By Brandon Sumrall | Special to the Advertiser

Passing the midway point of the 2013 football season, the Billingsley Bears and the Keith Bears found themselves in the middle of the pack in Class 1A, Region 3 with both teams in need of a region win if they hoped to keep pace in the playoff hunt.

Behind a shutdown performance from the Billingsley defense, the Bears (4-2 overall, 2-2 region) picked up the win over the Keith Bears (3-3, 2-2) on Friday night, 18-0.

With the Billingsley defense forcing a Keith three-and-out, the Billingsley offense hit pay dirt on their opening drive on a Terrance Nolen 24-yard touchdown run to put Billingsley up 6-0 midway through the first quarter.

With their defense continuing to plague the Keith offense, Billingsley struck once more late in the second quarter on a 12-yard touchdown pass from Thomas Nichols to Denzel Callens to give Billingsley a 12-0 halftime lead.

Both teams struggled to find the end zone in the second half, but while their defense continued to shut out the Keith offense, the Billinglsey offense added one final touchdown late in the fourth quarter on Nolen’s second touchdown of the game, this time from four yards out to bring the score to its final tally, 18-0.

“I am very proud of our defense for the shutout performance” Billingsley coach Tyson McLean said. “Keith has a lot of speed and runs a lot of misdirection, but we had a lot of guys step up and make some plays. This was a big win for us.”

Marquis Kent led the way for Billingsley with 58 yards on four carries, while Nolen added 52 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries.

Walton Young led the way for Keith with six carries and 57 yards.