The Bears fought back from a 4-1 halftime deficit to claim a 6-6 tie in the season opener against Sequoyah earlier in the week, but in Dunlap it was Bradley that jumped out to a big lead and then held off a second half raid by the Indians.
“We led 5-0 at the half but they (Sequatchie) came out tough after the break and got two quick goals within a minute of each other early in the second half,” first-year Bear head coach Tucker Blackman said of the 5-3 victory. “We locked them down after that, except for a ‘circus,’ one-in-a-million goal. We stayed composed and were able to finish off the win.”
With a 1-0-1 record for the first week, Bradley will take spring break off and return to the pitch March 31 with its District 5-AAA opener at McMinn County.
After an amazing five-goal performance in the season opener, junior Miles Christian accounted for three of the Bear scores at Sequatchie County.
“Miles did it again,” coach Blackman praised. “He just dominated their defense. Two of his goals were unassisted and the third he got an assist from Caleb Arrowood.”
Arrowood netted an unassisted goal himself in the opening half, while the final Bear score came when an Indian defender accidentally knocked the ball into the goal. Martin Varagoza was credited with the goal as he was the closest Bradley player to the defender.”
“Jordan Steel had an incredible game,” Blackman said of his middle defender. “Our goalkeeper, Ramon Gomez, had 10 saves including a pair on breakaways where he went out and stopped ‘sure-fire’ goals.”
“Sequatchie is a young team but they came out aggressive in the second half and gave us a scare. They’re going to be a good team,” the coach added. “We played good defense in the first half and for all but a couple of minutes in the second half.”
Bradley had 15 shots on goal in the match, compared to 13 for the Indians. Sequatchie goalie Jacob Kilgore also had 10 saves in the match, while Juan Martinez netted a pair of goals and Ryan Mosley added the other.
