The Friday night lights are back on with the Beaver Area Bobcat football team starting their new season hot!

Beaver Area just finished their week-four game of a ten-week regular season.

The Bobcats started the season running by being a showcased team at the first annual KDKA News showcase.

The team played at the “Wolvarena” and home of Woodland Hills August 24.

The game against the Westinghouse Bulldogs was a tight matchup for the final game of a three-game series.

The Bulldogs are a powerhouse in the 1A division and gave the Bobcats a tough fight, but ultimately the 3A Bobcats came out on top 28-26.

This was a neutral non-conference win.

The game did not start well for the Bobcats with Westinghouse scoring a touchdown on the kickoff play, as well as another Bulldog touchdown just five minutes later. Thankfully they missed a field goal and had a failed two-point conversion.

This made the score 12-0 with four minutes left in the first quarter.

Thankfully, with a minute left in the first quarter, the Bobcats got on the board when senior Qualan Cain scored a seven-yard rushing touchdown to make the score 12-7.

To start the second quarter, Beaver Area had a big play and blocked a Westinghouse punt.

This seemed to mark the turning point for the Bobcats, and a minute later they were able to score once again.

Senior Amari Jackson had the 12 yard rushing touchdown that allowed the Bobcats to take the lead with a score of 14-12.

Right before halftime, the Bulldogs completed a 15-yard passing touchdown but had another failed two-point conversion.

The Bobcats were down by 4 points with a score of 18-14 to mark halftime.

In the third quarter, the Bobcats scored twice more: once by senior Drey Hall and once again by Jackson.

The Bulldogs were able to score once and finally managed a successful two-point conversion.

The third quarter score was 28-26 with the Bobcats in the lead.

Neither team scored in the fourth quarter, with Jackson cementing a Bobcat win with two minutes left in the fourth.

Jackson had a fake punt that he was able to run 15 yards for a first down which allowed the Bobcats to take a knee and end the game.

Jackson’s performance earned him the KDKA player of the game.

The following week was supposed to be the Bobcats’ first Friday home game. But the weather had other ideas.

The game was scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. but was delayed until 9:30 p.m. and eventually canceled due to a thunderstorm.

The game was played Saturday morning instead, and the weather was still subpar, with storms and heavy rain for the first three quarters.

But the rain did little to deter the Bobcats who were leading at the end of the first quarter 35-14, and by the third quarter the junior varsity team was put in.

The final score was 56-28.

Several Bobcats put points on the board, but Cain proved to be the MVP with well over 500 rushing yards and two 60 yard-plus touchdowns.

Notably, the Bobcats did let up one touchdown once again on the first play of the game after kicking off to the Cougars.

September 6 the Bobcats once again had a road game an hour away against Imani Christian Academy.

Imani does not have a home field so the two teams played at the Chatham University soccer and lacrosse field in Wilkinsburg.

The Bobcats knew that this would be a tough matchup since the Saints are currently ranked sixth in the state for 3A football.

The Bobcats put up a hard fight against Imani but ultimately lost with a final score of 42-28.

Again, weather played a part: the game was postponed for half an hour during the fourth quarter due to lightning, but the teams ultimately were able to finish the game.

At the half, the Bobcats were trailing 34-14, and despite having their normal strong offensive plays, the defense was having trouble containing the strong Imani quarterback and wide receivers.

The following week, Beaver Area prepared for their second “first” Friday night home football game, this time against the Hopewell Vikings September 16. The Cats went into the game hoping for an easy win and ego boost following their tough loss to the Saints.

This is exactly what they got. The Bobcats won 49-17 in their first conference matchup.

The score at halftime was 42-7 and prompted the Bobcat coaching staff to put the junior varsity team in to finish the third and fourth quarters.

In total, the starting offense played 15 plays and were able to score six touchdowns.

All Bobcat touchdowns were scored by Cain, Jackson, and senior Brady Mayo.

Next week, the Bobcats face the Central Valley Warriors September 20 in one of their biggest games of the season.

Be sure to check out the next edition of the BASD ECHO for more football coverage.