The Arp Tigers came to Bud Moody Stadium and dispatched the Quitman Bulldogs 47-16 Friday. The Tigers outgained the hosts 477 yards to 224 yards and  took advantage of short fields resulting from three Bulldog turnovers.

Hoping to derail a multi-faceted Arp offense, it was important for the Bulldog defense to make stops and for Quitman to eliminate errors. Unfortunately for the home side, neither came to pass.

The Tigers found the end zone on each of their possessions – with the exception of the end-of-half and end-of-game possessions. Arp scored four times on the ground – twice on quarterback draws – and three times through the air.

The Tigers leveraged a passing game which frequently used flare routes out of the backfield to put their running backs in open spaces. The running game made great use of a quarterback counter-option. 

The Bulldogs started the game snake-bit. A missed punt set-up Arp 32 yards from a score. The Tigers took advantage and opened the scoring. 

Down 12-0, an interception of a deflected pass gave Arp another short field, as did a Bulldog fumble on their next possession.

As the half was nearing a close, Quitman ground out an 18-play, 73-yard drive for their initial score. The drive included two 4th-down conversions. For the score, quarterback Kameron Crockett rolled right and hit Klayton Meadows, who made an excellent catch and toe-tap in the northeast boundary of the end zone. 

Crockett hit tight end Jace Peek from a spread formation  for a successful 2-point conversion. 

With just under a minute to play kicker Carlos Flores executed a textbook on-side kick. The ball spun over an Arp Tiger and was recovered at the Arp 41-yard line by Bryson Hobbs. 

On the next play, Crockett hit a deep post route to Carter Smith, who went up between two defenders to make the catch. He then sprinted to the end zone. 

To the consternation of everyone at the game, Smith was flagged for offensive pass interference. Close examination of photographic evidence failed to capture the alleged offense. 

The flag removed a chance to close the game to a 10-point margin at the half, and Arp took a 26-8 score into the break.    

The Bulldogs came out with renewed drive in the second half. Arp, however, scored quickly on their first two possessions to break the game wide open.

Buoyed by the kick-return work of Smith and the rampaging running style of Jacob Breding, the Bulldogs put together  an 11-play, 61-yard scoring drive. Quitman converted a fourth-and-1 at the Tigers 5-yard line, and Crockett carried over from the one. Meadows added the 2-point conversion on a jet sweep. 

Quitman needed everything to unfold just right to take the game against Arp. It wasn’t in the cards.

The Bulldogs travel to West Rusk Friday and finish their regular season by hosting Winona, Nov. 3.