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Prep football: Golden Eagles defeat ’Cats

BELPRE – Junior tailback Manney Tullius went over 1,000 yards rushing for the season with a 248-yard performance and Belpre’s defense recorded seven quarterback sacks Friday night as the host Golden Eagles blanked Waterford 19-0 to finish at 5-5 while handing the Wildcats their sixth shutout loss of the season.

Whether Tullius, who missed two games and three quarters of another early in the season after a severe ankle sprain, actually needed 181 or 185 yards versus Waterford (2-8) to crack the 1,000-yard barrier Friday became academic when he gained 16 yards to go into quadruple figures with less than six minutes left in the game.

But then he immediately added a 33-yard scamper and followed that runs of 6, 16 and 2 yards to finish two shy of the 250-yard mark on 25 carries.

Tullius had plenty of help, though, stifling the Wildcats at practically every turn. The seven sacks helped Belpre limit Waterford to just 116 total yards, including 32 rushes for a negative 15 yards.

The defensive pressure was led by seniors Dakota McDaniel, Jamie Barrett and D.J. Leftwich, all playing their last game as Golden Eagle gridders.

Quarterback Tavian Miller ran a yard for a touchdown in the first quarter for a 7-0 Belpre lead at 4:17, then threw a 21-yard scoring strike to Dijon Bedgood in the third quarter.

In between, Tullius made it 13-0 in the second stanza after a Bedgood interception gave Belpre the ball at its own 49.

On 4th-and-4 from the Wildcat 10, Tullius went right, then reversed his field back to the left and picked his way through the defense into the end zone at 6:50.

In addition, Miller had a fourth-quarter interception in the end zone to halt a late Waterford threat, and Belpre also had two first-half fourth-down stops of the Wildcats after they had reached the Golden Eagle 24.

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