On Thursday September 21, the Bryan 8th grade football team travelled to Liberty Center and defeated the Tigers 14-8. Bryan jumped out to a 6-0 lead after their first drive when Rhett McGill (QB) connected with Easton Kerr (WR) on 4th down with a long TD pass. Liberty Center scored their lone touchdown in the first half on a long 4th down pass and converted their 2 point conversion run. Both teams defense played extremely tough and Liberty Center led 8-6 at half. In the 2nd half, both teams moved the ball but the defenses proved to be stout and continued to get stops. With just over 3:00 left in the game, Easton Kerr was able to recover a Liberty Center fumble in Bryan territory to give the Golden Bears the ball with a chance to win the game. Bryan relied on big runs from Hunter Watson and some key catches by Bryce Welling (WR) from QB Rhett McGill to put the ball inside the 15 yard line with under a minute to play. Hunter Watson caught a pass in the flat to get Bryan to the 1 yard line before Lukas Reid (RB) was able to plunge in from 1 yard out. Lukas Reid also converted the 2 point conversion run to put Bryan up 14-8 with 18 seconds left. The Bryan defense was able to deflect a few “Hail Mary” pass attempts to secure the big victory. Offensively, leading the way on the ground for the Golden Bears was Hunter Watson and Lukas Reid. Top receivers were Bryce Welling and Easton Kerr. Defensively, Bryan relied on a total team effort with key plays from many players to shut the Tigers out in the 2nd half. The Bryan 8th grade football team is now 3-1 overall and will host Evergreen next Thursday.