Quitman Bulldogs roll over Big Sandy

By Larry Tucker
editor@wood.cm
Posted 9/8/22

A 36-point second quarter explosion by Quitman gave the Bulldogs their first win of the season Friday, a 42-8 blasting of Big Sandy. It was also a solid debut for Bulldog freshman quarterback Klayton …

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Quitman Bulldogs roll over Big Sandy

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A 36-point second quarter explosion by Quitman gave the Bulldogs their first win of the season Friday, a 42-8 blasting of Big Sandy. It was also a solid debut for Bulldog freshman quarterback Klayton Meadows. 

Meadows played in place of Kamron Crockett who has been out of practice due to illness.

“It’s good to have a back-up who is capable of doing what Klayton did Friday night. Crockett will be back and ready to go. He is not going to lose his spot because of illness,” Head Coach Shane Webber said.

The Bulldog offense continued to dominate the ball and the clock. Last week at New Diana, Quitman ran 83 plays to their 30, and this week the Bulldogs ran 69 plays to 52 for Big Sandy. The Bulldog defense recorded three interceptions and two fumble recoveries. 

Quitman rolled to just under 400 yards offense while holding the wildcats to 176 yards. The Bulldogs had eight players carry the ball. Meadows had 82 yards rushing on 16 carries and was 3-5 passing for 116 yards.

Mikey Pickering continued his solid running abilities with 40 yards on 10 carries while scoring three times on tough runs inside the 10-yard line. Adding to the Bulldog rushing total were Carson Dickens with seven carries for 30 yards, and he also had three great punts which Big Sandy was unable to return. Luke Williams had three carries for 16 yards, and Thomas Sebedra went for 17 yards on two carries. 

Landon Green came in in the second half and bulled his way to 48 yards on seven carries. Carter Smith and Garin Kisinger each had carries in the second half. Smith added a catch for 18 yards while Brady Floyd’s catch went for 69 yards, and Dickens caught one for 29 yards.

Webber was pleased with the Bulldog running game. “We had five kids who had double digit yards in rushing for the game. More than that, we had eight kids with carries during the game,” Webber noted. “We are trying to spread the ball around and the kids love it.”

Once again the defense was on task racking up big plays and causing multiple turnovers. Ethan Presley and Justin Matthews led a defense which shut down any Big Sandy offensive effort. Mathews had several hard hits, a fumble recovery and returned an interception for a touchdown. 

Presley had a huge hit on the Wildcat quarterback causing a fumble and Quitman taking over on the Big Sandy 25-yard line late in the first quarter. That led to at three-yard run by Dickens with 11:32 to go in the second quarter. The point after kick by 5’1” 107-pound Carlos Flores was good and Quitman led 7-0. Flores connected on four of five point-after attempts for the night.

“I was pleased we found a kicking game with Carlos (Flores),” Webber said.

A fumble recovery by Matthews set up Quitman at midfield. The Bulldogs went to the ground game on a six-play, 50-yard drive led by runs from Meadows of 16, 17 and six yards. Pickering rumbled through the Wildcat defense for a nine-yard scoring run with 8:29 left in the half. The Flores PAT boot was good and the Bulldogs led 14-0.

Big Sandy got the ball back and faced a third and 10 from their own 44-yard line. It was then Matthews picked off the Wildcat pass and returned it 50 yards for a score. Quitman added a two-point conversion to take a 22-0 lead with 6:35 left in the half.

On Big Sandy’s next possession, the Bulldogs held them forcing the Wildcats to punt. The Bulldogs used only four plays to drive 78 yards and score again on another tough Pickering run of six yards to take a 29-0 lead with still 3:29 left in the first half. The TD was set up by a 69-yard pass-run play on a toss from Meadows to Floyd. Floyd also had a great defensive game in the Quitman secondary and one of the three Quitman interceptions.

After another Matthews big hit on a fourth and six Big Sandy effort, the Bulldogs took over at the Wildcat 33. Meadows immediately hit Dickens on a 29-yard completion to the Wildcat four-yard line. From there, the dependable Pickering ran it in from four yards out and with the Flores successful point after kick; Quitman led 36-0 with 1:16 left to play in the first half.

The second half Quitman kept the ball on the ground and ate up time. Big Sandy did get on the scoreboard with 4:31 left in the third quarter cutting the Bulldog lead to 36-8.

Quitman got its final score on a three-yard run by Meadows with 9:45 left in the game putting the final tally at 42-6. That final drive was set up by a Kisinger interception he returned to the Big Sandy 36-yard line.

Webber said the Bulldogs still had plenty to work on. “We are still shooting ourselves in the foot with penalties and mistakes. That is what pre-season games are for, to get ready for district play,” Webber said. “We know what we need to work on and that is what we will be doing this week. We are definitely further along than we were after last week. We took some major steps against Big Sandy.”

The Bulldogs make the trek to Kemp Friday night for a 7:30 kick-off. Webber is expecting a battle with the Yellowjackets.

“They have a good quarterback who can run and throw the ball. He is a definite dual threat. They have a lot of speed and size,” Webber commented. “They run from the spread like so many teams are doing now. They have some good athletes including a good running back.”

The Bulldogs are 1-1 while Kemp is 0-2. Kemp is coming off a 42-21 loss to Blooming Grove after falling to Palestine Westwood 41-14 in the season opener.

Quitman will be on the road again next week at Ore City and then opens district play at home against Grand Saline on Sept. 23.