By Drew Terhall

Dailyadvocate.com

BRADFORD — The Bradford Railroaders football team earned their first win of the season, 27-10, at home on September 26 against Dixie. Bradford lost to Dixie, 29-28, on the road last season.

Head coach Chuck Cantrell said while it’s great to get his first win as the head coach this season, it was great to get some revenge for that loss last year.

“It’s really nice, especially against Dixie. We lost by one point last year. It was nice to kind of get a little payback on that and get the win,” Cantrell said.

It was a rocky start for Bradford. The first two offensive possessions ended with two interceptions by senior Owen Canan. Dixie only capitalized on the first interception as they got a 32-yard field goal out of it.

After the defense got the stop on the second interception, the Greyhounds booted the ball all the way down to the three-yard line.

As the first quarter expired and the first two minutes of the second quarter ticked by, Bradford went 97 yards to take the lead. Canan capped off the drive with a seven-yard touchdown run.

Cantrell said he preaches the team to adapt and overcome adversity during games. The team heard the message loud and clear in this game as they bounced back from the rough first quarter.

“We’ve had that issue a couple of games. We would throw some interceptions, we were moving down the field and throw an interception. Then it’s almost like you see everyone deflate a little bit. That didn’t happen tonight. Everybody said, ‘You know what, we’ll just pick up and carry on.’ That was awesome,” Cantrell said.

Senior John Troxel scored later in the second quarter to give Bradford a 14-3 lead. In the last minute of the second quarter, Dixie converted on fourth and six on a fake punt pass to get to the Bradford 39-yard line. Nothing came out of the drive and the Railroaders led 14-3 at halftime.

On the first possession of the second half, Troxel came up with an interception on freshman Cole Swafford to give Bradford the ball on Dixie’s side of the field. Canan hit senior Griffin Trevino for a 22-yard touchdown pass to go up 20-3.

Dixie responded back right away with a kickoff return by senior Trustin Miller. With about eight minutes left in the third quarter, Bradford led 20-10.

The Railroaders were about to respond again as they were down to the four-yard line. A few negative plays moved them back. Then the Greyhounds defense came through with a sack fumble to take over on their own 28-yard line.

Bradford stayed calm and got the ball back for their offense. Cantrell said this was the best performance his defense has had this season so far. They didn’t allow any big plays and were swarming to the ball all game long.

“They wanted it bad. Hardest hitting I’ve seen them all year long. Those guys were playing lights out. The energy was awesome from start to finish,” Cantrell said.

Canan added another touchdown run, this time from 12 yards out, to go up 27-10 with 10:17 left in the fourth quarter. From there, the Railroaders defense did their thing and closed out the game without much drama.

Bradford is now 1-5 with a 1-4 WOAC record. They will host Mississinawa Valley on Oct. 4 at 7 p.m.

Contact Daily Advocate sports editor Drew Terhall at [email protected].