The top teams of the Highland Conference went toe-to-toe on Friday night, and it was the D8 favorites coming out victorious.
Beal City took on McBain in a clash of what is expected to be the two top teams in the Highland Conference. Utilizing huge gashes on the ground and four touchdown passes by QB Cuyler Smith, the Beal City Aggies rolled to a 35-16 win on the evening.
It was a rainy night in Beal City, but that didn’t stop Beal City’s high scoring offense from having a success after a slow first quarter.
McBain has one key attribute that really shows during the basketball season and has me questioning what they put in the water. It’s their height. The Ramblers were bigger physically than the Aggies, and that paid dividends between the tackles on defense. Beal City countered this by utilizing their outside pitch off their wingbone triple-option set.
This allowed Avery Small to have a big night on the ground, breaking off a number of big runs on the night.
Once Beal City got into McBain territory, Cuyler Smith dropped back to pass and looked Grady Gatrell’s way. The first touchdown pass was easy, so easy that the ball didn’t need to come out as a spiral to get to Gatrell, and Gatrell did the rest. The second touchdown pass to Gatrell was over the top as Gatrell got behind his man. The Aggies took a 14-0 halftime lead.
Gatrell then caught the third touchdown, breaking multiple tackles on a short curl route. After an Avery Small interception, Smith went to Small on a playaction pass and scored the fourth touchdown of the night.
McBain finally got in gear late in the third quarter, utilizing their size to find some success between the tackles. But it was too late, and the Aggies rolled to the win. Cadence Carnes scored Beal City’s only rushing touchdown on the night while Alan Thomas III scored a rushing touchdown and a passing touchdown (out of the wildcat) for McBain.
