What a difference a year makes!

Last year, Quitman was reeling from a 50-7 loss to the Hawkins Hawks. The last time the Bulldogs won three or more games was in 2010 when Coach Ron Callahan’s team went 7-4 and made it to the state playoffs.

Fast forward to last Friday night. Quitman defeated Hawkins 32-22 in front of a packed Bud Moody Field, earning a team victory as the defense and offense put up heroic efforts with big stops and an offensive line leading the way for Quitman runners on scoring drives. The Bulldog defense recorded four fumble recoveries.

“This was truly a community effort,” Head Coach Shane Webber said. “We had a great crowd and community support and I know the kids appreciated it. Our cheerleaders, student section and band all did such a great job. Our team doesn’t care who gets credit, they all have bought in to what we want them to do and it is paying off. I can’t say enough about the leadership of Ford Tannebaum and other seniors Mason Reynolds, Wyatt Hightower and Jack Tannebaum. All of our seniors have really stepped up for us.”

The Hawks wasted no time getting on the scoreboard. Led by the running of Kayden Upchurch and Hunter Warrick, Hawkins went 63 yards in just five plays to take a 6-0 lead on a short run with less than two minutes gone in the game.

Not to be deterred, the Bulldogs used a 15-play 75-yard drive capped by a Ford Tannebaum three-yard quarterback sneak for a score. A Hunter Jacobs run for two was successful, giving the Bulldogs an 8-6 advantage with 1:45 left in the quarter. 

Quitman recovered a fumble early in the second quarter at the Hawk 15-yard line and used the short field to score on another Ford Tannebaum quarterback run to make it 14-6 with 10:21 left in the first half.

Hawkins started its next drive on their own 38-yard line following a short Quitman kick-off. The nine-play drive was halted when the Bulldogs recovered a fumble on their own two-yard line.

Quitman then went 98 yards aided by several Hawk penalties to take a 20-6 lead on another short run by Ford Tannebaum. The key play of the drive was a Ford Tannebaum pass to tight end Justin Matthews for a 33-yard gain, taking them from their own 15 to the 48-yard line.

On the drive, a face mask call on Hawkins led to three unsportsmanlike calls, eventually giving the ball to Quitman inside the five-yard line. The Hawks gave up 36 yards in penalties to aid the Quitman drive.

Hawkins tried an onside kick to open the second half, recovered by Quitman. The Bulldogs stretched the lead to 26-6 on a Mason Reynolds run.

Hawkins converted two quick scores after a long kick return and then a Quitman fumble to make it a game, 26-22.

The Bulldog defense stopped the Hawks cold in the final quarter, aided by another fumble recovered by Quitman at the Hawkins 46-yard line. Reynolds busted out on a 34-yard run to the 12-yard line. After carries by Reynolds and Ford Tannebaum, the Bulldogs got the ball to the two yard line. From there, it was another short run by Ford Tannebaum with 4:15 left in the game, giving the Bulldogs the 32-22 win making last year’s loss at Hawkins only a distant memory.

For the night Reynolds posted his second straight game over 100 yards rushing. He posted 117 yards on 23 carries. Ford Tannebaum had 75 yards on 18 totes, Hightower ran for 51 yards on 10 carries and Hunter Jacobs picked up a tough 32 yards on six carries. The Bulldogs averaged 4.8 yards per play.

“Our running backs did a great job and our line really got after them,” Webber said. “Those kids up front in the trenches really come to play every game. As a team, we are getting better each week and are looking forward to going to Arp this Friday. I’m really excited for our kids. They deserved this one and I am just so happy for them because of all the hard work they have put in since I got here. The school deserves it and our community and fans deserve it too. After our mishap at Scurry, the kids just said that will not happen again and they meant it. They watched film and they knew Hawkins was good, but they didn’t back down from the challenge.”

Webber again credited the dedicated work of the offensive line in the victory. He noted Hayden Batchelder, Austin Jones, Justin Matthews, Johnata Jones, Cason Johnson, Cason Johnson, Thomas Sebedra and Daryl Harris.

“Johnata (Jones) did a great job keeping their big man John Hester in check all night.” Webber added. Hester is a D-I prospect who is headed to New Mexico to play collegiately.

The Bulldogs will take a 3-1 record into District 9-3A DII play at Arp Friday night. Arp is coming off a 55-6 defeat at the hands of state-ranked Waskom. The Tigers have defeated Huntington and Garrison while losing to Tenaha and Waskom to post a 2-2 record in non-district play.