By R.G. Greene

rgtgreene@aol.com

Never discount the ability of the Carvers Bay High defense to rise to the occasion.

The Bears D turned in the play of the season late in Friday's game against visiting St. John's, as Karim Gamble and Tevin Richard stuffed a potential game-tying two-point conversion with a little over a minute showing on the clock.

They play allowed Carvers Bay to escape with a 20-18 win and advance to the second round of the Class A Division I playoffs.

"My hat is off to our defense," said Bears coach Nate Thompson, whose team will travel to Hemingway on Friday for the second round of the post season. "They were there for us all night and kept us in the game."

Hemingway is the only team to defeat the Bears this season, scoring a 7-6 win on Sept. 26.

"Hemingway is a great rivalry for us," Thompson said. "They're a good team. The rivalry that it is, I'm sure kids on both sides will be up for the game."

Down 20-12 with a little over two minutes remaining, St. John's took over at midfield after a failed Carvers Bay fake punt.

Nine plays later the Islanders (6-5) pulled within two when Wesley Brown connected with Dymond Frasier on a 12-yard scoring strike.

An exciting finish

But that was as close as they would get as, after the failed two-point try, Carvers Bay (10-1) was able to recover the ensuing onside kick and run out the clock.

"Overall, we didn't play well," Thompson said. "We made mistakes we don't usually make and seemed to lack enthusiasm. But we found a way to win. Maybe that will benefit us down the road."

The Bears allowed less than nine points per game during the regular season and St. John's was just the third team to put more than 13 points on the board against them.

The Islanders size and speed presented problems and Carvers Bay hurt itself by being whistled for 10 penalties totaling 85 yards.

"They came in with nothing to lose," Thompson said of the Islanders, who are coached by former Choppee High coach James Waring. "They did things we haven't seen. They used trick plays and misdirection and really tried to roll the dice. And we put our defense in bad position with some of the mistakes we made.

"(St. John's) has good size and speed. Physically, they can control things on the line and when they can get to the corner they are quick enough to turn up-field."

Richard's two-yard run gave the Bears a 6-0 lead in the opening quarter, but Brown answered with a 10-yard run of his own to even things at 6-6 at the break.

The third quarter belonged to the Bears with Clayton Geathers scoring on a 66-yard run on the first play from scrimmage in the frame to put Carvers Bay in front 12-6.

St. John's turned the ball over on the ensuing kickoff and Quae'Shawn Brockington made them pay as his five-yard run increased the Bears advantage to 12 points and Geathers added a two-point conversion to build the lead to 20-6.

Geathers, still in the process of returning from an injury that sidelined him for much of the season, finished with 103 yards rushing on 12 carries.

"Clayton is getting better," Thompson said. "He ran hard and did some things that helped take us out of some of the holes we put ourselves in."

St. John's got back to within striking distance with a little over five minutes left in the game as Frasier's one-yard plunge capped a 16-play, 60-yard march to make the score 20-12.