By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – After waiting 90 minutes for God’s fireworks show to dissipate, Bedford North Lawrence’s own lightning bolt crackled out of the sky, and it was Beau-tiful to behold.
Needing a spark of life as the first half concluded, BNL junior Beau Allender electrified a water-logged sideline with a sensational 94-yard interception return for a game-changing touchdown, powering the Stars to another Hoosier Hills Conference victory.
Call it the new Late Show, definitely more entertaining than Stephen Colbert. BNL started late, finished late, and celebrated deep in the night while conquering Seymour 43-12 on a soggy Friday night. From drizzle to dazzle, the Stars slogged through first-half rain and stirred their own storm with a three-touchdown final quarter while winning their third straight league game.
With Allender’s pick as a catalyst, with Malakai Goodman leaving scorch marks behind him In the running game, with Cutler Chastain returning to ignite the offense with three total touchdowns, BNL (4-1 overall) was back at its best, scoring 40-plus points for the fourth straight week. Yes, there was again a third-quarter bobble, but the final period was outstanding. That sent everyone, including the co-Homecoming queens, home a lot later than normal but much happier with the conquest.
Waiting for the unexpected storm to pass was interminable, with players flopped in the locker room and training room to pass the time. Each lighting strike added to the delay. Then Allender’s theft sent a charge through everyone. That gave BNL a two-score lead and momentum to survive another third-quarter hiccup.
BNL was massaging a 14-6 lead late in the first half, but Seymour was threatening more than the pregame skies. On fourth down from the BNL 32, Seymour quarterback Max Coates lofted a deep pass toward the goal line. Allender waited for it to descend, caught it without contact, and took off in the opposite direction. He admitted to not remembering much after that, save for Goodman’s block that opened the way to the end zone with 36 seconds left.
“I saw the ball come my way,” Allender said. “Once I caught the ball, I just completely blanked and started running. Malakai made an amazing block, let me cut inside, and I took it to the house. I was just happy to score, happy to put the points on the board.”
So was his coach. BNL was floundering and sulking a little at that point, because a touchdown had been negated by a penalty, because an apparent fumble recovery had been negated by an official’s inadvertent whistle. “We needed that a bunch,” BNL’s Brayden Tidd said. “That was huge. He had me sprinting down the sideline.”
Then after the Owls took advantage of BNL’s fumbled snap on first-and-goal from the one-yard line on the first series of the second half, driving to score and get within 21-12, the Stars exploded for three straight touchdowns. Cutler Chastain, back as the main quarterback after a two-game absence, stroked a 12-yard touchdown pass to Jaden Gilbert, who made a sweet sliding catch for a 28-12 lead with 11:11 left.
The next drive was capped by Chastain’s 35-yard strike to Cam Gates for a 35-12 advantage, and Gilbert’s 44-yard touchdown burst with 4:39 left was the final blow. That made the wasted chance to start the half seem like a distant memory, much like the trend of third-quarter mistakes in the last three games. Winning makes things easy to erase.
”We had a fumble, one bad play,” Tidd said. “I would rather have that than an entire bad quarter. And if we can continue to turn it back on in the fourth quarter, it’s fine.”
BNL scored first, converting excellent field position as Chastain scored from two yards out. But the Owls (0-5) countered with a three-play drive, punctuated by Jaxon Marcott’s 5-yard score. The Stars came back with a 55-yard, 9-play march – all on the ground – with Goodman slamming home from a yard out. That was all the excitement until the Allender pick-six.
“We didn’t compete on that ball,” Seymour coach David Papenhaus said. “We stopped, we looked, we watched. We’ve got to turn the corner and compete on those things.”
Goodman was good again, totaling 175 rushing yards. But there was more to BNL’s attack as Chastain threw for 110 yards, with Gates catching four for 104 yards. The plan had been to bring the left-hander back slowly. But Chastain’s performance, and Seymour’s stubborn ability to keep closer than anticipated, changed that.
”When the kid is playing well and seeing it well, you leave him in,” Tidd said.
“Goodman, man, that kid is something else,” Papenhaus added as the Owls struggled to contain that duo.
For the Owls, Marcott ran for 129 yards and both touchdowns. Jackson Fox caught four passes, but Gates added a second interception in the second half, and Kody Covey recovered a fumble for the Stars.
“We’ve got a good little deal here, we just have to get some stuff straight,” Papenhaus said. “We have to compete, we have to be more physical, we have to hold ourselves accountable. Until that happens, we will be stuck with these.”
In this era of high-octane offense, BNL has now scored 40-plus four straight times for the first time in program history.
“That’s the goal, 40 plus, but I’m always good for more,” Tidd said.
“We have playmakers and athletes all over the field,” Gates said. “Everybody wants the ball, everybody wants to do something. I was just doing my best, I had to give the team the best effort.
“One thing about the Stars, we don’t quit,” Allender said. “We’re going to come back hard.”
BNL will seek to continue that scoring streak, and the winning, at Jennings County next week. The Panthers (2-3) fell to Springs Valley 57-7 on Friday night.
Seymour 6 0 6 0 – 12
Bedford NL 7 14 0 22 – 43
First quarter
BNL – Cutler Chastain, 2 run (Aiden Dralle kick), 5:58; Sey – Jaxon Marcott, 5 run (kick failed), 1:40
Second quarter
BNL – Malakai Goodman, 1 run (Dralle kick), 8:58; BNL – Beau Allender, 94 interception return (Dralle kick); 0:36
Third quarter
Sey – Marcott, 2 run (pass failed), 1:25
Fourth quarter
BNL – Jaden Gilbert, 12 pass from Chastain (Dralle kick), 11:11; BNL – Cam Gates, 35 pass from Chastain (Dralle kick), 8:44; BNL – Gilbert, 44 run (Dralle kick), 4:39
Team statistics
Seymour – First downs 13 (6 by run, 5 by pass, 2 by penalty); Rushing 34-114; Passing 8-15-2-88; Total yards 202; Fumbles 2 (lost 1); Penalties 4-30
BNL – First downs 16 (13 by run, 3 by pass); Rushing 38-317; Passing 6-12-0-110; Total yards 427; Fumbles 1 (lost 1); Penalties 9-95
Individual statistics
Rushing – (Seymour) Coates 8-(-22), Marcott 22-129, Fox 2-5, Acton 1-1, Parker 1-1; (BNL) Allender 2-6, Goodman 17-175, Gilbert 4-42, Chastain 13-73, Kurtz 2-1
Passing – (Seymour) Coates 8-15-2-88: (BNL) Allender 0-2-0-0, Chastain 6-10-0-110
Receiving – (Seymour) Fox 4-42, Meyer 1-9, Alcock 2-25, Marcott 1-12; (BNL) Gilbert 2-6, Gates 4-104
