Plainview Beat New Hope
By Nick Hall
Plainview beat New Hope Friday night to stay alive in the Class 3A, Region 7 playoff race. The Bears were undaunted when the Indians’ Zach Blackwood took the opening kickoff 79 yards for a touchdown. With Plainview down 7-0 just 14 seconds into the ballgame, Noah White went to work leading a drive that ended when White found Marcos Vega for a 14-yard touchdown strike. After a quick defensive stop, the Bears got the ball back and White scored on a 47-yard run, followed minutes later by a 60-yard scoring strike to Corey Blair. Plainview struggled with PATs, hitting only one during the game, so the Bears led 19-7 late in the first quarter. New Hope scored once more in the opening period, when Duvine Beebe raced 57 yards to cut Plainview’s lead to 19-14 heading into the second period. Indians kicker Travis Bennett cut the Bears lead even more with a 30-yard field goal in the second quarter. However, with just 12 seconds left in the first half, Noah White answered with a 13-yard scoring strike to Logan Bell. That sent Plainview to the locker room with a 25-17 advantage. Brody McCurdy stretched the Bears lead to 31-17 with a 14-yard scoring run on Plainview’s opening drive of the third quarter. New Hope refused to go away however, coming back to tie the game at 31-all on a touchdown pass from Dylan Selvage to Beebe and a 1-yard run by Beebe. The Bears answered with their last scoring drive of the night. McCurdy punched in from one yard out to give Plainview a 37-31 lead with 4:23 left on the game clock. Given New Hope’s quick scoring capability and the Bears’ struggles in the kicking game, Coach Nick Ledbetter elected to go for two. The gamble paid off when McCurdy again found the end zone to give Plainview an eight-point lead. The Bears’ defense stood tall on their last series, and Plainview beat New Hope 39-31, to stay in the run for a playoff spot. White went 7-of-15 158 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. White’s passing performance was even better than his stats would indicate, as he had several dropped passes. White also ran for 87 yards and a touchdown and caught a 16-yard pass from Brody Parker. McCurdy led the ground game for the Bears, racking up 160 yards on 23 carries for two touchdowns and a 2-point conversion. Corey Blaire led the receivers with 60-yards on one catch for a touchdown. Defensively, McCurdy, White and Saul Mil posted seven tackles each, while Zeb Ferguson had six. Hayden Casey recorded a fumble recovery on defense for the Bears. Susan Moore clinched the Class 3A, Region 7 title Friday night. Sylvania and Geraldine will face each other this week to decide who is second and third, while Plainview takes on Pisgah in a winner-take-all for the fourth playoff spot.