In the regular-season game between Bellevue and Beechwood, the natural grass field at Bellevue’s stadium was such a muddy mess that neither team was able to run the ball effectively.
The field conditions were much better on Friday when the same two teams met again in the Class A regional final on Beechwood’s artificial turf field, and the home team literally came away with a 41-20 victory.
Beechwood rushed for 355 yards with sophomore tailback Cameron Vocke and senior quarterback Matt Rigdon leading the way.
Vocke, who started in place of injured senior Joe Colosimo, picked up 185 yards on 15 carries and scored three touchdowns. Rigdon had 121 yards on 13 carries and scored twice.
“We weren’t sure if that was going to make a difference,” Beechwood coach Noel Rash said of the field conditions. “But it turned out to be a difference-maker, and I think we were (blocking) pretty good up front.”
Beechwood (9-4) advances to the state semifinals and plays at Mayfield (12-1) next Friday. If the Tigers win that game, they’ll get a shot at their third straight Class A state championship.
Even though Beechwood has mostly juniors and sophomores in its starting lineup, Bellevue coach Dave Eckstein wouldn’t be surprised to see the Tigers take another state title.
“I just want say this is the best job Noel Rash has done coaching.” Eckstein said. “He’s taken this team with a lot of young guys, and obviously they have talent, but he and his coaches have worked hard and made this into a potential state champion football team.”
Beechwood struggled on offense during its 20-8 win over Bellevue in the regular season, but that wasn’t the case in Friday’s regional final.
Big plays by Vocke and Rigdon enabled Beechwood to take 28-7 halftime lead and they each scored another touchdown in the second half to seal the victory.
“It was really nerve-racking, but I stepped up,” Vocke said of replacing Colosimo as his team’s primary ball-carrier.
The Beechwood sophomore’s biggest play was a 69-yard touchdown run in the second quarter that put his team back on top after Bellevue tied the score at 7-7 on an interception return by Alex Hegge.
In the final two minutes of the second quarter, Vocke scored again on a 10-yard run and Rigdon threw a 47-yard touchdown pass to senior Jacob Maus.
Vocke’s third touchdown came on a 17-yard run that put Beechwood ahead, 35-7, with 8:27 left in the third quarter.
Rash wasn’t surprised by Vocke’s team-leading rushing performance in the regional final.
“You always want speed,” Rash said, “but the biggest things you want from running backs are vision and balance, and he’s tremendously gifted in both of those areas.”
Bellevue senior running back Ricky Buckler, who finished the regular season as the state’s leading rusher, capped off his high school career by picking up 148 yards on 32 carries in Friday’s game.
Buckler also scored two touchdowns in the second half, but they came after Beechwood had taken an insurmountable lead.
“Overall, I was very pleased,” Rash said of his team’s effort. “Bellevue is one heck of a football team and they wore us down a little bit in the second half. But we kept control of the game, and that was the key.”BELLEVUE 7-0-6-7–20
at BEECHWOOD 14-14-7-6–41
BEE-Rigdon 7 run (Nussbaum kick)
BEL-Hegge 30 interception return (Dill kick)
BEE-Vocke 69 run (Nussbaum kick)
BEE-Vocke 10 run (Nussbaum kick)
BEE-Maus 47 pass from Rigdon (Nussbaum kick)
BEE-Vocke 17 run (Nussbaum kick)
BEL-Buckler 4 run (pass failed)
BEE-Rigdon 60 run (kick failed)
BEL-Buckler 1 run (Dill kick)
RECORDS: Beechwood 9-4, Bellevue 9-4.
