Newspaper Page Text
December 5, 2012
iReporter
PAGE 3B
MP
continued from the front
Long's pass in bounds. It
would be the last pass
attempt Long would try all
night. The
Panthers went
right back to the
ground game and
Bridges and wing
back Noah Cooper
began eating up
chunks of yardage.
Bridges capped a
seven-play, 42-yard
drive with a one-
yard touchdown
run. Courtney's
extra point gave
the Panthers a 14-
0 lead with 9:12
left in the second
quarter.
MP didn't know it
at the time, but the
first half horror
show was just get
ting started. A
holding penalty
backed the
Bulldogs up on
their next series
24-7.
MP linebacker Johnta
Scandrett stalled
Ridgeland’s next drive
with a fourth-down stop of
Cooper as Ridgeland was
once again driving deep
into MP territory.
the fourth quarter.
It would be the closest
MP would get the rest of
the way. MP tried an
onside kick on the ensuing
kickoff, but the Bulldogs
were flagged for illegal
touching. Ridgeland once
MP players entered Bowers & Painter Field Friday night in Bulldog Style but left
with a disappointing loss. (Photo/Kim Holderfield)
. And on
3rd-and-l, Banks fumbled
the center snap for a loss
of three causing MP to
have to punt again.
Ridgeland once again got
excellent field position at
its own 48-yard-line. On
the second play of the
drive, Bridges darted
straight up the gut for a
46-yard touchdown. After
yet another Courtney
extra point, the Panthers
led 21-0 with 7:13 left in
the second quarter, and
MP's Final Four hopes
were fading fast.
Banks got injured on the
first play of MP's ensuing
series, so backup Macey
Zellner came in. It didn't
make a difference, howev
er, as the Bulldogs were
once again forced to punt.
On Ridgeland’s final
series of the first half,
Bridges showed he could
do more than just run the
ball. Bridges took a pitch
from Long and threw a
halfback pass to an open
Shaqualm McCoy for a key
17-yard gain. Another sack
by Davis kept the
Panthers from scoring
another touchdown before
halftime, but Courtney
added insult to injury
when he easily banged
through a 44-yard field
goal as time expired to
give Ridgeland a 24-0 half
time lead.
MP head coach Brian
Nelson said MP's slow
start could mostly be
attributed to outstanding
play by Ridgeland.
Nelson said, "A lot of it is
a credit to them. I mean
they're here for a reason.
They're a good football
team. We got into some
field position things early
and had some three-and-
outs. Our defense was
playing a lot of snaps. All
that being said, a lot of
that had to do with
Ridgeland. Obviously we
probably didn't play the
best football we played all
year and picked a bad time
to do it. That's somewhat
of a credit to them too."
Despite the deficit MP
came out fired up in the
third quarter, and on the
first snap of the second
half, the Bulldogs got the
break they had been seek
ing. McCoy fumbled, and
MP's Drew Goolsby
pounced on the loose ball.
Starting at Ridgeland’s 28-
yard-line, the Bulldogs
marched 28 yards in three
plays with the key play
being a 23-yard pass from
Banks to Dewberry on a
rollout. The pass was MP's
first completion of the
game and was the team's
first first down. Dewberry
finished off the drive on
the very next play with a
three-yard touchdown run
with 10:58 left in the third
quarter. Kenny Miller
made the ensuing extra
point to cut MP's deficit to
However, MP’s own drive
ended quickly when Banks
threw his second intercep
tion of the game. Banks
had some miscommunica-
tion with his receiver
Zellner, and his pass float
ed too deep into the hands
of Peterman, who made up
for his dropped pick on the
first series.
Starting at its own 13-
yard-line with 2:44 left in
the third quarter,
Ridgeland set out both to
melt clock and to tack on
another score. The trio of
Bridges, Cooper and Bell
carried the ball a com
bined eight times on an
87-yard scoring drive.
Bridges was once again
the star, running through
a gaping hole on the right
side of the Panthers' offen
sive line for a 31-yard,
game-sealing touchdown.
Courtney's extra point put
the Panthers up 31-7 with
11:08 left in the game.
The Bulldogs were not
finished competing howev
er. Nelson inserted
Akebren Ralls into the
backfield to provide an
offensive spark, and the
duo of Ralls and Nick
Davis rushed for a com
bined 43 yards to get MP
back into the end zone for
the second time. Ralls
capped a six-play, 46-yard
scoring drive with a five-
yard touchdown run
around right end. Ralls
reached out and touched
the front right pylon with
the ball to get the score.
Miller's extra point nar
rowed the Panthers' lead
to 31-14 with 8:45 left in
again took advantage of
outstanding field position,
as Bell dashed around left
tackle for a 37-yard touch
down run, diving into the
end zone just inside the
front left pylon for a 38-14
Ridgeland lead.
Banks was picked off for
the final time on MP’s
next series by linebacker
Zach Weathers. Starting at
MPs 27-yard-line, the
Panthers scored their final
touchdown on an eight-
yard run by McCoy with
4:26 left in the game.
Bridges led Ridgeland
with 208 yards and four
touchdowns on 25 carries.
Bell added 84 yards and a
touchdown on 11 carries
while Cooper chipped in
with 73 yards on 14 car
ries.
MP's rushing attack was
led by Davis, who rushed
for 69 yards on 12 carries.
Ralls added 61 yards and
a touchdown on nine car
ries.
Nelson said Ridgeland
didn't do anything offen
sively for which the
Bulldogs were not pre
pared. However, he
thought the Bulldogs'
defense wore down from
playing too many snaps.
"We knew that was going
to be a big point in the
game if we could stop
them from rushing the
ball," Nelson said. "Like I
said earlier we played a lot
of snaps on defense, which
is no excuse. But I mean I
think some of it at least
has to do with the people
they had over there and
their ability."
MP vs
« Ridgeland
TEAM
STATS
MP 0 0 7 7 - 14
MP
R
R 7 17 0 21 - 45
First Downs
10
25
BULLDOG SCORING
Rushing yds.
144
422
• Terri Dewberry
Passing yds
53
17
- 3-yard run
Total yds.
197
439
• Akebren Ralls
Att-Comp-Int
8-3-3
2-1-0
- 5-yard run
Fumbles-Lost
1-0
1-1
Penalties
8-73
4-47
Individual MP Stats
OFFENSE
RUSHING
Carries
Yds.
Nick Davis
12
69
Akebren Ralls
9
61
Terry Dewberry
2
7
Josh Mays
1
7
Macey Zellner
1
2
Dee High
1
1
Jordan Banks
5
-3
PASSING
Jordan Banks
Comp. Att. Yds.
3 8 5.3
RECEIVING
Rec. Yds.
PUNTS
Terri Dewberry 2 37
Punts Yds. Avg.
Josh Mays 1 16
J. Banks 4 142 35.5
PUNT RETURNS
INTERCEPTIONS
Ret. Yds.
Ints Yds. Avg.
None
None
KICK RETURNS
FUMBLES RECOVERED
No. Yds. Avg.
Dee High 2 4
Drew Goolsby 1 0 0.0
DEFENSE
Tackles Assists
Akebren Ralls 3 8
D. Davis
Drew Goolsby
Quen Shannon
T>a Taylor
Josh Mays
Tre Davis
L. McComb
Quen Head
J. Scandrett
Keven Jones
Nick Davis
Sam Watson
John Perkins
Nelson said Bridges was
the best back MP had
faced this year.
"I mean he's a pretty
good player," Bridges said.
"And No. 7's (Bell) a good
player, and No. 28's
(Cooper) a good player.
And we had
answers for
them at times.
And other
times we did
n't. And we
couldn't get
stops, and we
couldn't get off
the field. And
we weren't
used to play
ing more
snaps. And
when you play
more snaps
and give them
more opportu
nities to do
what they do,
they're a good
team, and
they're going
to take advan
tage of them."
Nelson, who
went 10-3 in his first sea
son as head coach, said
after the game it was too
soon to think about next
season.
"I don't think anyone's
really thinking about that
right now," Nelson said.
"We'll worry about that as
we go into these next cou
ple of weeks here and
regroup and see what
we've got to do. We're far
from where we want to be.
We've got high expecta
tions, and we never expect
to lose. And it stings a lit
tle bit when you do and
especially in the fashion
that we did tonight. So
here in the next few weeks
down the road here, we'll
enjoy our seniors and have
a banquet to celebrate
their career and their sea
son because it was by all
means a great season. And
they had a lot to do with
that. And then we'll focus
on our winter conditioning
and get ready for 2013."
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157 L. Cary Bittick Drive (PO Box 189) • Forsyth, GA
Weekdays: 8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.