BETHEL — The Canton Middle School football team won an outright Blue Ridge Conference West Division championship after beating Bethel Middle School, 34-16, Thursday afternoon.
Canton Middle ended the regular season with a perfect 7-0 record, while Bethel Middle slipped to 4-3.
The West champion Black Bears will travel to play at East Division champion Brevard Middle School (6-1) for the BRC crown Thursday, Oct. 18. Bethel Middle, which finished third in the West, will travel to play at the East Division’s No. 3 seed Rugby Middle. Waynesville Middle, the West runner-up, is at Polk County Middle School.  
Three Bears accounted for 397 yards rushing against the Blue Demons as Chris Rogers led all rushers with 175 yards, Devin Dockery picked up 154 on the ground and Isaiah Fisher finished with 68 yards.
However, the regular season finale didn’t start well for the Canton Middle as the Black Bears fumbled the ball away to Bethel Middle on their first possession of the game.
The Blue Demons promptly drove the ball down to the one, but the CMS defense got a incredible goal line stand to deny BMS any points.
Canton Middle responded with two quick scores as Dockery rushed for an 83- yard touchdown late in the first quarter and early in the second quarter, Rogers scored on a 70-yard run to give the Black Bears a 12-0 lead.
Bethel Middle sliced the deficit to 12-8 on its next possession when quarterback Trey Morgan threw a 37-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Jones in the second quarter. Morgan also scored the two-point conversion.
However, the momentum was short lived as Rogers took the ensuing kickoff 65 yards for a touchdown and Dockery added the two-point conversion to give Canton Middle a 20-8 halftime lead.
Both defenses took control of the third quarter.
However, the Blue Demons capped a long, time-consuming when its bruising running back Lakota Burnette scored on a one-yard run and Morgan added the two-point conversion that cut into Canton Middle’s lead, 20-16, with 7:14 remaining in the game.
Moments later, Canton Middle took a 26-16 lead on a Dockery 53-yard TD run. Late in the fourth quarter. Fisher added a two-yard touchdown run and the two-point conversion to seal the perfect regular season.
Bethel’s Morgan threw for one TD and added 84 yards rushing, while Burnette finished with 76 yards on the ground.