The Quitman Bulldogs dropped their season record to 2-3 as they were defeated by Edgewood in their district opener 49-8.
Edgewood entered the game 1-4 after winning their district opener 49-6 over Paris Chisum. Edgewood went 0-4 in pre-season losing to four difficult teams including Malakoff, Troup, Commerce and Cooper.
At the start of the season Edgewood had to find someone to replace all-stater Trevor Golightly.
In came sophomore quarterback Caden Morris to the rescue. Morris has led a rebounding team to a second consecutive win, both in district action.
Against Quitman, Morris completed 8 of 11 passes for 233 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 101 yards on 11 carries while scoring two touchdowns.
Edgewood scored 14 points in the first three minutes of the game. The first score came on a trick play, a double reverse and pass. After recovering an onside kick, Edgewood would score again at the 9:27 to go up 14-0 before Quitman could get their offense on the field. They would go up 21-0 in the second quarter.
Quitman put together a long drive and scored as time ran out in the first half. The score came on a one yard plunge by Brandon Samaniego followed by a successful two-point conversion. The score stood at 21-8 at intermission. The Bulldogs used 22 plays to get that score.
Quitman looked ready to get back in the game in the second half, but the Edgewood defense would not allow Quitman to score anymore. The visitor’s defenders held Quitman under 200 yards on offense.
Head Coach Shane Webber was disappointed in the outcome.
“I’m not taking anything away from them. I thought we had a really good gameplan. We had a chance to shock them a little bit, but it just didn’t work out our way. We got behind the chains and got down on ourselves a little bit. We just made too many mistakes out there on defense. On offense, you can’t have four turnovers against a team like Edgewood,” Webber said.
Webber said Edgewood was a tough opponent.
“They were a lot more physical than we had anticipated. They did a good job containing us. They made some halftime that worked against us. With their successful onside kick in the first quarter, and counting the four turnovers means we gave them five extra possessions to score,” Webber said.
Quitman sophomore running back Jason Wakefield had another productive outing.
Wakefield had 122 yards on 22 carries averaging 6.1 yards per carry, and Ben Boisclair rushed for another 50 yards and a 3.8 yard average.
Next up for Quitman is a trip to Harmony to take on the Eagles. The Bulldogs are looking to rebound and get their first district win.
“This is a big game for us. As long as we don’t get down on ourselves, we are going to be okay. The goal to make the playoffs is still there, right in front of us. I told the kids let’s be like a goldfish and have a short memory,” Webber said.
Webber said Harmony has a solid defensive line.
“They are big and physical and get off the ball well. Offensively, they are spreading the ball around. They went to a more of a spread offense, like to throw the ball around. Against Lone Oak they had 50 pass attempts. We have to do better in space defense, and we need to tackle better. We have to get a good rush on the quarterback and hope to force some turnovers,” Webber said.
Harmony lost a close 34-31 district game to Chisum last week and fell victim to Lone Oak in a 51-37 shootout in the district opener. Quarterback Tucker Ludlow threw for 407 yards with three touchdowns through the air but he did toss four interceptions. Ludlow’s favorite receiver Cooper Pickett had 136 receiving yards and scored on a one-yard run.
The Eagles have had an 0-6 season having lost in pre-district action Harmony has lost to Hughes Springs 34-14, Redwater 42-13, Beckville 51-0 and Waskom 62-20.
Kick-off is set for 7:30 p.m. at Harmony.