Ball control offense and defensive stops were they keys to the Quitman Bulldogs 21-14 win at Big Sandy Friday night. 

The Bulldog defense set the tone early, stopping the Wildcats on a fourth and one on the first drive of the night. Quitman took over at their own 47 and used just five plays capped by Mikey Pickering’s 34 yard run to the end zone. Carlos Flores booted the point giving Quitman the 7-0 lead at 7:34 in the first quarter.

The offense continued to flourish with solid line play and the committee of running backs eating up yardage and the clock. Pickering ended the evening with 103 yards on eight carries following good blocking and running through Wildcat defenders. Pickering ran over, around and through the Big Sandy defense.

Other noteworthy play was the consistency of big Landon Green who ran for 61 tough yards on 10 carries. Green was also a big contributor on defense at linebacker. Klayton Meadows added 51 yards on the ground and gave Quitman a 15-0 lead on pass from Kameron Crockett to put Quitman up 15-0.

Coach Shane Webber said Crockett had a good night tossing 5-6 passes for 100 yards and a score. Big Sandy was able to cut the lead to 15-8 with just 27 seconds left in the half.

Quitman came out strong in the second half, taking the kick-off and moving 51 yards on seven plays with Crockett getting a quarterback plunge for a score. Quitman led 21-8, and the defense took over from there.

Defensive back Carter Smith and lineman Braxton Birchfield sparked a hard-hitting Bulldog defense, keeping the Wildcat offense subdued. Smith intercepted a pass which he took 60 yards deep into Wildcat territory, but it was nullified by a Bulldog penalty.

“Birchfield created a lot of havoc in their backfield and disrupted their offense,” Webber added.

Big Sandy scored again on the first play of the final quarter. The Bulldogs also had a strong effort stopping the Wildcats on a fourth down on the one yard line. 

“We didn’t play great but we played good enough to win. We still put the ball on the ground too many times, but our defense stopped them when we had to have a play,” Webber said. “It was good to see our running game and passing game get going. Crockett came in on defense after Peyton Sapp got hurt and did a good job for us.”

Quitman will be at home this week against the Kemp Yellowjackets.

“They are well-coached and have some size up front along with a lot of speed in the backfield,” Webber said.

Kickoff at Bud Moody is set for 7:30 p.m.