By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – Patience, the toughest of the scriptural virtues to learn and master, is next to godliness. Bedford North Lawrence had to prove it has reached that level of emotional control and perseverance.
Tested, tormented and trampled, on a celebration night for the 18 seniors on the roster, the Stars discovered dog hair in the senior punch bowl. Monrovia, party crashing with devious intent, was threatening to spoil the mood and the moment. Not only did BNL show its growth, it kept the faith while displaying some hair-of-the-dog grit.
After the Bulldogs totally dominated the first 22 minutes with brutal ball control, BNL’s idle offense erupted for a tough 31-26 victory over the barking Bulldogs on Friday night. Dayson Kirby threw four touchdown passes as the Stars (6-2) made Senior Night most memorable with a highlight win over a worthy first-time foe.
Monrovia (3-5) had the perfect defense for BNL’s ultra-explosive attack. Keep it away from them. That was executed to perfection for the bulk of the first half. Then the Stars erupted for two lightning-strike touchdowns in the final minute of the first half, and were unstoppable during every possession in the second, while bouncing back from a disappointing loss last week with a heart-test triumph.
How did the Bulldogs keep BNL at bay? Run the ball, burn the clock, create angst with each passing minute. When Monrovia scored first with 1:41 left in the half, the Bulldogs owned a devastating 39-7 edge in plays, an 11-0 advantage in first downs, and a 19:54-2:25 lead in time of possession. That was game-plan perfection.
Then came the BNL that’s been the regular-season norm. In the final minute of the half: four passes, touchdown. Kickoff return by Driven Axsom, pass to Axsom, touchdown. Start the second half with the ball, touchdown. The Stars hate playing from behind, so they relaxed once they got the lead and forced a shift in the tempo.
“I was getting frustrated,” BNL coach Brayden Tidd said. “We let them run 46 plays to our 12 in the first half, because we couldn’t stay on the field. That was our fault. It’s frustrating when you play a team that holds the ball the whole time, but that’s what they do. That’s what they are good at. They have an identity and stick to it. Respect to them.”
Monrovia’s selfishness (not one of the seven deadly sins, but probably the root cause of them) was impressive in the first half. The third drive by the Bulldogs was a 17-play march that consumed almost nine minutes, capped by Gavin Wolsiffer’s dash around the collapsed right side of BNL’s defense. The two-point conversion gave Monrovia an 8-0 lead.
Finally, BNL got involved. Four straight completions got the Stars in the end zone in only 49 seconds, with Kirby hitting Parker Kern for a 14-yard score. That was only the start of the fireworks. Monrovia answered in only four plays, with Wolsiffer escaping for 64 yards to set up Ryder Bain’s 9-yard burst with 21.8 seconds left in the half.
That was more than enough time for Driven Axsom. He gathered the kickoff and dashed 56 yards, with the Monrovia kicker momentarily preventing a touchdown. On the next snap, Kirby rolled left to buy time and lofted a 22-yard strike to Axsom for a touchdown with 1.1 seconds left. That momentum shift, even with BNL trailing 14-12, cannot be overstated.
“We were upset about the touchdown,” Axsom said. “My teammates told me I was getting the ball, so I knew I had to do something with it. I want it that way. I have the best quarterback in the state, and he gave me the ball where I needed it.“
”He’s one of those guys that brings the juice,” Tidd said. “Need a little energy? Throw him in there, see what he can do.”
BNL took over in the third quarter. Kirby connected with Kern for 16 yards, found Malakai Goodman for 10 more, then fired a 22-yard TD pass to Cam Gates in the back of the end zone for BNL’s first lead. After the Stars made a defensive stop on fourth down, Brody Horton hammered out runs of 9 and 13 yards, then burrowed over from a yard out as BNL blasted to a 24-14 advantage.
“Once we got settled in, we went out and did our thing,” Kirby said.
Monrovia responded as Bain ripped off 16 yards, Wolsiffer rumbled for 14 more, and Coewan Stinson plowed home on fourth down as the Bulldogs scrambled within 24-20 with 11:56 left. Even after the Stars scored what could have been a put-away touchdown, with Kirby hitting Horton out of the backfield for a huge 28-yard scoring strike with 8:30 left, the Bulldogs were not finished. They came back with an 80-yard drive, capped by Bain’s 29-yard gallop with 4:45 remaining.
BNL, playing its own game of keep-away, never allowed the Dogs another chance. The Stars produced three first downs, with Kirby hitting Jaden Gilbert for a key fourth-down conversion, to clinch the impressive win.
“We needed this,” Tidd said. “We needed a hard-nosed win, we needed to be able to fight and play in tight ballgames. We were finally taking what was there instead of getting antsy. We wanted the big play, and that’s not what we do right off the bat. We let the emotions get to us.
“That game was the epitome of what they’ve been through, the ups and downs. It’s the epitome of life.”
Monrovia did most of its work on the ground, totaling 315 rushing yards. Bain, who was indeed a bane of BNL’s existence, banged his way for 148 yards while Wolsiffer totaled 138. BNL did record five sacks, plus a fumble recovery by Gibson Crane in the first quarter, to limit the damage.
“Our goal is ball control, especially against an explosive team like that,” Monrovia coach Andy Olson said. “We wanted the ball as much as possible. We were thrilled with that.
”They were giving us the middle, so in that case Bain has to be the dude. He knows he will get hit. We’re excited to have him as a battering ram in the middle.”
Kirby finished with 191 passing yards, while Horton totaled 78 rushing yards plus the 28-yard catch. Not bad for basically 25 minutes of work.
“It was rough,” Kern said. “We were just sitting over there on the sideline. We had to stay ready. This means a lot, it shows all the hard work we did paid off.”
Locking down a winning season was another result of the Senior Night celebration for BNL, which wore yellow in honor of former teammate Kingston Lanham. “It’s one of the greatest moments in my career,” Crane said.
”This could be our last home game,” Kirby said. “Leaving like that would not be the worst thing in the world.”
BNL will finish the regular season next week at Columbus East. The Stars will learn their postseason destiny when the IHSAA reveals the pairings for the sectional on Sunday night.
Monrovia 0 14 0 12 – 26
Bedford NL 0 12 12 7 – 31
Second quarter
M – Gavin Wolsiffer, 22 run (Coewan Stinson run), 1:41; BNL – Parker Kern, 14 pass from Dayson Kirby (run failed), 0:52; M – Ryder Bain, 9 run (run failed), 0:21; BNL – Driven Axsom, 22 pass from Kirby (run failed), 0:01
Third quarter
BNL – Cam Gates, 22 pass from Kirby (kick failed), 9:23; BNL – Brody Horton, 1 run (kick failed), 4:13
Fourth quarter
M – Stinson, 3 run (run failed), 11:56; BNL – Horton, 28 pass from Kirby (Parker Beeson kick), 8:30; M – Bain, 29 run (run failed), 4:45
Team statistics
Mon – First downs 19 (15 by run, 2 by pass, 2 by penalty); Rushing 53-315; Passing 3-7-0-50; Total yards 365; Fumbles 2 (lost 1); Penalties 6-39
BNL – First downs 14 (5 by run, 8 by pass, 1 by penalty); Rushing 21-100; Passing 14-23-0-191; Total yards 291; Fumbles 0; Penalties 5-41
Individual statistics
Rushing – (M) Thacker 7-(-29), Bain 22-148, Stinson 16-58, Wolsiffer 8-138; (BNL) Kirby 2-0, Horton 15-78, Gilbert 4-22
Passing – (M) Thacker 3-7-0-50; (BNL) Kirby 14-23-0-191
Receiving – (M) Wolsiffer 1-27, Bain 1-8, Breeden 1-15; (BNL) Kern 3-44, Gates 3-45, Goodman 3-44, Gilbert 3-8, Axsom 1-22, Horton 1-28
