Bulldogs top Cole Camp Bluebirds 28-16

The El Dorado Springs Bulldogs overcame a rough first quarter to top the Cole Camp Bluebirds 28-16 on Friday night in Ozark Mountain Conference football action at Cole Camp.

Cole Camp began the night by kicking off in which the Bluebirds executed an onside kick that they were able to recover at the ElDo 40-yard line. Seven plays later, the Bluebirds were in the end zone, jumping out to a 7-0 lead.

On the ensuing kickoff, Haiden Overton returned the ball 17 yards to the Bulldog 41-yard line where the ElDo offense took over. The Bulldogs put together a 15-play drive, highlighted by an 18 yard pass from Trey Babcock to Shelby McKinney, and capped off with a 2-yard touchdown run by Tanner Witt to make it a 7-6 game.

On the next Cole Camp drive, the Bluebirds drove to the ElDo 17-yard line before making a 34-yard field goal to give Cole Camp the 10-6 lead.

On the kickoff that followed, Cole Camp again attempted and recovered an onside kick. The Bluebirds were able to drive down to the ElDo 9-yard line, when they attempted and missed a FG. With that, the first quarter came to a close.

In the second quarter, the Bulldogs ran six plays before being forced to punt from their own 37-yard line. Babcock’s punt took an ElDo bounce and was downed at the Cole Camp 23-yard line.

The Bluebirds pieced together a 10-play drive advancing the ball to the ElDo 15-yard line until the Bulldog defense stiffened and forced Cole Camp to attempt another field goal.

On the field goal, the kick was blocked and Dylan Gallette made a heads up play by picking up the ball and returning it to the Cole Camp 45-yard line. Three plays into the Bulldogs drive, Witt ran the ball 20 yards before being tackled at the 22. Three plays after that, Witt ran into the end zone from 7 yards out. Witt followed that up by adding the two-point conversion to put the Bulldogs up 14-10.

On the next Cole Camp drive, Gaven Morgan intercepted a Bluebird pass giving ElDo the ball at midfield. After a holding call backed the Bulldogs up on the first play, ElDo struggled to move the ball.

On the ensuing punt, Babcock boomed a punt to the Bluebird 5-yard line where the Cole Camp returner waved for a fair catch. Lance Smith flew down the field putting pressure on the returner, who muffed the return and allowed Cameron Hargrove to dive on the loose ball. Three plays later, Babcock found Shelby McKinney in the end zone for a 12-yard score to put the Bulldogs up 20-10 as the first half came to a close.

The second half began with Cole Camp receiving the kickoff. The Bluebirds marched down to the ElDo 27-yard line where they went for it on 4th and 3 when Keilan Jaques came up with a big tackle for loss to give the Bulldogs the ball.

ElDo put together a 13-play drive, highlighted by three runs by Babcock that went for 10+ yards, before Babcock capped the drive off with a 3-yard touchdown run. Witt added the two-point conversion to put the Bulldogs up 28-10 with the 3rd quarter nearing its end.

In the 4th quarter, both teams traded punts before Preston Robison picked off a Bluebird pass, giving the Bulldogs possession at the Cole Camp 48-yard line. ElDo drove down to the 14-yard line before turning the ball over on downs.

Both teams again traded punts before Cole Camp then managed to drive down the field and score making it a 16-28 ball game with one minute left in the game. Cole Camp attempted the onside kick as a last ditch effort but the Bulldogs were able to cover the ball and then run the clock out in victory formation.

Coach Scroggins said, “Tonight the game started off pretty rough and we made some mental mistakes but I’m proud of the resilience that our boys showed. When we were trailing and Cole Camp recovered their second onside kick, we could have got down on ourselves, but instead, we dug deep and kept believing that we were going to win and things worked out in the end. We need to learn from our mistakes and continue to improve as we get ready for Butler.”

The Bulldogs (3-1) next travel to Butler (1-3) on Friday, Sept. 21 for another Ozark Mountain Conference game at 7 p.m.