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| Game goes down to wire, but Jr. Dawgs hang on to nip Bruceton |
By: Sara Reid — Special to the Weakley County Pres
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Posted: Tuesday, September 2, 2008 1:43 pm
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Turning the corner — Gleason Junior High running back Austin Perry turns the corner against the Bruceton defense during his team's thrilling win Thursday night in Tater Town.
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By the length of one yard and the time of six seconds, the Bruceton Central Junior High Tigers fell just short of victory and the Gleason Junior High Bulldogs held on for the 12-8 win Thursday night in Gleason.
With the majority of the points coming in the final few minutes of the contest, the Tigers found themselves in possession of the ball on the Dawgs’ 10-yard line with six seconds to go and a chance to win the game. After an initial official’s signal for a touchdown, it was determined the Central quarterback stepped out of bounds, however, just short of the goal line and the Dawgs came out the victors.
Both teams had shaky starts on offense and exchanged fumbles to end the opening quarter in a scoreless tie.
In the second quarter, the Dawgs found success on the ground behind Will Clark, Austin Perry, Chase Ezell and Chris Copeland. Picking up steady gains on the ground while eating up minutes off the clock, Gleason used a 15-yard halfback pass from Perry to Blake Taylor to reach the Tigers’ 9-yard line. Perry’s next run produced a fumble, however, and the visitors were given the ball for the first time in the second quarter of play. Their success was short-lived, though, as Taylor intercepted a pass attempt to end the half with still no points on the board.
Starting on offense in the second half on their own 37, the Dawgs went to Perry and Clark who delivered 12 yards and a first down. Perry swept around the left side of the field for a 13-yard run and followed it up with a 7-yard gain. Clark ran for 2 yards and Taylor picked up another first down on an 8-yard keeper. Perry ran for 13 yards, Taylor picked up 2 and Clark finished off the drive with a 4-yard run into the end zone. The conversion failed, but the Dawgs took the 6-0 lead with 3:38 left in the third quarter.
The Tigers were forced into a quick three-and-out on their next series and Gleason’s next possession, lasting into the early seconds of the fourth quarter, resulted in a punt as well. The visitors caught the punt at their own 30, however, and returned it for the touchdown. By successfully completing the conversion, the Tigers took an 8-6 lead with 6:52 left in the game.
Gleason’s next turn on offense produced a turnover on downs, but the Tigers returned the favor and the Dawgs regained possession on the Bruceton 44. Gaining few yards, Gleason soon faced a fourth-down situation, but when an incomplete pass to Ezell garnered an interference penalty on the Tigers, the Dawgs found themselves down to the 26-yard line with hope still in sight. Taylor took over and gained 22 yards on four carries. At the 4-yard line, he finished the drive with a touchdown run up the teeth of the defense. The conversion was stopped, but with 33.8 seconds left, the Dawgs took back the lead 12-8.
Central was ready with an attempted answer, though, and quickly found itself on the 19-yard line of Gleason. A 9-yard pass play put the visitors at the 10, but with six seconds left a quarterback keeper initially looked like a TD, but the Tiger QB stepped out of bounds just short of the end zone and the Dawgs took the four-point win. |
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