There is a common mantra among coaches that there are no excuses, and certainly no one from the Bulldog sideline was making any Friday night.
But the fact remains that when your football team has been forced to complete a twoweek quarantine and then is called upon to play the Division 2 #5 team in the state on the road, it can hardly be considered an even contest. Thus after taking an 8–8 tie into halftime, the Spur Bulldogs fell to Motley County Friday night 62–28.
Despite the defeat, Coach Tate Clark remains positive. “I told the kids, it was like another scrimmage. We had to get out here and see what we’re still lacking because we haven’t had a lot of opportunities yet. I told them after the game that we’re going to struggle early on and the things we need to get better at is going to look ugly our first game. I told them not to get their heads down because we’ve got a couple of big weeks and this game doesn’t matter; it matters when you get to district and if you can make it out to the playoffs.”
This was the first real opportunity the Bulldogs have had to evaluate themselves against live competition. When asked what he was most encouraged about, Clark said, “When we get in shape, our running backs are going to be really good, because they are fast enough to hit the hole and we’ve got a line that isn’t small and should be able to get after of some people…I was happy to be able to run a little bit of tight tonight and get to see guys pushing people down the field.”
The running backs Clark referred to are Cory Hamilton, who carried 18 times for 117 yards and a touchdown; Le’Zhane Walker who carried 9 times for 92 yards and a touchdown; and Austin Fulmer who carried 5 times for 27 yards.
Fulmer also caught the coach’s eye on defense. “Austin handled #11, who is a really good receiver, who does a lot for them, he made a lot of big coverage plays for us.” Fulmer seemed to be all over the field Friday night. After giving his team their first score of the season on 55-yard interception return for a touchdown, he scored again in the thirdquarter on a 41 yard touchdown pass from Gunnir Bateman. Fulmer also led the team in tackles with 7 and recovered an onside kick in the fourth.
It may take a week or two for these Bulldogs to knock off the rust of a quarantine, but the potential and excitement for a strong season remain. The Bulldogs will host D1 #8 White Deer at home Friday night at 7:30.
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