Jayla Blue shatters Bearden’s all-time scoring record with hat trick against GPS
By Ken Lay
Jayla Blue recorded a hat trick to lead the Bearden High School girls soccer team to a 5-0 victory Thursday.
But it wasn’t just the ordinary three-goal night for the Lady Bulldogs’ senior forward. Blue’s final marker of the night, which came in the 68th minute of Bearden’s 5-0 victory over Chattanooga Girls Preparatory School on the first day of the 2025 Bearden Invitational at Turner-Allender Field, propelled her to a school record.
Blue is now Bearden’s all-time leading goal scorer, passing Brinley Murphy, who is now playing at the University of Florida after beginning her collegiate career at another Southeastern Conference School, South Carolina.
“This is a great feeling, said Blue, who now has 111 goals during her stellar high school career in West Knoxville. “We’re all on the same page and we all have the same bite.”
Longtime Bearden coach Ryan Radcliffe was pleased and he’s happy to have Blue on his squad in 2025.
“She’s a great player and a great scorer,” Radcliffe said.
Blue now has eight goals in the Lady Bulldogs’ first five games this season and she’s also a playmaker as she dished out a pair of assists in Bearden’s other two markers in the match against the Lady Bruisers.
She’s one of the area’s top offensive weapons but what she takes the most pride is in her team’s defense.
“That’s a big source of pride for me and for us,” she said. “We have given up zero goals all year,” Blue said. “It’s always good to score but it’s also important that we don’t give up goals.”
The season is a mere five matches old for the Lady Bulldogs, but it’s already had more than its share of compelling story lines. Bearden has outscored its opponents, 22-0, as of Thursday night on its way to a perfect 5-0 record. The Lady Bulldogs have blanked, GPS, Catholic (5-0), Hendersonville (2-0), and Central (7-0). The also avenged last year’s loss in the Class 3A State Championship match to Germantown-Houston. The Lady Mustangs stopped Bearden’s run of three consecutive state titles with the win in a penalty kicks shootout last fall. But in this season’s showdown between the two powers, Bearden won, 3-0, in Chattanooga.
“That win was big for us,” Blue said. “We all remember what happened last year and beating them felt really great.”
Thursday night was a family affair for Blue, who has committed to play for Tennessee after high school. Her family was in attendance. Her mother, Ace Clement Blue, a regular at Turner-Allender Field and she played for basketball for the Lady Vols under legendary coach Pat Summitt. Her father, Avery, was on hand, along with her sister Nyla. Nyla played for both Bearden and GPS and is now playing soccer for the Lady Vols.
