The John Adams era at Bradwell Institute got off to a wild, lengthy and victorious start.
The Tigers outlasted the visiting New Hampstead Phoenix to claim a 47-34 win Friday night at Olvey Field/Hokey Jackson Stadium in the season opener for both teams – and the debut for Adams as Bradwell’s head coach.
Cameron Keeve ran for four touchdowns, including a clinching 89-yard sprint with 3:05 to play. The defense, which gave up two scores to New Hampstead in just over a minute earlier in the fourth quarter, bringing some drama back into the game, held on fourth and goal with 13.9 seconds remaining to seal the win.
“I’m just proud of these guys,” Adams said. “Yes, it’s my first win here, but I owe it to them. I’m just proud of them. They almost gave me a heart attack tonight, but I’m just happy we came out with the ‘w.’”
Keeve ran for 225 yards on 11 carries and caught three passes for another 60 yards. The Tigers finished with a whopping 513 yards of offense and 22 first downs.
“We still have work to do,” Adams said, “but you can see those guys sprouting a little bit.”
Keeve took a swing pass from Jahbarri Felix and raced 40 yards for a score on Bradwell’s opening drive of the game.
After Christian Kinlaw’s 5-yard run brought the Phoenix to within 7-6, Keeve ended the Tigers’ next drive going up the middle and cutting to his right for a 37-yard touchdown dash.
Felix connected with Jacobi Pasley on a 12-yard touchdown pass for a third touchdown in three possessions. Pasley finished with 71 yards on five catches.
New Hampstead fought back, with Kinlaw wrenching his way out of a potential sack and darting 17 yards for a touchdown.
Keeve extended the lead with his third touchdown, bolting 41 yards through a gaping hole in the New Hampstead defense, to put the Tigers on top 28-13 with 4:52 left in the first half. Bradwell ran just 16 plays in the first half.
The Phoenix struck first in the second half, with Aydan Day hauling in Antonio Benton’s 52-yard touchdown pass to cut the lead to 28-19.
Felix capped an eight-play drive with an 8-yard touchdown run, pushing the lead back to 34-19. Bradwell followed that with a 13-play, 92-yard drive, culminating in Felix’s 5-yard touchdown pass to Jaylen Brown and a 40-19 lead with only 4:28 to play.
But the Phoenix quickly brought the game back into tension. Benton found Mekhi Lynn in the end zone for a 20-yard scoring strike, ending a two-play drive, and ran in the two-point conversion to cut the lead to 40-27.
New Hampstead recovered the resulting onside kick, and after a facemask penalty nullified a sack, Day made a sliding grab of Benton’s 17-yard touchdown pass to slash the lead to 40-34 with 3:26 to play in the game. New Hampstead finished with 374 yards of offense.
The Phoenix, with the Tigers guarding against another onside try, used a deep kickoff and pinned the Tigers back at their own 11.
A few seconds later, the speedy Keeve rocketed through the New Hampstead defense for the clinching touchdown.
Bradwell’s defense cemented the win when the Tigers smothered Kinlaw on fourth down after he bobbled the snap, bringing him down at the Bradwell 2-yard line with 13.9 seconds remaining.
“That was the way to finish,” Adams said. “Those guys bowed their neck and they finished. I just like the way we finished on defense.”
Bradwell and New Hampstead combined for 30 accepted penalties, and the game took three-and-a-half hours to complete.
“We’re going to make adjustments,” Adams said. “One thing about this coaching staff, we are going to focus on things. But we did some good things as well. We have to be more consistent on both sides of the ball.”
Bradwell hosts Wayne County on August 28. The Yellow Jackets held on to beat Liberty County 24-21 Friday night at Jaycee Stadium in Jesup.
“If we can continue to keep fighting forward and fighting up, I think we can be a really good ball club,” Adams said.