Patriots reign, beat Summerfield 48-20

One down and two to go for Britton Deerfield’s varsity football team. The Patriots need six wins to guarantee a spot in the playoffs and a 48-20 homecoming victory over visiting Summerfield on Friday, Oct. 5, have them needing just two more victories to secure postseason action.A hard steady rain had BD off to a shaky start in the Tri-County Conference contest with the Patriots fumbling the ball on their opening drive. The Bulldogs scooped the ball up on the 18-yard line and scored a touchdown on the first play of their second drive.The Patriots came close to tying the contest just minutes later with Leighton Merritt rushing to the left side 35-yards for a touchdown but its extra point attempt went under the uprights.BD’s defense went to work and denied the Bulldogs anything more while allowing their offense to take a 14-7 lead with Brandt Swindeman rushing seven yards for a touchdown and Nate Hoffman passing the ball to Brett Taylor on a two point conversion.Summerfield scored again early in the second quarter on a one-yard run but BD’s Josh Reau blocked the Point After Touchdown (PAT) kick to give the Patriots a 14-13 lead.BD scored again with a 21-yard touchdown pass from Hoffman to Krey Sweinhagen on the Patriot’s following offensive drive and increase their lead to 21-13 with a good PAT.Merritt smashed through the Bulldogs’ defensive line with just 28 seconds left in the first half and ran the ball 60 yards into the end zone. BD connected on the following PAT and the Patriots closed the first half up 28-13.Hoffman held onto the ball for another touchdown rush in the third quarter but the PAT was missed and the Patriots settled for a 34-13 lead.Four minutes later Summerfield scored their final touchdown on a one-yard run to the end zone. The Patriots finished the game adding two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Merritt scored on a 30-yard run while Swindeman scored on an 80-yard run. BD connected on both PATS to finish all scoring.The Patriots rushed for 476 yards while passing for just 30. Merritt accounted for 329 rushing yards on 20 carries while Swindeman added 131 yards on seven rushes.BD plays next at Sand Creek (2-5 overall, 2-3 TCC) on Friday, Oct. 12 beginning at 7 p.m.