A tough defense once again led the Quitman Bulldogs to an exciting 20-17 win on the road at Kemp. The offense did their job sustaining drives, using several running backs to pound out the win. Quitman is 2-1 heading into their final non-district game at Ore City Friday night.

Head Coach Shane Webber said the coaches and team had to make some adjustments at the half. The Bulldogs held the YellowJackets to just three points in the second half.

“Our kids did a great job on those things we told them we had to do to win the game. Our kids really believe in what we are trying to do and it shows on the field,” Webber said. “We pulled it out. Our kids got those stops in the second half that we had to have. I was not pretty, but we did what we had to do to win. These kids work hard and are seeing some positive things 

The Bulldog defense keeps coming up with big plays to make stops and give the offense opportunities to do their job.

The Bulldog defense kept the Kemp offense from generating much on the ground. The Quitman secondary held the Yellowjacket passing game in check with several great efforts from Thomas Sabedra, Brady Floyd and Clayton Meadows, along with defenders Garin Kisinger, Luke Williams, Ethan Presley, Justin Matthews and Hayden Batchelder.

Kemp took the opening kick-off, but the Bulldogs held and took over on their own 34-yard line. The Bulldogs ground out a 66-yard drive running the ball 16 plays and taking nearly seven minutes. Quitman used four runners, with Kamrin Crockett bulling over from one-yard out for a score with 3:36 left in the first period. Carlos Flores added the point after to put the ‘Dogs up 7-0.

Not to be deterred, Kemp came right back with a good kick-off return and the Yellowjackets used a short field to go 34 yards in just three plays to tie the game at 7-7 with 1:44 in left in the first quarter.

Kemp came back in the second quarter to score on a 45-yard scoring pass to go ahead 14-7 with 9:38 on the clock in the second stanza. 

The Bulldogs got a break with 2:12 left in the first half when Kemp’s returner muffed a punt, and the Bulldogs used five plays to cash in on a run by Meadows. Flores booted the point after, and the score stood at 14-14 with 0:37 left in the half.

After a third quarter punt by Kemp, Quitman set up on the Bulldog 28-yard line. The offensive line, led by the blocking and steady presence of Michael Hipp, Johnata Johns, Austin Jones, Garin Kisinger, Batchelder and Justin Matthews, paved the way for Bulldog running backs to plow through averaging over five yards per carry on the drive. It took 11 plays as Meadows scored from three yards out. Flores missed the point after, but the Bulldogs led 20-14.

Kemp came back to hit a 35-yard field goal as the third quarter ended leaving the score 20-17.

The rest of the final quarter was filled with hard-hitting by both teams as each team’s defenses held the rest of the game. Big secondary plays by Sabedra, Floy, and Meadows kept the ball out of Yellowjacket hands. Batchelder had a big sack during the final Kemp offensive opportunity. The Bulldogs were able to finish off the contest taking a knee to run out the clock.

On offense, this is the first time the Bulldogs did not have more offensive yardage than their opponents. The Bulldogs continue to run the ball well. Mikey Pickering led Quitman backs with 92 yards on 16 carries while Meadows added 31, Sebedra 15, Cason Johnson 10 yards and Kisinger nine yards.

“We are spreading the ball around a lot. When you have a stable of good runners, we don’t mind who gets the ball. We had nine guys run the ball against Kemp and not one of those had negative yardage,” Webber added. 

Overall, Webber was pleased with the win. “We stole one basically. We got this win because our kids just refuse to ever give up,” Webber noted. “The stats may not have looked great, but we controlled the ball and we were able to win the game. We made the stops we had to make to get the ball back to our offense and control the game.”

The Bulldogs travel to face Ore City Friday at 7:30 p.m.