The El Dorado Springs Bulldogs made a late run at the Ash Grove Pirates but ran out of time in a 14-6 football game.

The Bulldogs began the game on offense and was forced to punt after going 3-and-out. When Ash Grove took over on offense, the Bulldog defense looked well prepared and the Pirates turned the ball over on downs. On the next Bulldog offensive possession, ElDo managed to move the ball into Ash Grove territory before turning the ball over on downs at the Ash Grove 41.

On the next play, the Pirates QB scrambled for 59-yards into the endzone on a broken pass play to put Ash Grove up 6-0.

On the ensuing kickoff, Jake Schieffer had a 35-yard return to give ElDo excellent field position at the Pirates 45. The Bulldogs had driven down to the Ash Grove 20 where on 3rd down a Pirate defender picked off a pass at the 3-yard line.

The El Dorado Springs defense stood strong and forced the Pirates to punt the ball allowing ElDo to take back over on offense at the 50. For the rest of the half, both team’s defenses played stingy and neither team managed to gain momentum as Ash Grove went into the break still up 6-0.

On the first drive of the second half for Ash Grove, the pirates marched down to the ElDo 35, before the Bulldog defense dug in and forced a turnover on downs. El Dorado Springs drove their way to the Ash Grove 40 when on 3rd and 5, a Pirate defender stripped the ball free and was able to dive on the fumble. Eight plays later the Pirates found their way back into the endzone and took a 14-0 lead after a successful 2-point conversion with 48 seconds left in the 3rd quarter.

Starting the 4th quarter, the Bulldogs found themselves in a punting situation from their own 33. On the punt, Trey Babcock punted the ball to the Pirate 40-yard line. The Ash Grove returner ran to the Pirate sideline, evading two tacklers when he changed directions and headed toward the ElDo sideline with three lead blockers and a lot of space. Dayton Austin made a spectacular play as he flew across the field and knocked one blocker into the returner before Austin wrapped up the returner at the ElDo 47. At this point the Bulldogs began to get fired up and started playing some inspired football.

The Bulldog defense forced the Pirates into a 3-and-out. ElDo took over at their own 25-yard line. The Bulldog’s had a 20 yard run by Austin and later a 16-yard run by Trenton Hardie as the Bulldogs marched down the field on a seven play drive that was capped off by a 3-yard touchdown run by Riley Boyd closing the gap to 14-6.

Ash Grove again went 3-and out and the Bulldogs took over at their own 15 with 48 seconds remaining in the game. ElDo got the ball to the 50-yard line but with 6 seconds left in the game, threw up a Hail Mary that was picked off.

Coach Scroggins said, “I thought our boys played hard and never quit. Defensively I felt that we did a much better job of tackling and really we had two big plays that ended up hurting us. Offensively, we need to stay on our blocks until the whistle and do a better job of carrying out our fakes. All in all, this was the best game that we have played this year and I feel like we are on the cusp of playing up to our potential.”

This Friday night in El Dorado Springs, the Bulldogs take on Lafayette County, which was ranked #7 in Class 2 earlier this season.

Stats:

On offense, Dayton Austin rushed 20 times for 113 yards. Riley Boy ran nine times for 21 yards and scored on TD. Ethan Dubois carried 10 times for 58 yards. Trenton Hardie rushed eight times for 20 yards. Riley Boyd attempted 12 passes, compiled here for 28 yards. He was intercepted twice. Jake Schieffer caught two passes for 14 yards. Colton Collins caught one for 14 yards.

On defense, Dayton Austin made one tackle for a loss (TFL) and assisted on 13. Ethan Dubois made seven solo tackles, two of them TFL, and assisted on eight. Kellan Jaques made three solo tackles, one of them a sack and two TFL, and assisted on two. Trey Backcock had one tackle and assisted on five. Riley Boyd made two tackles and assisted on three. Dylan Gallette made one tackle and assisted on four. Wyatt Graves had one tackle and assisted on five. Blake Holder assisted on six tackles. Jamie Isaacs assisted on two. Nate Marsh had two solo tackles and assisted on four. Shelby McKinney assisted on three tackles. Dagan McIntire had one solo tackle, a TFL.