Newspaper Page Text
October 29, 2014
PAGE 3B
©Reporter
C -team Bulldogs to host championship game
BY RICHARD DUMAS
The Monroe County Middle School
football team will play for the area
championship at home against Upson-
Lee Middle at 5 p.m. on Wednesday
after a 27-0 shutout victory over
Rehobeth Road Middle in the area
semifinals on Wednesday.
The Bulldogs dominated Rehobeth
Road from the start at Dan Pitts
Stadium on Wednesday, scoring 20
first-half points before melting the
clock with several long second-half
drives.
Monroe County got on the board for
the first time with 2:38 left in the first
quarter when wide receiver Trippe
Moore threw a nine-yard touchdown
to quarterback J.T. Hartage on a
reverse pass on fourth-and-goal. The
play was well-defensed, but Moore
was patient and found Hartage in the
back corner of the end zone when he
slipped free from a Rehobeth Road
defender for a split second. A two-
point conversion run by Ladanion
Sands gave MP an early 8-0 lead.
The Bulldogs struck again moments
later when star running back Quinn
Wilson ripped through the middle of
Rehobeth Road's defense for a 68-yard
touchdown run to put Monroe County
up 14-0 with 33 seconds left in the
first period. Then, Sands gave MP a
20-0 lead with 4:29 left in the second
quarter when he pounded up the mid
dle for a two-yard touchdown.
After Moore broke up a fourth down
pass to end a promising Rehobeth
Road drive, the Bulldogs had a chance
to score another touchdown on the
final play of the first half. Hartage
fired deep into the back right corner of
the end zone, but the ball slid barely
through the hands of receiver
Deadrek Alford, and Monroe County
was forced to settle for a 20-point half
time advantage.
The Bulldogs scored their final TD
with 2:33 left in the third quarter
when Hartage snuck in from the one-
yard-line for a score. Moore's extra
point just creeped over the crossbar,
giving Monroe County a 27-0 advan
tage. Rehobeth Road drove deep into
Monroe County territory one time late
in the third quarter, but Moore broke
up three straight Rehobeth Road
passes to halt the series and give his
team the ball back. Monroe County
put in reserves during the fourth
quarter as the Bulldogs easily closed
out the game.
Monroe County head coach Kurt
Greene credited his offensive coordi
nator Michael Smallwood with calling
successful plays on Wednesday,
including the fourth down call that
scored a touchdown in the first quar
ter.
"I thought we played pretty good,
especially defensively I thought we
played well," Greene said.
"Offensively, I think we struggled at
times up front because they (Rehobeth
Road's defensive front) were pretty
big. But we had No. 9 (Wilson), and
No. 9 broke a couple of them early.
And my hat's off to Coach Smallwood.
Man, he does a great job of calling
plays. He's nice, calm and cool, and
they do a great job of responding to
him."
Greene said his quarterback
Hartage has really matured this sea
son, and his calm demeanor guides
his team.
"No. 16 has really grown up,"
Greene said. "And boy he throws a
beautiful ball. He's very, very few
times off target. We dropped a couple
of them today. But on our little flood
patterns that we ran, he throws that
thing really well. He don't get excited.
He don't get up. He don't get down.
He just plays great football. He does
a great job."
Greene said Moore, who had at
least a half-dozen pass breakups,
anchored the defense during the
shutout from his safety position.
"Trippe's a little bitty fellow, but he
played real big today," Greene said.
"He got his hands on a lot of balls. He
was right there. He could have inter
cepted probably two or three of them.
He just didn't get them. And he
threw a pass. Trippe's just a good
young athlete that does what he's
supposed to do."
The MP C-Team football banquet
will be held at 6 p.m. on Thursday,
Nov. 6 in the cafeteria at the Banks
Stephens campus.
Monroe
County
Middle
School
safety
Trippe
Moore
(No. 24)
broke
up a
half-
dozen
passes
in the
Bull
dogs’
27-0
semifi
nal win
over
Reho
beth
Road
on
Wedne
sday.
(Photo/
Richard
Dumas)
Bulldogs
continued from page IB
offense went three-and-out
on its opening possession,
and then its second drive
stalled after just one first
down when receiver Justin
Stroud dropped a third-
down pass. Fortunately for
MP, junior punter Drew
Pack nailed a couple of
huge punts in the first
quarter, including one that
pinned Veterans at its own
eight-yard-line.
Backed up near its own
end zone, Veterans also
failed to get a first down
on its second series, but
punter Will Brannen
boomed a 55-yarder to flip
the field. MP then smartly
turned to High to get its
offense on track. Starting
at its own 27-yard line,
High ripped off a 10-yard
run on the first play of the
series. High picked up
three more first downs on
the ground on the drive,
and MP quarterback Jake
Johnston also connected
with Malik Bledsoe for a
first down on the series.
High then capped the 11-
play, 73-yard drive with a
three-yard touch
down on a stretch
play to the right
with 22 seconds left
in the first
quarter.
Josh Hampton's
extra point gave
MP a 7-0 lead.
Veterans moved
the ball down
inside the MP red
zone on its next
possession, but
MP senior defen
sive end
Demarcus Davis
stuffed running
back Desjuan
Harris for a four-
yard loss to move
Veterans back to
the MP 22-yard-
line. Veterans'
quarterback
Logan Byrd then
fired an incom
plete pass intend
ed for receiver
Isaiah Gray out
of the end zone on
third down, forc
ing the
Warhawks to set
tle for a field goal
try. After a high snap,
Brannen missed wide left
from 39 yards out, keeping
MP in front 7-0.
High, who found gaping
holes all night thanks to a
dominant game by the
senior-laden MP offensive
line, went right back to
sack of Byrd, and Brannen
punted again before the
end of the first half.
MP's defense forced yet
MP cornerback Rahim Lowe teaches longtime 99 WDEN-FM D.J. Laura
Starling how to do the electric slide at the 7th Annual Bolingreen Health
and Rehabilitation Center Tailgate on Oct. 16. MP was one of five schools
in attendance along with Howard, FPD, Mount de Sales and Tattnall.
(Photo/Richard Dumas)
TEAM
STATS
V
MP
First Downs
18
9
Rushing yds.
69
271
Passing yds
68
135
Total yds.
137
406
Att-Comp-Int
19-5-1
14-9-0
Fumbles-Lost
2-0
0-0
Penalties
3-24
5-63
Veterans vs. MP
V
MP
0
7
0
14
0
31
BULLDOG SCORING
• Dee High
- 3-yard run
(Josh Hampton kick)
• Dee High
- 17-yardrun
(Josh Hampton kick)
• Dee High
- 23-yard run
(Josh Hampton kick)
• Dee High
- 5-yard run
(Josh Hampton kick)
Individual MP Stats
OFFENSE
RUSHING
Carries Yds.
Dee High
24
200
Keri Brown
6
61
Zach Harvey
3
8
Jordan Mills
1
7
Jaquavious Sims
3
5
J.T. Stokes
1
0
Quen Shannon
1
0
Malik Bledsoe
1
-2
Jake Johnston
3
-8
PASSING
Comp. Att. Yds.
Jake Johnston 9
14 135
RECEIVING
Rec.
Yds.
Malik Bledsoe 3
74
Justin Stroud 3
32
J.T. Stokes 2
6
Zach Harvey 1
23
PUNT RETURNS
Ret.
Yds.
Keri Brown 4
-8
Bruce McCall 1
0
KICK RETURNS
Ret.
Yds.
K. Penamon 1
0
DEFENSE
Tackles Assists
Mykel Lucear 6
Brett Brewer 5
Quen Head 4
Malik Herring 4
Quen Shannon 3
Dan O’ Neal 3
D. Davis 3
Rahim Lowe 3
John Perkins 2
Tre Weaver 2
0
PUNTS
Punts
Drew Pack 4
Yds.
140
Avg.
35.0
INTERCEPTIONS
Ints Yds.
Bruce McCall 1 0
Avg.
0.0
FUMBLES RECOVERED
No. Yds. Avg.
None
work on MP's next series,
rushing three times on
MP's first four plays.
Johnston also completed a
pair of long passes to
Bledsoe on the drive,
which were good for a
total of 58 yards.
However, a personal
foul penalty on MP
halted the drive in
Veterans territory, and
MP was forced to punt.
Once again, Pack
kicked a perfect punt,
angling the ball out of
bounds at Veterans'
eight-yard-line.
MP's defense rose up
again on Veterans' next
possession. Senior
defenders Mykel
Lucear and Quen
Shannon teamed up to
stuff Harris on third-
and-one, forcing
Brannen to punt. The
Warhawks' punter
dropped the snap prior
to the kick. Although
he was able to get off a
punt, it only traveled
20 yards, giving MP
the ball at the
Warhawks' 37-yard-
line. High did the rest
from there. The senior
ran right and then cut
back left for a 20-yard
gain on the first play of
the series. Then, on the
very next play, he did
the opposite, running
left behind the line
before cutting back
right in the open field
for a 17-yard touch
down. An extra point
by Hampton gave MP a
14-0 lead with 2:05 left
in the second quarter.
Veterans was able to
advance the ball to the
MP 33-yard-line with
under a minute left in
the first half, but Davis
once again halted a
promising Veterans'
possession with a key
another three-and-out on
Veterans' opening posses
sion of the third quarter
when Byrd fired back-to-
back inaccurate passes.
High, who had 113 first-
half yards, then picked up
right where he left off, car
rying the ball four times
on a five-play, 78-yard MP
scoring drive. High con
cluded the series with a
2 3-yard touchdown run,
where he once
again started
behind the left
side of the offen
sive line before
cutting back right
and entering the
end zone
untouched.
Hampton's extra
point put MP up
21-0 with 9:42 left
in the third quar
ter.
Veterans mixed
in Harris' running
with Byrd's pass
ing to move the
ball down to MP's
21-yard-line on its
next possession. Facing
4th-and-4 at the MP 21,
Byrd committed his
biggest blunder on a mis
take-filled night, dropping
a center snap and having
to fall on the ball for a
five-yard-loss.
High carried the load
again on MP's next series,
rushing six times for 43
yards, including a five-
yard touchdown through
another massive hole on
the right side of the line to
cap a 10-play, 74-yard
drive. Hampton's fourth
extra point put MP up 28-
0 with 1:20 left in the
third quarter.
With High having
already eclipsed the 200-
yard mark, senior Keri
Brown took his place in
the backfield in the fourth
quarter. Brown broke loose
for a 47-yard gain on MP's
next drive that set up the
Bulldogs' final score of the
game, a 27-yard Hampton
field goal with
9:48 left in the
game.
The only thing
left to be decided
in the fourth quar
ter on Friday
night was whether
MP's defense
would complete
the shutout. The
perfect Bulldogs'
night was nearly
marred when jun
ior Bruce McCall
muffed a punt late
in the fourth quar
ter, giving
Veterans' offense
the ball at MP's
27-yard-line.
However, it was
McCall who saved
the day moments
later when he
picked off a Byrd
pass attempt in
the back left cor
ner of the end
zone on 4th-and-
goal from the MP
eight-yard-line to finish off
the shutout.
Nelson said he was
proud of his second string
defense's effort to preserve
MP's shutout.
"That might have been
the biggest series of the
game for us because those
guys put in time at work
in practice and don't
always get out on the
field," Nelson said. "And
AAAA Top-10 Poll
1. (1) Buford (8-0)
2. (3) Griffin (8-0)
3. (6) Woodward Academy (7-1)
4. (4) Cartersville (7-1)
5. (7) Marist (8-1)
6. (2) Sandy Creek (7-1)
7. (8) St. Pius (6-2)
8. (9) Mary Persons (7-1)
9. (10) Thomas County Central (6-2)
10. (5) Cairo (6-2)
* poll courtesy of the AJC
then they get a chance to
help this team out, and
they did it tonight. So it
was a big series for us
defensively."
In all, the MP defense
forced eight Veterans'
punts in 11 possessions
while stopping the
Warhawks on downs two
other times. The
Warhawks only managed
137 total yards, rushing
for just 69 yards on 33 car
ries. MP limited Byrd,
who has committed to play
Division 1 football at
Virginia Tech, to just 16
yards on 12 carries on the
ground. Byrd also complet
ed just five of his 19 pass
attempts for 68 yards and
an interception.
MP's offense continued
its strong recent play,
gaining 271 yards on the
ground, led by High's 200
yards and four scores on
24 carries. Brown added
61 yards on six carries.
Johnston completed nine
of 14 passes for 135 yards.
Bledsoe, who has become
a standout during his sen
ior season, led MP in
receiving with three recep
tions for 74 yards.
High credited his offen
sive line's continued
improvement with his
individual success.
"We've really improved
since the beginning of the
year," High said. "We've
started to click now."
Walker said the all-sen
ior offensive line, which
also includes D.Q.
Stephens, Carson
Rowland, Tyler Camp and
Jamal Alford, has better
chemistry than in previous
seasons.
"We've just been practic
ing real hard," Walker
said. "Coach has been
pushing us real hard. We
stayed in the weight room
a lot over the summer. We
knew we had a lot of work
to do, and we've just been
working."
Walker said it helps to
have a talented back like
High running behind it.
"It's real comfortable,"
Walker said. "If you make
a mistake, he can make it
up for you."
Davis led MP's defense
with three tackles for a
loss, including one sack.
Lucear led MP with six
solo tackles while sopho
more Malik
Herring also
contributed a
sack.
Nelson said
of Davis: "The
kid's been
doing it for
three years.
He's really our
leader on
defense and
really the
team leader in
the locker
room and
everywhere
else. You want
kids like him
to make plays
in big games, and that's
what he did tonight."
MP's defense has only
yielded one touchdown in
the past five games, but
Nelson said he's not wor
ried about complacency on
that side of the ball.
"I'm not going to let
them do that," Nelson
said. "I'm going to keep
them hungry and keep
them grounded a little bit.
And the biggest thing is.
You've just got to keep
playing every week. You've
got to keep preparing.
You've got to keep coming
to practice and working on
your stuff. And if they
keep doing that, they'll
just continue to get better
hopefully. I'm not going to
let them get satisfied. No
way."