Brewer picks up 2nd straight victory

By Staff
Matt Widener, Enquirer Correspondent
HAYDEN — The Brewer Patriots picked up their second win of the season with a 28-14 victory over the Hayden Wildcats Friday night. The win was coming off a victory against West Point last week and gave Brewer a 2-3 record on the year. The Patriots’ defense made several big plays on the night, including five turnovers, to secure the win.
Hayden won the toss and elected to receive the ball, and started its drive from its 45-yard line. The Wildcats had back-to-back false start penalties that put them in a tight situation to start the game.
The Patriots’ defense forced the Wildcats to punt the ball away and Brewer took over on its 35-yard line. Lucas Wilson completed back-to-back passes to Cody Maples and Chris Humphries, leading the Patriots into Wildcat territory. Brewer was faced with a fourth down and elected to go for the first down but was unsuccessful, giving Hayden possession on its own 35-yard line. With six minutes to go in the first quarter, Humphries intercepted a Wildcat pass and returned it to Hayden’s 4-yard line. Travis Campbell then scored with a short touchdown run. Ben Maxwell was good on the extra point giving Brewer a 7-0 lead.
Hayden’s third possession was stopped with a three-and-out, punting the ball back to Brewer. This time Brewer could not move the ball, and punted the ball away; the punt was partially blocked and Hayden took over possession on the Brewer 10-yard line. But Brewer’s defense stepped up and forced a turnover on the following play when they recovered a fumble on the Brewer 15-yard line. Wilson connected with Humphries for a 55-yard pass giving Brewer good field possession with the first quarter slowly coming to an end.
The next play Wilson hit Nathan Sharp on a 30-yard touchdown pass followed by a good extra point giving Brewer a 14-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Hayden found itself having no luck with the running game, so the second quarter it went to the air. T.J. Rock threw a 35-yard pass towards the end zone looking for a receiver, but the pass was intercepted by the Patriots’ Jeremy Widener and resulted in a touchback. Brewer and Hayden traded punts for the remainder of the second quarter, with the halftime score being Brewer 14-0.
Halfway through the third quarter Brewer’s Wilson connected with Sharp again for a 35-yard gain. The drive stalled out after a fumble and Hayden recovery. Brewer’s defense held the Wildcats once again forcing them to punt the ball away. Brewer took over possession on Hayden’s 35-yard line after a short punt. Brewer moved the ball to the 20-yard line on a few short yardage gains. With six minutes to go in the third quarter, Wilson found Zach Graham for a 20-yard touchdown reception that gave Brewer a 21-0 lead after Maxwell’s extra point.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, backup quarterback Tony Dickerson connected with Rodney Childs for a 30-yard touchdown pass. Maxwell was good on the extra point giving Brewer a 28-0 lead in the fourth quarter.
Hayden was able to move the ball to the Patriots’ 1-yard line, but once again Brewer’s defense came up big and recovered a fumble. Brewer took over possession and ran the ball just enough to give Humphries room to punt the ball away.
Late in the fourth quarter, Hayden was able to get two touchdowns, but they were not enough to give Brewer a scare. Rock ran one of the touchdowns in, and he connected with Chris Mullins for the other touchdown. With just a few minutes to go in the game, Miles Loosier intercepted a pass to finish off the win for the Patriots.