Quitman wins 2nd of year

By Larry Tucker
editor@wood.cm
Posted 9/16/21

Over the past decade the Quitman Bulldogs have been homecoming opponents for teams wanting an easy game for their annual festivities. It was a packed house at Queen City last Friday as this Quitman …

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Quitman wins 2nd of year

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Over the past decade the Quitman Bulldogs have been homecoming opponents for teams wanting an easy game for their annual festivities. It was a packed house at Queen City last Friday as this Quitman Bulldog team refused to follow scripts from the past.

Queen City came into the game with a 2-0 record. In a true team victory, Quitman prevailed, winning their second game of the year 25-20 while making a big defensive stop with less than a minute to go.

Down 20-19, the Quitman defense forced Queen City to third and 13. Wyatt Hightower came up with a big interception, returning the ball to the Queen City 23-yard line with 2:16 to play. After an offside penalty against the home team, it was Hightower banging his way up the middle following his blockers for an 18-yard score, putting Quitman up 25-20 with 2:11 remaining. The two-point try failed.

Queen City took the ensuing kick-off to their own 42-yard line. Six plays later Queen City had moved to the Quitman 12-yard line as time was running out. After three consecutive passes, the Quitman defense came through with another stand on fourth down, sacking the Queen City quarterback with less than a minute to go.

“We have some great kids and they are buying in on what we have been teaching them,” Coach Shane Webber said. “It was a truly team effort Friday at Queen City. No matter what happened, our kids just kept coming back and making plays on both sides of the ball. You know we have kids out there who have not played since junior high who are now huge contributors for us. Mason Reynolds, Jack Tannebaum, Thomas Sebedra, Hunter Jacobs and all those who came back out are making a huge difference on this team.”

Reynolds had his best game of the young season at running back rushing for 129 yards on 26 carries and a pair of touchdowns. Hightower had 50 yards on 12 carries and the winning score.

On defense, Sebedra had two interceptions halting Queen City drives.

Two times the Quitman Bulldogs held Queen City on fourth down.

Another huge defensive play was when Jack Tannebaum chased down a Queen City runner on the one-yard line. Queen City then got a holding penalty and was unable to score.

“Plays like that make the difference in close games,” Webber said.

Quitman made a huge stop in the third quarter when Queen City drove to the Bulldog 13-yard line. The defensive secondary came through, stopping the pass play and handing the ball over.

Queen City added a score in the third quarter to lead 14-13 at the 10:01 mark.

Quitman used the running of Reynolds to drive 66 yards on 11 plays. He scored on a 24-yard run giving Quitman a 19-14 lead with 6:12 to go in the quarter and setting the stage for an exciting final quarter.

On that drive, Reynolds had seven carries for 62 of the 64 yards needed for the score.

“Hightower did a great job of blocking for Mason (Reynolds) the entire night,” Webber said. “Our kids will do what we need to do to win. We don’t have selfish players, just teammates doing what they can for their team.”

Webber gave credit to the offensive and defensive lines in the win.

“Darryl Harris came in and did a great job for us,” Webber said. “Our offensive line made some great blocks to give our running backs some room to run. We beat a good team. They have a lot of good athletes, but our kids just kept coming back and never giving up on any play.”

Offensive linemen Hayden Batchelder, Garin Kisinger, Justin Mathews, Johnata Jones, Austin Jones and Jeremiah Lipscomb contributed to the victory.

The Bulldogs will finally have a contest at home against Hawkins in a Wood County rivals game. The Hawks are also 2-1 on the year coming off of last season’s playoff run. The Hawks have recorded wins against James Bowie 43-0 and Quinlan Boles 41-18 while losing to Maud 40-19.

This will end non-district play for Quitman. District 9-3A DII play begins Sept. 24 at Arp.