Gamecocks start fast, finish strong against Bears

The New Brockton Gamecocks (1-0) jumped out to a hot start in the season opener against the Cottonwood Bears (0-1) at home on Aug. 20 and finished even stronger to wrap up a 33-14 win as 2021 gets underway.

The Gamecocks – who have had a history of starting slow – removed that monkey off their backs early on as senior quarterback Kaden Cupp raced 60 yards on the game’s very first play to put New Brockton ahead 6-0 after a failed PAT with 11:42 remaining in the first quarter.

The New Brockton defense played just as well early on forcing a three-and-out right from the start, and then the Gamecock offense marched right back down the field with athlete Jordan Tacey diving into the end-zone on a 1-yard scoring plunge. A failed two-point try gave New Brockton a 12-0 lead with 7:16 left.

“I thought we played hard,” New Brockton coach Zack Holmes said. “We started fast and we put the pedal to the metal from the get go. We started as well as we have in any game and I was proud of that.”

After the Gamecocks recovered an onside kick, New Brockton drove down inside the Cottonwood 10-yard line but turned the ball over on downs. Cottonwood gave the Gamecocks the ball right back on a fumble that Drew Cashin covered up but New Brockton again turned the ball over on downs, this time near midfield.

As the second quarter began, Cottonwood finally got something going offensively and running back Artavious Shipmon scored on a 1-yard run with 9:48 left. The two-point conversion cut New Brockton’s lead to 12-8, but the Gamecocks weren’t ready to let Cottonwood back in the game.

An 11-play New Brockton drive was capped off with a 1-yard touchdown run from Cupp with 5:20 left. The PAT extended New Brockton’s lead to 19-8, and the Gamecocks would take that lead into the half.

New Brockton again tried an onside kick as the second half began but Cottonwood recovered it and made the Gamecocks pay as Shipmon scored on a 5-yard run a few plays later. His score was set up by his own 50-yard run a few plays earlier. A failed two-point conversion meant that the Bears had cut into New Brockton’s lead 19-14 with 8:22 let in the third quarter. Neither team was able to tack anything onto the scoreboard for the remainder of the third quarter, though.

The fourth quarter belonged to the Gamecocks. Running back JaMarcus Brown scored on a 2-yard run and Tacey added an 18-yard touchdown run. A two-point conversion and a failed PAT left the final score at 33-14.

“I think we came out a little flat in the third quarter and they cut it five points, but we responded and finished the game like we wanted to,” Holmes said.

The New Brockton running game was the biggest difference, rolling up 287 yards on the ground, while the Gamecock defense held Cottonwood to 235 total yards. Cupp led the New Brockton offense with 128 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries along with 38 yards on 3-of-4 passing with an interception. Brown added 86 yards and a touchdown on just 12 carries and Tacey had 24 yards and two touchdowns on five carries.

“Kaden rushed for more than 120 yards and we had four other kids that also averaged over five yards per carry,” Holmes said of the Gamecock running game, “That’s big time and is a testament to the (offensive line).

“When you’re able to run the ball it does a lot of things for you. It wears on people when you’re constantly able to run the ball and I think that showed up in the fourth quarter.”

Cottonwood’s Shipmon had a huge day and made up almost the entirety of the Bears’ offensive production with 215 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries.

On defense for New Brockton, Cashin led the way with nine tackles, two tackles-for-loss and a fumble recovery. He also rushed for 38 yards on four carries. Tre Boland chipped in with six tackles and one tackle-for-loss, while Cupp totaled six tackles in his first appearance on defense of his career.