El Dorado Springs Bulldogs use a big 3rd quarter to defeat Warsaw Wildcats

The El Dorado Springs Bulldogs scored 34 points in the 3rd quarter to defeat the Warsaw Wildcats 56-20 on Friday night and advance to the second round of Districts.

Warsaw began the evening on offense and opened the game by going on a 14-play scoring drive to take an 8-0 lead.

The Wildcats then attempted an onside kick that was fielded clean by the Bulldogs at their own 47-yard line. Tanner Witt bust into the open on the first ElDo play before slipping and being taken down after a 16-yard gain.

Six plays later, the ball turned over on downs on the Warsaw 22-yard line. On the third play of the Warsaw drive, Brayden Housh intercepted a tipped pass from the Wildcats giving the Bulldogs the ball at the Warsaw 44-yard line. Three plays later, Trey Babcock hit Shelby McKinney on a 29-yard touchdown pass to make it an 8-6 game.

PITCH OUT – Down near the south goal, the Warsaw Wildcats make a determined stand twice, as any good team would do, so the coach dialed n a little deceptions. Here Bulldog Senior QB Trey Babcock (No. 7) starts a sweep to the right as he gets ready to pitch the ball to a trailing back. Once he pitched to Bulldog Junior Running Back Haiden Overton who ran in for a TD. Another trip close to the endzone QB Babcock pitched to Bulldog sophomore running back Gaven Morgan who outran the Wildcat defenders to the end zone. On offense, Babcock, who was protecting an injury, carried the ball 7 times for 13 yards. He attempted 12 passes completing 7 for 242 yards and 5 TDs. Derek Hayes caught one pass for 55 yards and a TD. Tanner Witt caught two for 54 yards and a TD.

On the first play of the next Wildcat drive, Witt picked off a pass and ran the ball back to the Warsaw 34-yard line before being tackled. The Bulldogs failed to do anything with the field position and turned the ball over on downs as the first quarter came to an end with Warsaw still leading 8-6.

Early in the second quarter, Warsaw’s running back broke a long run to give the Wildcats a 14-6 lead. ElDo and Warsaw were then forced to punt after three-and-outs.

On the first play of the next Bulldog drive, Babcock found McKinney again, this time for a 74-yard touchdown pass. McKinney ran in the 2-point conversion to tie the game up at 14-14.

On the next Warsaw drive, the Bulldog defense held strong and on 4th down, the Wildcats attempted a fake punt that failed, giving ElDo the ball.

On the second play of the ensuing Bulldog drive, Babcock hit Derek Hayes on a slant that Hayes took 55 yards to the house. Witt added the two-point conversion to put ElDo up 22-14 with four minutes left in the half.

Warsaw then used 11 plays to get down to the ElDo 8-yard line facing a 1st and goal with one minute and two timeouts remaining. On first down, the Warsaw running back had a 5-yard gain. On second down, two Bulldog players tackled the running back for no gain. On 3rd down, Jordan Gallette sacked the QB, for a loss of 4 yards. Facing 4th and goal from the 7, the Warsaw QB rolled out for a pass, and appeared to have a clear path into the endzone before he was leveled by Dylan Gallette at the 2-yard line as the half came to a close.

The Wildcats opened the second half with an onside kick that was fielded by the Bulldogs at their own 49-yard line. On the third play of the ElDo drive, Witt burst downfield for a 34-yard run. On the next play, Witt scored on a 3-yard touchdown run. McKinney ran in the two-point conversion to give ElDo the 30-14 lead.

The Bulldog defense held strong on the next drive and forced Warsaw into a 4th and 10 situation from their own 37-yard line. On the punt, Haiden Overton wrapped up the punter before he had a chance to get rid of the ball.

TD RUN – Early in the second quarter of the game with the Warsaw Wildcats, Bulldog Senior QB Trey Babcock found Bulldog Senior Tight End Shelby McKinney with a short pass that McKinney turned into a 74 yard footrace to the house McKinney then ran in the two point conversion to tie the score at 14 all. McKinney caught four passes on the night for 133 yards and three TDs. He scored two 2 pt. conversions. On defense, he was in on seven tackles one a tackle for a loss and deflected two passes.

On the next play, Babcock threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Witt and Housh added the PAT putting the Bulldogs up 37-14.

On the kickoff, the ball bounced at the Warsaw 37-yard line, and the Wildcats could not field the ball cleanly before Dylan Gallette could recover it. Nine plays later, Overton ran for a 7-yard touchdown, with Housh adding the PAT to give the Bulldogs the 44-14 lead.

On the third play of the next Warsaw drive, the Wildcats attempted a half back pass that was picked off by Gaven Morgan. Five plays later, Babcock found McKinney for a 15-yard touchdown pass to give ElDo the 50-14 advantage. Three plays into the next Warsaw drive, Morgan picked off another pass. Three plays later, Morgan ran the ball into the endzone from 7 yards out to put ElDo up 56-14.

In the 4thquarter, ElDo emptied their bench as the clock continuously ran. Warsaw’s varsity did manage to score another touchdown with 6:02 remaining in the game to make it a 56-20 ballgame, which is how it would end.

Coach Scroggins said, “I felt that this was the best we have played all season as a team. Warsaw is a quality team that gave us fits three weeks ago when we played them, and we knew that they have some pretty good talent. When we were down 14-6 early on, it was pretty neat on our sideline because nobody panicked or doubted that we would win. As the game wore on you could tell that we were in better shape and beat them physically. I was also impressed that they came in making us throw the ball and we answered the challenge by throwing for 252 yards and 5 touchdowns. Defensively, the stop on 4th down before the half was a big momentum builder for us and we used that momentum and several turnovers to put the game away in the 3rd quarter.”

With the win, the Bulldogs (8-2) advance to the 2ndround of district play where they will host the 3rd seeded Versailles Tigers on Friday night.

On defense, Dylan Gallette led all tacklers with 14, one for a loss,  one sack and one fumble recovery. Gaven Morgan was next with 12 tackles, one for a loss and two interceptions. Trey Graves made 11 tackles, one for a loss. Brayden Housh made on tackle, deflected two passes and intercepted one. Keilan Jaques had nine tackles and got half a TFL. Haiden Overton made seven tackles, one a TFL.