BURTON—Beachwood’s Nate Hamilton ran over, around and through the Berkshire defense on Friday to lead the Bison to a 47-21 rout over the Badgers.
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| Nate Hamilton scored four touchdowns and ran for 160 yards |
Hamilton scored three of his four touchdowns in the first quarter and ended the night with 160 rushing yards on just 13 carries.
“He’s been the cornerstone of everything we’ve done offensively,” said Beachwood coach Mike Gibbons. “He has showed up in every game and ran the ball hard.”
Berkshire’s Ben Blechschmid ran for a six yard touchdown on the game’s opening possession but the Bison responded with 47 unanswered points to pick up their second straight win and improve to 2-3 on the year.
Hamilton started the scoring barrage with a 12-yard run. Max Balazs then threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Hines to make it 13-7 and Hamilton closed out the first quarter with 32 and 3-yard touchdown runs.
Balazs scored on a 3-yard touchdown run in the second quarter to give the Bison a 33-7 halftime lead.
Beachwood’s defense did its part in forcing four straight Berkshire punts and stopping the Badgers on fourth-and-goal at the Beachwood 20.
“The defense came up big,” Gibbons said. “(Blechschmid) is a great running back. He’s a hard runner. They came out and they got stops there. We played well defensively.”
Hamilton added a 42-yard touchdown run in the third quarter and Hines, who ran for 35 yards on three carries, closed out Beachwood’s scoring with a 23-yard run.
The Badgers scored two fourth quarter touchdowns off the Beachwood reserves.
Balazs completed 13-of-21 passes for 154 yards and the scoring pass to Hines. He also rushed for 31 yards and a score.
Jordan Williams led the Bison with seven receptions for 78 yards.
“Different guys were being involved in the game plan,” Gibbons said. “We were throwing the bubble pretty well and getting blocks there. We had some hitches that they were giving us. Jordan Williams had a really good game receiving. Taylor Nash had a couple catches. Max was spreading the ball well.”
After losing three straight to start the season, Beachwood improved to 2-3 with only its Chagrin Valley Conference Metro Division games remaining.
“I definitely think we have to build on the momentum,” Gibbons said. “I said to the guys, ‘We’ve won two games in a row now, let’s go.’ We talked about a snowball effect all week. It starts out slow and it gradually gets bigger and bigger. We just want to keep building momentum and take it one week at a time. Hopefully we’re there in the end to have a shot at the playoffs and win those important games down the stretch to get in.”
Beachwood hosts Independence (3-2) on Thursday.
