BLOOMINGTON -- In possibly the earliest Senior
Night in recorded history, Bloomington High School
football players, cheerleaders, band members and their
parents were recognized at halftime Friday at Fred
Carlton Field.
On the field, however, it was Tailback Night.
BHS' James Wade and Decatur MacArthur's Akeem Topps
took turns reeling off big gains, but Wade had more help
as the Purple Raiders dumped the Generals, 31-14, in a
Big 12 Conference game.
Wade countered Topps' 220 yards on 27 carries with
219 yards on 19 attempts of his own as BHS (4-0, 4-0)
registered its 38th consecutive regular-season win and
its ninth straight over MacArthur (1-3, 1-3).
"My goal was to try to outrun him, try to outdo him
and see who is the better back," Wade said. "He
surprised me. He did some really good things. I respect
his game and he told me he respected mine."
"Both of those kids are really moving and it's hard
to tackle them," said MacArthur coach Cordell Ingram.
"They're stout, they're short, they work in the weight
room and they show they can get results."
Ranked fifth in Class 6A, BHS led 19-0 and 31-6 but
the Generals would not be buried.
"There were some negatives, but at the same time they
are not a bad club," Raiders' coach Rigo Schmelzer said.
"I thought the defense played well as far as trying to
slow him (Topps) down. There were a lot of things that
were good."
Special teams got BHS its first points. Justin
Harrison broke through the middle to block a MacArthur
punt and Rod Castillo recovered in the end zone.
"It felt good," said Castillo. "For a defensive
lineman to get a touchdown, you don't really see that a
whole lot."
Wade took a pitch right and cut back to the left late
in the first quarter for a 38-yard touchdown run and a
13-0 BHS advantage.
Raiders' quarterback Jeremy Peden scrambled for a
10-yard touchdown before Topps got MacArthur on the
board with a 33-yard TD on fourth-and-3.
BHS scored on its first two possessions of the second
half as Peden covered 3 yards on a sneak and Harrison
bulled 15 yards for another score. Harrison, who also
had the game's only interception, rushed 12 times for 73
yards.
MacArthur's second-half points came on a 42-yard
Topps run and a fourth-quarter safety as Kinney Jackson
tripped up Wade in the end zone.
"We wish we came out with better results," Ingram
said, "but we're satisfied with knowing we can compete
with a team like this."
BHS held a 329 to 239 edge in total offense.
Contact Randy Reinhardt at rreinhardt@pantagraph.com.
