The Claiborne special teams were surprised by an Eagleton onside kick and the ball was recovered by the Royals. The Royal offense took over and drove the ball down into the Bulldog side of the field and just when it looked as if the drive would be stopped on a 4th down with 4:04 left, the Royals broke a play for the games first score. Following the point after attempt the score was 7-0 Royals. Once again the ensuing kickoff was hard to get under control but the Bulldogs managed to grab possession. The Bulldog offense behind its offensive line consisting of Thomas Neeley, Dustin Sandifur, Robbie Smith, Walker Bunch, Chad Burchette and tight end Will Hoskins found that moving the ball was not difficult as they drove the ball efficiently into Royal territory. The offensive attack was being led by Jeremy Hurst, Joseph Ledford and Dakota Brock. As the first quarter was coming to an end the Bulldogs had moved the ball to the 22yd line of the Royals.
With 3:07 left in the first half the Bulldogs had a first and goal. Ledford broke through the line and was tackled on the 2 yd line. The next play saw the offense drop the ball on the ground and the Royals recovered. The Bulldog defense nearly scored a safety on the Royals first play of the series. With 1:17 left the Royals were guilty of a motion penalty that took the ball half the distance to the goal. A QB keeper was stopped way short of the first down marker forcing a punt on fourth down. The punt was blocked in the end zone by Chad Burchette and fell on by Dakota Brock for a Bulldog touchdown. The team lined up for a two point conversion which was good giving the Bulldogs an 8-7 lead with less than a minute remaining in the first half. The Bulldogs kicked the ball deep but a great effort by the Royals special team broke its kick-returner into open field and down the sideline for a touchdown. The big play regained the lead for the Royals at 13-8. Claiborne once again struggled to control the kickoff but was able to grab the ball and finish the second quarter. During halftime coach Bailey told his defensive line, “Get penetration but don’t over run. Linebackers read the ball and get there. Corners and safety are doing pretty good just keep the ball in front of you. The second half is our half, it has been all year.”
The opening of the third quarter saw the Bulldogs establish a good drive only to see it end on another fumble. Later on defense, Jeremy Hurst broke through the offensive line and sacked the QB for a loss of about 10 yards. The Royals punted with 2:48 remaining in the third and the punt netted only a few yards giving the ball to the Bulldog offense with great field position. The Bulldog drive began in the third and was continued in the fourth. Dakota Brock caught a slant and set the offense up with a first and goal. Ledford broke outside and scored a TD for the Bulldogs. The extra point attempt was no good. The Royals answered the score with one of their own and recaptured the lead 19-14. The new drive for the Bulldogs began with 5:30 left but the Royal defense held and forced the ball over on downs with 1:49 left. An unexpected fumble by the Royals that was recovered by Claiborne on the next play once again brought the Bulldogs back to life. The offense made a huge play with a pass to Brock all the way to the 15 yd line. Another pass out to the flat to Ledford gave the Bulldogs 1st and goal with only seconds left. The defense for the Royals forced the Bulldogs into their final timeout with 16 seconds remaining in the game. A short pass was incomplete leaving only 9 seconds left. The Bulldogs scored a touchdown as Ledford dragged defenders into the end zone. A penalty following the play for unsportsmanlike conduct effectively took away the Royals chances as their exciting running back/kick returner was ejected from the contest. The Bulldogs tried for two but were denied and had to kick the ball once more to the Royals. The tackle was made and the Bulldogs had completed the comeback back to get the win 20-19. After the game coach Ted Stone said to his team, “We’re proud of you! Ledford, Estep and Dakota, great throws and catches; be proud of yourselves. The entire team; be proud of yourselves.” An emotional head coach Bailey said, “We are proud of you and we dedicate this one to Chad Burchette’s father, Roy.” From day one he has been dedicated to us, to our team.” Roy Burchette was on his way to Houston Texas for medical treatment during the game and Bailey stated that when the team huddled and broke down in his honor at the half that it gave them the emotional lift that was needed. He stated that moment as the game’s turning point. During the post game interview he added, “We are just a scrappy bunch of players and we are going to practice hard to prevent the turnovers and to improve our tackling. We challenged them at halftime and they responded. I would love to mention how our fans traveled tonight. Many people were down here cheering us on and we appreciate them so much.” This win ensured the (4-1) Bulldogs a home playoff game and will hopefully catapult them to post season success. This team is a special team that needs the support of its community and the coaches and players deserve this support. The team travels to Grace Christian in Knoxville on October 2nd and invites everyone to come down and be part of the Bulldog team.
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