With their 56-10 win over Butler Friday, the No. 4 Burke County Bears are 7-1, 3-0 in Region 4, and have pushed their win streak to five. The Bears were up 43-0 after two quarters, which put a running clock in motion for all of the second half. Halfway though the third quarter, they subbed out their starters.
The night belonged to senior Kel’von Scott, who totaled four touchdowns. He had a 30-yard pick-six at safety, two touchdowns and 56 yards on six carries, and a touchdown and 28 yards on two catches.
“I’ll take four touchdowns on nine catches every night,” Bears coach Franklin Stephens said. “He does a great job for us at halfback, at safety and in the return game, so he’s not really coming off the field very much. He’s having a great year, and the expecations fall on him to make plays.”
Sean Vandiver, a junior, was 8-of-13 passing for 132 yards and two touchdowns, and senior A’merre Williams had 104 yards and a touchdown on seven carries, and 41 yards and a touchdown on two catches. On defense, junior linebacker Dexter Bynes recovered a fumble in the end zone for a touchdown, senior Cadyn Bracely had seven tackles and a quarterback pressure, and senior Aries McRae had three tackles, a caused fumble and a fumble recovery.
The Bears have come a long way in the face of adversity. Friday marked their third straight region game in which they scored more than 50 points while allowing less than 20. They beat Glenn Hills 51-18 on Oct 18 and Josey 56-12 on Oct. 11. The Josey game came after a three-week layoff, which was the result of Hurricane Helene, which hit Waynesboro harder than most areas.
“In my 51 years, I’ve never seen anything like it,” Stephens said. “There were trees down on houses, on roads. You couldn’t get anywhere by road. It looked like a bomb went off, or like a third-world country war zone. Power lines down, chainsaws trying to cut the trees out of the way. But no matter the road or area, there were trees and debris everywhere. We didn’t have power at the school.
“I just passed a house with a tree in it. There’s still trees on automobiles, and tents from people being displaced.”
Further, the defense has been without three defensive starters at safety, linebacker and the line for nearly a month, and only one has an outside shot at returning this season.
“The injuries and hurricane have been disappointing,” Stephens said. “It has taken some time for us to get back on the same page. I feel like, before the hurricane, we were getting to where we needed to be. We got derailed a little bit, but these last two weeks we’ve finally been hitting our groove, and we’re playing well.”
The Bears have two games remaining before the playoffs, this week at Laney (5-3, 2-1), and Nov. 8 at home against Thomson (6-2, 3-0). If they win both, they’re region champions for the first time since 2019. Thomson has won three straight region titles, including 4-2A each of the past two seasons.
“Laney is a good, physical team,” Stephens said. “They’re not overly complicated, but they control the clock. (Therrell) coach (Ronnie) Baker does a good job of getting them tough, and believe in what they do. This will be a physical game and, no matter who wins, someone will be beat up.
“Thomson is Thomson, and (Bulldogs) coach (Michael) Youngblood has done a good job of getting those guys to play in line with their long tradition. They play hard, and they’re fast and physical. They’ve got some huge kids, and they’ll drive you crazy in their offensive formation. We’re going to have to tackle.”
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