B.C. Bears claim wild 31-24 playoff victory

By John Enrietto Eagle Sports Editor

August 12, 2013 Last Updated: August 12, 2013 01:21 PM Amateur

The Butler County Bears are moving on — barely.

Erik Fuhrer threw two touchdown passes, Steve Cupec amassed 191 all-purpose yards and the Bears held off a furious Jackson rally late to post a 31-24 Ohio Football League playoff victory Saturday night at Memorial Park.

A big crowd watched the Bears take a 31-12 lead into the fourth quarter before holding on.

“That kind of stuff drives me nuts,” Bears coach Kirk Bergbigler said of missed opportunities to put the game away.

Leading 31-18, the Bears (8-3) twice lost fumbles inside the Silverhawks’ 5-yard line midway through the fourth quarter. They then had Jackson facing a 3rd-and-29 from its 1-yard line with less than six minutes to play.

Consecutive pass plays of 22 and 21 yards got the Silverhawks out of trouble, however, and Gabriel Thomas tossed his third touchdown pass —a 6-yarder to Lue Jones — with 2:33 left to pull his team within a touchdown.

Thomas threw for 242 yards on the night.

“That’s the best quarterback we’ve seen all year,” Bergbigler said. “He could buy himself time, had a strong arm and was very accurate.

“They were beating our defensive backs. We had a hard time containing them.”

Jackson recovered an onsides kick and Thomas found a wide-open receiver behind the Bears defense. The receiver dropped the ball. On fourth down, another pass was dropped and the Bears had the win.

“I expected a close game. No one was more surprised than me when we got that big lead early,” Bergbigler said.

Cupec rushed for 110 yards and a touchdown for the Bears. Fuhrer threw for 85 yards, including scoring passes of 11 yards to Michael Coffman and three yards to Nathan Bumblis.

T’Vonn Parchman had an interception, Stephon Conto a 30-yard punt return to set up a field goal. James Shope had two long kickoff returns in the win.

“Our game plan was to run the ball and control the clock,” Fuhrer said. “They started timing our snap count late in the game. There wasn’t much we could do about it. They forced our mistakes.”

The Bears lost five fumbles on the night. The two fumbles near the goal-line were a result of Jackson’s defense disrupting Fuhrer hand-offs.

“Our line kept them off me, though, and gave us time to make some big pass plays,” Fuhrer said.

Fuhrer had a 37-yard scoring pass to Conto late in the first half wiped out by a procedure penalty.

Had Jackson (6-5) scored another touchdown, Silverhawks coach Glenn Lane said he would have gone for the tying PAT.

“I think we would have won in overtime because our defense was stopping them,” he said. “Our offense didn’t get started until the fourth quarter. That’s too late.

“When you get this many turnovers, you should win.”

The Bears will now face the Ohio Golden Knights (11-0) at Kent State University at 7 p.m. this Saturday for the conference title.

“They score between 40 and 50 points a game,” Bergbigler said. “We’ll have our hands full.”

Jackson 0 12 0 12 — 24

B.C. Bears 3 21 7 0 — 31

First Quarter

BCB — Jason Majocha 32 field goal, 8:25

Second Quarter

BCB — Steve Cupec 6 run (Majocha kick), 14:57

J — Lue Jones 47 pass from Gabriel Thomas (kick blocked), 13:11

BCB — Michael Coffman 11 pass from Erim Fuhrer (Majocha kick), 8:37

BCB — Nathan Bumblis 3 pass from Fuhrer (Majocha kick), 1:56