The #6 seed, El Dorado Springs Bulldogs, used big plays to upset the #3 seed, Cole Camp Blue Birds, 26-6 on Friday night to advance to the 2nd round of District play.

ElDo began the evening kicking off to Cole Camp. The Blue Birds were forced into a punting situation after going three-and-out and on the punt, Dayton Austin got a tremendous jump off of the outside and was able to tackle the punter for a big loss. Two plays later, Trenton Hardie ran 23 yards into the endzone to put ElDo up 6-0.

Cole Camp began their next possession at their own 36-yard line. Twelve plays later they faced 4th and two from the ElDo three-yard line when the Bulldog defense came up big stuffing the ball carrier for no gain and giving the ElDo offense the ball. After three plays the Bulldogs only managed to gain seven yards and were forced to punt as the first quarter came to a close.

The Blue Birds next drive lasted 12 plays and resulted in a 15-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 6-6.

The Bulldogs would respond on their next offensive play as Ethan Dubois ran for 68 yards downfield, while most Cole Camp defenders chased Hardie on the fake, to put ElDo up 12-6.

Cole Camp would then go on a 15-play drive but the Bulldogs again clamped down forcing a turnover on downs at their own four-yard line. Three plays later, Austin broke through the line and dashed 94-yards to give the Bulldogs an 18-6 lead. Cole Camp finished the half out with a 7-play drive that ended at the Bulldog 25-yard line. The Blue Birds dominated the time of possession in the first half as they ran 49 plays compared to the Bulldogs nine plays. Despite that, ElDo led 18-6.

Cole Camp attempted an onside kick to open the second half, but the kick was fielded clean by Dubois. On the first offensive play of the half Austin rushed for 11 yards. The drive then stalled out after a holding call backed the Bulldogs into a 1st and 25 situation that they could not dig themselves out of. Four plays later the Bulldogs were forced to punt the ball away. Cole Camp followed suit by gaining a first down before needing to punt and the Bulldogs took over at their own 14. Two consecutive false start penalties again backed the Bulldogs into a 1st and long situation and ElDo had to punt again.

The Blue Bird offense took over at the ElDo 33-yard line and on the first play of the drive, Colton Collins picked off the pass giving the Bulldogs the ball at their own 28. 

Riley Boyd opened the following drive with a 22-yard run. Hardie followed that up with a 19-yard run as the third quarter came to a close.

Eight plays later, Boyd ran the ball in for a touchdown from two yards out. Dubois added the 2-point conversion to give the Bulldogs a 26-6 lead. The rest of the fourth quarter was dominated by the Blue Birds who ran 19 more plays compared to the Bulldogs three plays, but the Bulldog defense held strong and the game ended 26-6.

Ethan Dubois led the Bulldog defense with 11 solo tackles and 20 assists, giving him 31 total tackles, which is a new school record and places him in 2nd place in the MSHSAA record books for individual total tackles in a game. Dayton Austin led the way offensively for ElDo with 118 yards on seven carries.

Coach Scroggins said, “Our boys played another hard fought and physical game. We came in as the underdog and I felt our kids played with a chip on their shoulder. Offensively, this was the first time this year that someone has tried keeping the ball away from us. Defensively, Ethan Dubois was all over the field and played a heck of a game. We are very proud of the effort he gave out there. Trey Babcock also had a great game on defense and is becoming a more dominant player. Next week we need to play a cleaner game, eliminating penalties, missed tackled and missed assignments.”

The Bulldogs (4-6) next travel to #2 Fair Grove (10-0) on Friday night at 7 pm for the second round of district play.

On defense, Ethan Dubois racked up 11 tackles, 20 assists, 1.5 TFL (Tackle for Loss) and two forced fumbles.

Dayton Austin scored three tackles, assisted on 10 and had one TFL.

Shelby McKinney had one tackle, assisted on nine and had 1.5 TFL and one fumble recovery.

Trey Babcock made two tackles and assisted on eight.

Riley Boyd made one tackle and assisted on eight.

Colton Collins had two tackles, assisted on two had made one interception.

Dylan Gallette made one tackle and assisted on five.

Jordan Gallette assisted on two tackle and had half a TFL.

Wyatt Graves made one tackle, assisted on seven and had half a TFL.

Blake Holder made two tackles, assisted on six and had half a TFL

Keilan Jaques assisted on four tackles.

Dakota Long assisted on one tackle.

Nate Marsh assisted on one tackle.

Dagan McIntire assisted on two tackles.

Jake Schiefer made one tackle and assisted on six.

Facebook Comments