It was said many times this week that with both Paducah and Spur football teams already eliminated from postseason play, the game Friday night was about pride. It was about giving your school, your teammates, your coaches, your fans and yourself the kind of effort you could be proud of.
The Spur Bulldogs certainly did that as they downed the Paducah Dragons 81–75 Friday night to end their season. The Dragons led in time of possession, total plays and total offense, but it was the overall team effort and top-to-bottom contribution that carried Spur to victory.
Special teams where big for the Bulldogs. Kayden Martinez went 7 for 10 on two-point kicks, including one nail-biter late in the fourth that bounced over off of the crossbar. Ian Tagle made a one-handed extra-point grab on a Ryan Davis throw. The Bulldogs had 188 return yards in the game. It was these type of clutch plays that propelled the Bulldogs past the Dragons.
Spur trailed early, down 22–14 at the end of the first, but they tied the game with eight minutes in the second on an Austin Fulmer 16-yard touchdown run, and would take a 10-point lead by the half.
But late in the fourth it became a classic game of “Who wants it more?” With 6:21 left in the game, Paducah took a 54–53 lead on a one-yard touchdown run. Le’Zhane Walker returned the ensuing kickoff 68 yards for a touchdown to put Spur back up 61–54. Paducah answered with a 44-yard touchdown pass to cut Spur’s lead to 1. But Cory Hamilton hit Kolbey Adams with a 60-yard touchdown pass of their own to push the lead to 7.
With 3:41 to play Paducah tied the game again at 67, and Spur would turn over their next possession on downs. The Dragons scored on their next possession to take a 75–67 lead with 2:21 left in the game. But on the next possession Cory Hamilton (14 for 272) took the ball 47 yards for his fifth rushing touchdown of the night to tie the game 75–all.
The Spur defense would get a timely stop, and Hamilton sealed the deal with his sixth touchdown on a 50-yard run.
Coach Tate Clark noted, “Still struggled defensively, it feels like we relax a little bit sometimes, but they showed up when they needed to and got the stops when they needed to. Offense I thought was great all night, besides a few plays where we got the wrong play in and missed a block here and there, but I thought our effort was amazing. You don’t ever want to score 80 points to win a game, but they’re fun at the same time.”
The Bulldogs had every opportunity and reason to lie down and let this one slip away, but on this night Bulldog pride prevailed.
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