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RUNNING ROOM- James Ratliff (11) finds some running room around the corner during last Friday’s game against Moody. Ratliff had 32 yards in the game on six carries. In the background is Bulldog quarterback Keaton Muxworthy (10), who was knocked out of the game early with a concussion, and senior lineman Cole Wells (57). Staff Photo |
The win, coupled with Mc-Gregor’s 58-7 mauling of the Clifton Cubs, secured a spot in the playoffs for Coach Chris Wilde’s Bulldogs for the fourth consecutive year. Hamilton will challenge the Mart Panthers, the state’s top-ranked Class 2A team, in Glen Rose Thursday night in a bi-district showdown.
The Dogs entered the fracas Friday night with a pair of two-way starters in street clothes, as Truman Baize and Garet Box, both sat out the contest due to injuries. And the Dogs then lost starting quarterback Keaton Muxworthy after one quarter when the sophomore signal-caller got his bell rung. But all that seemed to hardly matter as the Bulldogs overcame a sputtering start to completely dominate their McLennan County rivals.
After going three and out on their first possession, the Bulldogs rolled to touchdowns on five out of the next six times they touched the ball and went to the lockers at intermission with an impressive 35-7 lead.
Muxworthy, who has started the last three games for Hamilton, suffered his injury on the first offensive play of the game, but stayed in the contest long enough to lead the Dogs to a pair of touchdowns before leaving at the start of the second stanza. He was replaced by junior John Galindo, the early season starter, and Galindo didn’t miss a beat in leading the Bulldogs the rest of the way.
Hamilton’s first scoring drive was a 76-yard, 11-play affair that featured the running of a pair of seniors playing their final game at Kooken Field, Seth LeBlanc and Jorden Lowe. Lowe toted the ball four times in the drive and LeBlanc carried it five times, including a 36-yarder on a sweep and a one-yard dive that resulted in the touchdown. Abby Lozano, who was a perfect six for six on conversion kicks, toed the extra point.
The Bulldogs reached the end zone for the second time late in the first period with a 50-yard, seven-play drive that was fueled by a 13-yard gain by James Ratliff and a 10-yard pick-up by Jackson Beshears. The score came on Hamilton’s first pass of the night, a pretty 11-yard connection from Muxworthy to wide open tight end Mason Burke in the end zone.
The third touchdown drive came early in the third quarter and covered 64 yards in 10 plays. The Bulldogs spread the workload around on this march as six different Dogs carried the pigskin at least once. Lowe had an eight-yard run, Galindo a 12-yard carry, Burke an 11-yard bull-run, and Ratliff a 14-yard burst. Galindo carried the final three yards for the score.
Hamilton didn’t have to travel as far for its next touchdown after Dustin Freeman set them up with great field position with a fumble recovery at the Bearcat 38-yard line.
LeBlanc opened the drive with a nine-yard gain followed by an eight-yard pick up by freshman Jared Massingill and another eight yard rush by Lowe. At that point the drive seemed to stall and the Bulldogs faced a fourth down and 17 at the Moody 30 yard line. No problem! Galindo dropped back to pass and hit Jordan Ernstes going across the middle at the 15-yard line. The senior wide receiver made a finger-tip catch and then carried a pair of would-be tacklers across the goal line for the six points.
Moody responded with its first real offensive movement of the night and the Bearcats mounted a 70-yard, nine-play scoring drive that featured some hard running by tailback Walter Hammond. Hammond had several nice gains in the drive including a 30-yard run and a four-yard carry for the touchdown. Hammond added the extra point that cut Hamilton’s lead to 28-7 with only 35 seconds left in the half.
The Bulldogs needed only half of that time to retaliate with a score of their own. After a short kick set the Bulldogs up at their own 40-yard line, Galindo and Lowe executed a nifty option play that saw Galindo carry for the first five yards before pitching to Lowe who then ran for another 16 yards to the Bearcat 39-yard line. On the next play Galindo kept the ball himself off of right tackle and raced 39 yards for the score to give the Dogs a 35-7 halftime lead.
The Dogs wasted no time in adding to their advantage when action resumed in the third quarter. After holding the Bearcats on the opening possession of the second half, the Bulldogs took over at their own 26-yard line. A couple of plays picked up a total of nine yards before Lowe showed his speed with a 65-yard touch-down run that left the Moody defenders grasping at the wind.
With a 42-7 lead, Coach Wilde made sure that his entire bench saw plenty of action the rest of the way and employed an eat-up-the-clock offensive strategy.
Moody put together its second nice drive of the game in the fourth quarter, traveling 86 yards in only five plays to cut the final margin to 42-13. Hammond again was the workhorse with a 54-yard run and the three yard touchdown carry, but he got a little help this time from running back Miguel Cortez who contributed a 24-yard run to the drive.
The game ended with Galindo taking a knee inside the Moody 10 yard line as Wilde opted to not run the score up against the out-manned Moody squad.
Even with two of their running backs on the sideline with injuries, the Dogs managed to get carries for 10 different backs. Leading the way were a couple of 100 yard-plus performances by LeBlanc and Lowe. LeBlanc chalked up 135 yards on 16 rushes and Lowe was close behind with 128 yards on 10 runs.
Moody’s Hammond was the game’s leading rusher with 157 yards on 17 carries.
On defense, Hamilton’s tackle chart was topped by linebacker Ethan Brown who had a hand in on 10 tackles, followed closely by Ratliff with nine, Maycon Stork with eight, and a trio of defenders with seven each- Acy May, LeBlanc and Zach Anglin.
The contest marked the final home game for 11 Bulldogs seniors whose class saw their team reach the playoffs in each of their four years in high school. They include Lowe, Ratliff, LeBlanc, Ethan Chorenziak, Ernstes, Rowdy Dailey, Cole Wells, Asa Hamilton, Freeman, and Stork. Fittingly, all 10 played significant roles in Friday night’s win. The eleventh senior, kicker Tyler Gentry, missed the game with an injury.