Pirates edge Bulldogs 22-20

by Head Football Coach Derek Scroggins

El Dorado Springs Bulldogs hosted the Pirates on Friday night for Homecoming where the Bulldogs lost a heartbreaker by falling to Ash Grove 22-20.

The Pirates began the evening on offense and marched down to the Bulldog 5-yard line on an 11-play drive where Jake Schieffer picked off a pass from the Pirate quarterback in the endzone giving El Dorado Springs the ball. On the first offensive play by the Bulldogs, Trenton Hardie carried the ball 50 yards before finally being taken down. Six plays later, Schieffer ran the ball into the end zone from six yards out. Trey Babcock added the two-point conversion to put  ElDo up 8-0. Ash Grove would be forced to punt on their next drive as the quarter came to a close.

The Bulldogs first drive of the second quarter would last 13 plays before the ElDo offense would turn the ball over on downs at the Ash Grove 33-yard line. The Pirates would only need six plays to travel the length of the field and tie the game up at 8-8. On the Bulldogs final drive of the half,  ElDo drove to the Ash Grove 27-yard line before the clock expired with the score still even at 8-8.

El Dorado Springs opened the second half with a 13-play drive that was capped when Hardie dashed into the end zone from two yards out to put the Bulldogs up 14-8. Ash Grove and El Dorado Springs would each trade punts before the Pirates were able to score from 40-yards out at the end of the 3rd quarter to take a 15-14 lead.

The fourth quarter ended with the Bulldogs driving down the field before again being forced to punt. The Pirates then utilized a 12-play drive, including a fake punt for a large gain, that resulted in another touchdown as Ash Grove took a 22-14 lead with less than four minutes remaining in the game.  ElDo was able to make it down the field in seven plays as Babcock connected on a pass to Schieffer to cut the Pirate lead to two with the score 22-20 with 1:35 remaining in the game. Brayden Housh executed an excellent onside kick but the Pirates were able to recover the ball at the bottom of the pile. The Bulldog defense forced Ash Grove into a 3-and-out and the Bulldogs had the ball with less than a minute remaining. ElDo attempted to mount a scoring drive from their own 33-yard line but the drive would come up short and the game would end 22-20.

Coach Scroggins said, “I’m extremely proud of the fighting spirit that our boys have shown for the second week. Tonight, we struggled to get all 11 guys on the same page on both sides of the ball, and had moments where one blown assignment on offense was the difference from a two yard gain and a big play, and the same was true defensively. We need to work harder and execute.”

Trenton Hardie led the way offensively with 132 yards on 21 attempts. He scored one TD. Jake Schieffer hauled in six passes for 49 yards and one TD. Trey Babcock gained 56 yards on eight attempts and scored a 2 point conversion. Tanner Witt gained 46 yards in nine attempts. Keilan Jaques ran twice for eight yards. Cade Whitesell rushed twice for eight yards. Colten Collins carried once for six yards. Trey Babcock attempted 12 passes and completed six, one to Jake Schieffer for a 49 yard TD.

Blake Holder and Dakota Long led the defense with 10 tackles each, while Jake Schieffer had 8 tackles and an interception. Blake had half a TFL.Trey Babcock had four tackles. Colton Collins had two. Dylan Gallette made four. Jordan Gallette had one, a Tackle For A Loss (TFL). Wyatt Graves made two tackles. Trenton Hardie had two. Brayden Housh made one.  Keilan Jaques made seven tackles, had 1.5 TFL and half a sack. Dakota had a TFL. Dagan McIntire made four tackles, one TFL and half a sack.Shelby McKinney made two tackles and had 1.5 sacks. Kaleb Raff made three tackles. Gavin Reed made two tackles one of them half TFL. Jake Schieffer made eight tackles.  Lance Smith had one tackle. Tanner Witt made three tackles and had half a TFL.

The Bulldogs (1-2) next travel to Higginsville to take on undefeated Lafayette County on Friday night.

REAM EFFORT – Trenton Hardie led the team with 132 yards, but he didn’t do it along. Here his teammates block the Pirates to give Trenton running room.

I’M NOT SMILING – Jake Schieffer, No. 12 only appears to be smiling as he shows his mouthguard while lining up for a play.

LEGGO – Shelby McKinney (No. 32) going out for a pass.

QB AND RB – Trey Babcock and Trenton Hardie work together on advancing the ball.