Beech runs to a victory over Gallatin

GALLATIN -- When Beech's Travis Haymer scored a 72-yard touchdown run on the Buccaneers' first play from scrimmage, the visitors' student body started chanting, "Way too easy."

Haymer made it look easy by rushing for 215 yards and three scores on 22 carries in Beech's 33-25 win Friday night at Gallatin.

"This is actually a huge win for us because if we didn't beat them then it would be kind of hard playing Mt. Juliet and Hendersonville for the next two weeks," said Haymer, who runs the 40-yard dash in 4.5 seconds. "Gallatin kept coming back. We would score and they would come back."

Beech (7-1, 5-0) won its seventh straight game to take sole possession of first in District 9-AAA. Gallatin (5-3, 4-1) fell into second.

"(Haymer) has speed and he runs the ball hard," Beech Coach Anthony Crabtree said. "He's not afraid to be physical, so we're definitely going to let him carry it."

Gallatin had Haymer stopped on short gains several times, but he turned them into long gains.

"I think the toughest thing that Haymer does is he makes you miss the first lick," Gallatin Coach Robert Lassiter said. "We got him and he spins out and he gets another 6, 7 or 8 yards or runs with a big gainer. He's a physical runner, a speed runner and he's got it all."

Beech built a 27-10 early in the fourth quarter, but Gallatin scored twice late to make it close.

Green Wave quarterback Tremaine Smith completed 9 of 14 passes for 167 yards and two touchdowns.

"Lack of focus hurt us," Smith said. "We didn't do our assignments. We were being lazy."

Tyler Way gave Gallatin its only lead when he hit a 21-yard field goal, putting the Green Wave up 3-0 on the game's first possession.

Haymer made it 7-3 with his 72-yard TD run on the Bucs' first possession. He scored again on a 21-yard run, putting Beech up 14-3 early in the second quarter.

Gallatin narrowed it to 14-10 when DeVante Ray caught a 24-yard TD pass with 4:54 left in the half.

Dewayne Fleming made a one-handed catch for a 14-yard TD reception from Jarod Neal on third-and-7, putting Beech up 21-10 with 1:25 left in the first half.

Neal's 26-yard run with 11:06 left built the Bucs' lead to 27-10. Anthony Woodard's 26-yard TD catch from Smith with 2:50 left made it 27-17 and Haymer's 8-yard TD run boosted Beech's lead to 33-17 with 1:24 left.

Caleb Robb's 1-yard run and Smith's two-point conversion run ended the scoring with 30 seconds left.

Click here to view a photo slideshow from this game.