It was a tall order for the Quitman Bulldogs. The White Oak Roughnecks had a sense that this could be the year that they return to prominence on the gridiron. The Roughnecks dispatched the Bulldogs, 52-14, with a landslide of first half scores Friday in White Oak.

Much of that scoring came as a result of the arm and legs of Roughneck quarterback Jaxsen Ludlow. The junior signal-caller had the touch on the ball when he threw and the explosiveness and vision when he ran. Under his leadership, White Oak amassed 419 yards.  

White Oak almost ran the table in the first half. They found the end zone on six of their seven first-half possessions. Often, the scores would be preceded by a big play, whether that was a kick return or a turnover. 

The game got out of hand in the second quarter with a rash of White Oak scores; however, at the end of one quarter it was a 14-8 game. 

Following a strong kick return, the Roughnecks produced a 7-play 38-yard scoring drive. They followed that with a 10-play 66-yard scoring drive and made the score 14-0.

Quitman’s Dakota Reynolds gave the Bulldogs great starting position after he returned the kick-off for 50 yards. Quitman leveraged the running ability of quarterback Klayton Meadows and two Meadows to Cade Papez completions to put the ball at the Roughnecks goal line. 

A tremendous surge by the offensive line allowed Meadows to tumble forward into the end zone for the Quitman touchdown. 

While the hosts were ringing up their first half string of scores, Quitman weathered through two fumbles and a turnover-on-downs before putting a second scoring drive together.

That drive featured junior Jacob Breding. The junior back crashed through the Roughneck defense on two strong runs and hauled in a Meadows pass for an additional 31 yards. Meadows scored from two yards out by following the blocks of center Mason Williams and left guard Francisco Zurita. 

At the half, the score stood 42-14.

The Bulldogs never quit, and they came out of the halftime break with renewed vigor. The offensive line came firing across the line of scrimmage on that first drive of the second half, and the Bulldogs quickly moved to the Roughneck 20-yard line where the drive stalled. 

White Oak promptly hit a 75-yard play-action post for a score. It was the last offense by either side. White Oak added a late 43-yard field goal to conclude the scoring.  

The Bulldogs had their moments which would make any fan proud.  A series of goal-line stops on successive plays in the first half was most notable. Involved in those tackles were Jimmy Mullican, Jacob Powell, Ben Boisclair and Meadows. 

The running style of quarterback Meadows, which challenged tacklers, was also a point of great pride to the Bulldog faithful. 

Quitman hosts Eustace on Friday before beginning district play Sept. 27 at Harmony.