By By ROB BABLER / Niles Daily Star
NILES -- The fans of the Brandywine Bobcats may not much like the weather of the past two weeks, but if their team keeps putting up the same kind of offensive numbers, they may actually start hoping for rain.
After scoring more than 50 points against River Valley last week, the host Bobcats blew through the Bridgman Bees like a monsoon, 41-3, in Lakeland Conference action Friday.
Fitting, as Brandywine's homecoming theme was "seasons."
Like last week, Brandywine had its running game going. The Bobcats had 384 yards on the ground. The senior triumvirate of quarterback Evan Smith, and running backs Billy Syrette and Aaron Holy, accounted for all but two of those yards.
Nate attributed their success to the fact they have a lot of experience at the varsity level.
Holy started the Bobcat scoring early in the first quarter with a four-yard touchdown run just a minute and a half into the first quarter that followed a 54-yard keeper from Smith.
Smith was the workhorse in the first half, running for 156 yards on 16 carries with a touchdown.
On Brandywine's third drive of the game, the other facet of its running game was on display. Instead of a quick strike, the Bobcat offense ground out a four-minute, 10-play drive that ended on Syrette's 10-yard touchdown run to put his team up 14-0.
Bobcat coach Jim Myers credited his offensive line for allowing his running backs to get to the corners.
Meanwhile, the Bridgman offense was struggling to gain yards. The Bees gained just 14 yards in the first half, including negative eight yards rushing.
Brandywine headed into the locker room with a 27-0 lead, scoring on a one-yard Smith touchdown run, and a 22-yard touchdown pass to senior Rob Deverna.
In the second half, the Bees tried to get back into the game via the pass. Of the 24 plays Bridgman ran in the second half, 19 were passes out of the shotgun formation. This, however, was not entirely unexpected by Myers.
The one highlight for the Bees came in the third quarter, when junior Matthew Haughey kicked a field goal. This came after a 39-yard draw play by senior Jason Rischling.
Bridgman quarterback Tyler Weaver was 13-for-25 for 91 yards and one interception.
Myers said he is happy with the way his team is looking going into the home stretch of the season, where the Bobcats will play Berrien Springs, Coloma and Edwardsburg.
Brandywine is now 3-3 on the year and 3-1 in Lakeland play. Bridgman drops to 1-5 on the year and 0-4 in the league.