BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Telegraph Staff Writer
Manny Covey rushed for two scores, while the defense held host Eastside to minus-1 yard rushing in the Tornadoes’ 28-0 win on Sept. 16.
Bradford (3-0) has shut out every opponent and held a 21-0 lead over Baker County in the season opener that was suspended due to the weather and will be resumed on Thursday, Oct. 6, at 6 p.m.
“These guys, they told me from the very beginning of this year, ‘Coach, we’re going to shut people out.’ So far, they’ve been right,” Head Coach Jamie Rodgers said. “Somebody’s going to score at some point. That’s going to go away, but it sure is a lot of fun right now.”
The Tornadoes, who host Munroe on Friday, Sept. 23, at 7:30 p.m., held Eastside quarterback Holden Johnson to 90 yards passing. Johnson entered the game averaging 189 yards per game.
Eastside (2-1) did pose the most serious threat to the Bradford defense this year with a fist-and-goal at the 10, but the Tornadoes kept their shutout streak intact.
The Tornadoes’ offense, meanwhile, made its mark immediately, marching 58 yards for a score on the game’s opening drive.
“Our kids were ready to play,” Rodgers said. “Early on, I could tell.
“Without getting into it, it’s been a rough week for me personally. The kids told me they were going to play really hard tonight. They did.”
Covey returned the opening kickoff 34 yards as the offense began its first series at its own 42. The legs of Covey and quarterback Jeremiah McKenzie gained two first downs, but after two straight illegal-procedure penalties, McKenzie used his arm, completing passes of 8 yards and 13 yards to Jarrin Alexander and Chalil Cummings, respectively. McKenzie, who rushed for 79 yards on 12 carries, capped the drive with a 17-yard touchdown run. Hayden Hughes added the PAT for a 7-0 lead at the 7:28 mark of the opening quarter.
A penalty against Bradford did give the Rams a first down on their opening possession, but a Dejon McBride sack helped the Tornadoes force Eastside to punt.
Bradford’s offense put together a seven-play, 85-yard scoring drive on its second series. A pair of 15-yard penalties and runs for big gains by Covey, McKenzie and Willie Pollard helped the Tornadoes march to the Eastside 14-yard line. From there, McKenzie threw a touchdown pass to Cummings with 3:03 remaining in the first quarter. After Hughes’ extra point, the score stood at 14-0.
Cummings finished the game with three catches for 31 yards, while McKenzie completed four of five passes for 39 yards.
McKenzie has taken most of the snaps in all three of Bradford’s official games, filling in for the injured Dae’Jon Shanks, who did start and play the first quarter in the Sept. 2 game against Baldwin.
“We’ve got a good package with (McKenzie) in the game,” Rodgers said. “I feel comfortable with him playing quarterback.”
Bryson Bowen, Torin Brazell and Ahman Covington were in on two tackles for lost yardage on Eastside’s next offensive series, forcing the Rams to punt after three plays.
The Rams, thanks to two pass completions from Johnson to Antoneo Wilson, picked up two first downs on their third series, but a bad shotgun snap forced them into a long-yardage situation and an eventual punt.
Eastside’s Branden Perry intercepted a pass that gave the Rams the ball at the Bradford 10 with 2:16 left in the half. After an illegal-procedure penalty, Bowen hit Johnson and caused what appeared to be a fumble. Officials, however, ruled the play an incomplete pass, though they spotted the ball where Johnson was hit, resulting in a loss of 10 yards. A roughing-the-passer penalty resulted in a first down at the 13. After an incompletion, Johnson completed passes of 7 and 3 yards. On fourth-and-goal from the 3 with 27 seconds on the clock, Johnson tried unsuccessfully to hook up with Wilson — who was covered by Cummings — in the corner of the end zone.
The Tornadoes put together a 68-yard scoring drive on their first series of the second half. McKenzie had three carries for 24 yards on the drive, while Pollard had 13 yards on two carries. Covey, who had four carries for 31 yards, bulled into the end zone from a yard out at the 4:07 mark of the third quarter. Hughes added the PAT for a 21-0 lead.
Covey, who rushed for 94 yards in all on 12 carries, found the end zone again on Bradford’s next series. The 51-yard drive got off to a strong start, with Pollard gaining 21 yards on three straight carries. Runs by Covey and McKenzie would move the ball to the 20. Covey fought his way through the defense from there with 11:08 to play in the game. Hughes’ extra point capped the scoring at 28-0.
Bradford finished with 290 total yards of offense, while its defense made nine tackles behind the line of scrimmage in holding the Rams to 89 total yards.
Cummings recorded a team-high eight tackles, while Bowen and Chason Clark each had seven.
In talking about his team’s success — the Tornadoes have won their three games by a combined score of 84-0 — Rodgers said it comes down to the work players put in during the week before the games are played.
“You practice 40 times for 10 games,” Rodgers said. “I tell them that all the time and say, ‘You might as well come out on Friday and have a lot of fun doing it.’
“They’ve bought into that. They prepare well on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. That’s what we’re seeing.”
Bradford now plays a Class 1S Munroe team out of Quincy that is coming off a bye. The Bobcats (2-1) defeated Terrell County out of Dawson, Georgia, 28-0 and Class 4S Leon 38-16 before losing 43-13 to Class 2S Wakulla. Munroe has a balanced offense that has averaged 193 rushing yards per game and 194 passing yards. The defense gave up 187 yards against Leon and 545 against Wakulla.
Munroe went 8-3 in 2021 and has some Division-I commits, including four-star defensive back Makari Vickers (Oklahoma) and four-star wide receiver Ahmari Borden (Stanford).
