Missed opportunities and penalties spelled doom for Quitman as they fell 38-36 to the Clarksville Tigers spoiling homecoming for the Bulldogs. The Bulldog offense did a great job and matched the Tigers blow for blow throughout the contest.
Quitman had a kick-off return for a score, but it was wiped out by a Bulldog penalty. Late in the game, the Bulldogs scored to make it 38-36. Quitman fell victim to another penalty and the point after attempt for two points had to try from the 18-yard line, but failed, and Clarksville ran out the clock for the win.
The Bulldogs were done in by their own mistakes.
“This was a tough loss. I thought our kids played really hard with a lot of energy and we fought till the end and just came up short. We had too many penalties and we had two costly turnovers. One of those turnovers was inside our own 10-yard line and the other when we were getting ready to score. They killed us with big plays using their speed.The screen play in the second quarter was a dagger. And then, along with a kick-off return after we went down and scored, took some of the wind out of our sails. The two long pass plays they completed for touchdowns showed just how fast they were. Our overall effort was good,” Head Coach Shane Webber said.
Freshman Jayson Wakefield gave a glimpse of great things to come. Wakefield ran for 154 yards while hard-running fullback Ben Boisclair added 101 yards on the ground.
“Our big boys up front on the offensive line, Connor Beck, Luke Ferguson, Dax Whitehurst and Riley Mason, played a great game or we would not have had 415 yards rushing,“ Webber said.
Freshman Wakefield has made a transition from junior high to varsity.
“I feel like we are playing fast football after coming from junior high. On the offensive side I did okay but I need to get better on defense,” Wakefield said.
Webber said the defense needs work in a couple of areas.
“Defensively, we have to tackle better in space and limit big plays to just one a game. I thought Ben Boisclair and Dakota Brown both had good games at linebacker. Also playing well on defense, where Rafael Samaniego, Riley Mason and Luke Ferguson did a great job on the defensive line,” Webber said.
Junior lineman Dax Whitehurst spent most of his time on the field playing on offense and defense.
“First off, our energy was good on the offensive line. I still believe we have a little ways to go conditioning-wise on defense,” Whitehurst said.
The teams fought evenly throughout the game. After Clarksville took an early 6-0 lead on a run by Semaj Harris. The Bulldogs scored with just :51 left in the first quarter on a five-yard run by Boisclair to tie the game at 6-6. Bulldog Solomon Davis added the two-point conversion and Quitman led 8-6 going into the second quarter.
The Tigers scored with just :17 remaining in the half to take an 18-16 lead on a 31-yard pass to Kaidon Taylor from Santanna Beaty.
There was plenty of action in the third quarter. The teams traded blows and the score going into the final 12 minutes was Clarksville up 32-30. The Tigers went up 38-30 with 8:23 left in the game. Quitman fought back and scored on a nine-yard run from Logan Davis to make it 38-36 with just over two minutes to play. The Bulldog lined up to go for two and tie the game, but a penalty moved the ball back to the 18-yard line and Quitman was unsuccessful. Clarksville had the ball deep in Bulldog territory, but took a knee until the clock ran out. The Bulldogs dropped their season record to 1-2 with a road trip to 3-0 Eustace for the final non-district game.
Bulldog Quarterback Davis shared his thoughts about the game.
“All in all, we played the hardest we can play, but the big plays killed us. Our effort tonight was great. We played fast and kept the pace up,” Davis said.
The Bulldogs now travel to 3-0 Eustace as the Bulldogs close out non-district play.
“Eustace is much-improved over last year. The new coach over there is doing a good job, he has a lot of kids out for football this year. They are not huge but they are a solid football team and will be a good test for us as we get ready for district. They have a really good running back and they do run the ball well. He is big and physical, he is not overly fast, he just runs tough,” Webber said.
Eustace runs a new offense from the past.
“They throw the ball sometimes, but they are more a run-oriented offense much like ours. They run some good schemes and on defense they fly around the football. They have done a great job on defense causing numerous turnovers. They have won every turnover battle so far this year. They take advantage of every opportunity given to them,” Webber said.
Kick-off in Eustace is set for 7:30 p.m. Friday night.