Legendary coach and commentator John Madden once commented on a game, “The defense here should be expecting a run or a pass.”
The Spur Bulldogs saw plenty of both on Friday night as they fell to the O’Donnell Eagles 62–36. The night began in heartwarming fashion as the Bulldog players carried flags from the old concession stand at the top of the hill, down the bleachers, and along the sideline with Lee Greenwood’s famous “God Bless The U.S.A.” playing in the background.
To be certain it was memorable for all in attendance as we focused just for a moment on the things that truly matter, like the freedom we enjoy in our great nation.
Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, the game didn’t go as smoothly as the patriotic demonstration. In eerily similar fashion, Friday night’s loss nearly mirrored last week’s game with White Deer. The Bulldogs played close until seconds before the half. With two minutes left in the first half, O’Donnell took a four-point lead to make the score 24–20. Spur then would have the chance to take a lead into halftime or at least enter the break down by only four.
Instead, Spur ran five plays deep into O’Donnell territory but eventually turned the ball over on downs at the O’Donnell 15-yard line. That is when lightning struck again. With 18 seconds left senior spread back #11 Blaze Garces (23 for 203 and five TD’s) broke a 65-yard touchdown run that put the Eagles up 32–20 at the half.
Spur would receive the second-half kickoff and drive down for a Cory Hamilton (14 for 59 and two TD’s) 27-yard touchdown run that would bring the score 32–28 Eagles with 9:08 left in the third, but things would unravel from there.
After another Eagle touchdown, O’Donnell then recovered an onside kick and scored again. The Bulldogs turned the ball over on downs, and the Eagles again scored and would lead 54–28 by the time the third quarter ended.
Spur would score one more time on a 75-yard kickoff return by Le’Zhane Walker, but it would be too little, too late as the Bulldogs fell to 0–3 at home Friday night.
A bright spot on the night for the Bulldogs was Walker, who carried the ball 9 times for 88 yards and a touchdown, had the aforementioned kickoff return, and led the team with 10 tackles.
While the entire Bulldog team was visibly frustrated after this loss, the good news remains that district play has yet to begin, and while this difficult start doesn’t do much for morale, it also has no effect on their post-season aspirations. The Bulldogs have one more nondistrict game as they travel to Whiteface Friday night, where perhaps the greatest challenge is to get this young and talented roster to believe.
- Log in or Subscribe to post comments.
