BY DANIEL SCHMIDT
FOR THE OBSERVER
BEAUREGARD — It was a tale of two teams at Hornet Stadium in the final 5A Region 4 game of the season. Beauregard High School needed a win to guarantee itself the final spot in the playoffs, while Valley High School had already secured a first-round home game and looked to dash postseason dreams.
By the time the final whistle ended a testy rivalry game that featured seven total unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, the Hornets (3-6, 3-3) had willed themselves to a massive 14-7 upset victory over the Rams (6-3, 4-2).
Tae Foreman finished with a game-high 22 carries for 130 rushing yards and two touchdowns, and Camden Bowen snagged two interceptions and logged 51 yards on 11 carries for BHS. Aaden Johnson recorded six catches for 66 yards and a TD, and Brandez Eason ran for 94 yards on 16 carries for VHS.
BHS head coach Shenan Motley credited his team’s gritty performance to an excellent week of practice and an unusual sense of focus on gameday leading up to kickoff. He added that he believes the Hornets could make an unexpected playoff run if they maintain that same mentality through November.
“This is a big win for us because that’s a really good football team and it builds our confidence a little bit,” Motley said. “We came into this game with a different mindset than we came into a lot of earlier games with. We were more focused this week, especially later on in the week. And we were focused today on game day more than we have been all year.
“We don’t quit fighting, we don’t give up. And I hope this mentality carries over into the playoffs because if we come out here with this mentality tonight, I think we can play with a lot of teams.”
Perhaps no single player embodied that mentality more than Foreman, who quite literally and proverbially carried the offensive load. With the Hornets down to their backup quarterback at one point, the senior running back scored all 14 of BHS’ points and accounted for nearly 60 percent of its total yards.
“I feel great, it’s a great win to have, man,” Foreman said. “This was our last chance to get into the playoffs, and we had to go make it happen ourselves. I want to give a shoutout to my offensive line, they blocked their tails off the entire night. We had some bad calls here and there, but we made up for it when it mattered the most. And I’m so proud of our guys tonight, and I’m proud of my coaches, because we really needed this.”
For all of Foreman’s heroics, however, it was perhaps Bowen’s performance in the secondary that had the most outsized impact on the game. According to the junior safety, his game-sealing interception came down to understanding the in-game situation and trusting his teammates and himself.
“They had to score, and there were less than two minutes on the clock,” Bowen said. “I knew I had soft coverage and I’m playing back. Coming out of my backpedal, I had to trust myself first and then trust my teammates. I saw the ball in the air and went and made a play. It’s what I was born to do. It’s a rivalry game. Last year, they blew us out — and the year before that, they also beat us. So I feel like they came in here expecting to win. But the only thing we had to do was bunker down through the week, put in the grit and grind and just show out.”
From the first drives of the game, it was evident that the Hornets and Rams were in for a stylistic clash.
After forcing a quick three-and-out, BHS embarked on a 14-play, 55-yard drive that consumed more than six minutes of game clock and ended with a punishing six-yard TD plunge by Foreman. That run, coupled with Foreman’s successful two-point conversion run, gave the Hornets an 8-0 lead with 5:03 left in the first quarter.
That margin did not last long as the Rams scored just over two minutes later, despite the seven-play, 27-yard drive staling out around the BHS 31 yard line. After initially electing to punt, punter Kade Riley perfectly floated a 31-yard TD pass on a fake punt to Johnson, who outran BHS’ punt return team.
That cut the Hornets’ lead to 8-7 with 2:58 left in the first quarter and would be the last time either team scored until there was 2:53 left in the fourth quarter — 36 minutes and five seconds later.
Even with that defensive stalemate in effect, it appeared that VHS would score again multiple times before halftime.
The first of those chances came after the Rams marched down the field midway through the second quarter, when a 12-play, 51-yard drive, highlighted by a 35-yard Kason Varner catch, ended with a missed field goal.
The second chance came just before halftime after a promising five-play, 31-yard drive that began at the VHS 40 yard line ended with Bowen recording his first interception of the evening near the goal line.
With those opportunities just falling short, the Hornets clung to their 8-7 lead as both teams retreated to their respective locker rooms.
Coming out of halftime, BHS’ game plan became obvious: the Hornets’ offense would complement its bend-but-don’t-break defense by almost exclusively running the ball and draining the remaining game clock.
Even though that strategy did not initially pay off with points, BHS managed to consume more than eight minutes of game clock with a 15-play, 44-yard drive that eventually pinned the Rams inside their own 20 yard line.
Then, after both teams traded several unsuccessful possessions, the Hornets found their breakthrough with a nine-play, 79-yard drive that ended with an eight-yard Foreman TD run with 2:53 left in regulation.
With BHS now up 14-7, that set the stage for a furious VHS comeback attempt. After getting the ball near midfield, the Rams took several shots toward the end zone, with the final high-arching pass ending up in Bowen’s hands to effectively end the game.
VHS head coach Adam Hunter was unavailable to speak to the media after the game.
What’s Next
The Hornets will travel to Seale to take on Russell County High School in a non-region contest on Oct. 31 to end the regular season. The Warriors are currently 8-1 overall and coming off a 49-20 victory over Rehobeth High School.
So far, RCHS has scored 36.6 points per game while allowing 20 points per game. In comparison, BHS has scored 17.4 points per game while allowing 24.1 points per game.
The Rams will travel to Dadeville to take on Dadeville High School in a non-region contest on Oct. 31 to end the regular season. The Tigers are currently 3-6 overall and coming off a 33-10 victory over Childersburg High School.
So far, DHS has scored 23.6 points per game while allowing 25.2 points per game. In comparison, VHS has scored 29 points per game while allowing 23.2 points per game.
