By Michael Lindsay
The Upperman Bees wrapped up their second straight undefeated regular season Thursday evening as they won at DeKalb County, 44-14.
“This is a very serious thing to me and we take it very seriously,” said Upperman head coach Adam Caine. “I made a promise to our players that we’re not going to worry about individual stuff and we’re going to try and make it a one-week season.”
Upperman running back Ethan Palk tallied 316 rushing yards and 4 touchdowns to lead the Bees to a rain-soaked Halloween-night victory in Smithville.
“He’s a heck of a football player and has been a solider for us,” said Caine. “He’s done it the right way and any time he has success, I’m very proud. He’d be the first to tell you it starts up front; we had a good collective blocking effort.”
The Bees found the end zone twice in the first quarter as Palk and quarterback Bronzden Chaffin each rushed in a touchdown inside the 5-yard line to give Upperman a 15-0 lead after one quarter.
Upperman extended their lead to 30-0 late in the second quarter as Palk punched in a pair of touchdowns from 4 and 12 yards out.
DeKalb County answered on the final play before halftime as quarterback Jordan Parker hit Ryan Lyons for a 12-yard touchdown pass to make the score 30-7 at halftime.
Upperman extended their lead to 37 points in the third quarter as back-to-back touchdowns gave the Bees a 44-7 advantage.
DeKalb County capped off the evening with a 4-yard touchdown rush by Parker to make the final score 44-14 Upperman.
The Bees finish the regular season 10-0 and are the Region 4-4A champions.
“We’re going to enjoy this and get back to the grind,” said Caine. “It’s a one-week season, and if you look any further past that you may go home with your heart broken.”
Upperman will host the first round of the Class 4A playoffs next Friday against Region 3-4A’s #4 seed in Signal Mountain.
