR--"One of the sweetest wins ever, because we needed it so bad," cheered Coach John Mullinax after his Bears proved they still had some fight left in them late in the 2012 season. The Plainsmen traveled to Meigs County and fought hard against the Tigers taking a victory 28-13.

As game play began Bryce Carter and Lucas Shephard let the Tigers kick returner know they meant business by stopping him quick downfield after the kickoff. A big night for senior Ray Thomas as he started off with a big fourth and 2 stop at the line of scrimmage forcing the Tigers to turn the ball the over on downs.

The Bears offense came out strong with Dewayne Hollingshead's pass to Ryan Bookout for 32 yards and on the next play Devon Collier ran it 16 yards giving the Bears great field position. Hollingshead connected with Robert Vandervort putting the Bears first and goal. A big surge from the offensive line lead Reno into the end zone for the Bears first TD with 4:26 in the first. The Tigers stopped the two point conversion attempt by the Bears.

The Tigers had an answer for the Bears when they came out on the second play of their series and ran a 66 yard touchdown making the score 7-6, Meigs leading.

As offense took the field Hollingshead passed to Garrett Reno for 8 yards and Collier pushed 4 yards for a Bear first down. A screen pass from Hollingshead to Dakota Rinehart added 15 yards. Another play to Rinehart proved successful as teammates Carter and Shephard combined to knock defenders out of the path of Rinehart for 9 more yards. The Bears would give up the ball on an interception by Meigs sending defense back on the field.

The Bears defense must have eaten gunpowder before this game. Thomas and Ethan Freeman put a hard hit on Meigs running back as he looked up field for progress. Deon Massengale and Bubba Laws worked hard on the line. Reno rolled off a block and sacked the quarterback for a 15 yard loss then Peyton Brown and Freeman made a great tackle to stop the Tigers in their tracks making little progress this series. Tellico worked hard but saw the half end still down 6-7.

A missed field goal by the Bears to begin the second half put the ball back in Meigs hands, but when Vandervort recoverd a fumble in the endzone for a touchback it ended their run. The Bears offense took over as Hollingshead threw a pass to Bookout and he tossed it to Collier for a hook and lateral sending Collier for a 70-yard touchdown play. The Bears 2 point conversion by Reno was good making the score 14-7. Meigs quarterback found a receiver deep downfield to close the gap on the Bears 14-13.

The Bears fought tough and continued to push down field, Collier found the endzone again and the next offensive series Reno made an interception then ran it for a 46 yard touchdown putting the Bears in comfortable position with 4:41 left in the game 28-13.

The Bears defense ended Meigs hope to score with lots of help from Thomas who had two sacks.

"I thought our offensive and defensive line found grit from deep within to continue to get the job done, because I know they were dead dog tired but never stopped until the game was over," stated Coach Mullinax.  "All our boys played hard and fought hard to give our team, our fans and our school a much needed win. I'm very proud of each one of them."