Wilcox scores 41 in first half, steamrolls Lanier

Published 12:35 am Saturday, September 15, 2018

LAKELAND, Ga. –– The Lanier County Bulldogs fell behind big early and could never quite recover as they fell to the Wilcox County Patriots 61-22 at home on Friday night.

The Bulldogs simply couldn’t take care of the ball against the Patriots. Quarterback Rashod Brockington threw three interceptions, two going back for touchdowns. In addition to the interceptions, the Bulldogs put the ball on the ground as well with four lost fumbles in the game.

Bulldogs head coach Kurt Williams said his team “shot (themselves) in the foot” time and time again against the Patriots. Despite another blowout loss, Williams commended his defense for continuing to fight and force turnovers throughout.

“We’ve been struggling on defense and tonight, we got a good effort out of them,” Williams said. “We basically just shot ourselves in the foot with turnovers and (Wilcox) scoring off them. Hats off to Wilcox, they’ve done it all year and they did it tonight –– scoring off special teams and defense. If we eliminate those, we’re in a pretty close ballgame.”

Patriots quarterback Noah Hollingsworth hit junior wide receiver JayQuan Brown for a 26-yard TD pass on fourth-and-long to put Wilcox ahead 41-0 with 6:41 left before halftime.

The Bulldogs failed to move the ball with much success in the first half. Lanier was unable to move the ball past midfield until late in the second quarter when Brockington got free and launched a pass deep downfield to Tyquan Baker for a 43-yard gain. Two plays later, on fourth-and-9, Brockington hooked up with Baker again for a 43-yard TD pass to make it 41-6 game with 1:57 left in the second quarter.

Following a Patriots fumble, Brockington’s second interception of the game gave the ball right back. However, on the first-and-10 from the 20-yard line, the Bulldogs’ Rasheem Robinson scooped up a botched snap by the Patriots’ and took it into the end zone for another score to make it 41-14 with 1:28 remaining before halftime.

Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, the momentum they built to end the first half did not carry over into the second half. The Patriots scored on their second play from scrimmage to open the third quarter, extending their lead to 48-14 with 10:27 left in the quarter. Twenty-three seconds later, Brockington’s pass was mishandled in the backfield. The Patriots recovered the ball and took it back for a touchdown to open up a 40-point lead, 54-14 with 10:04 left in the third quarter.

In a microcosm of the Bulldogs’ struggles, Brockington dropped back to pass on first-and-10 from the 19-yard line but threw his third interception of the night right into the hands of the Patriots’ Branson Owens who took the ball back for another score to make it a 61-14 game with 9:18 left in the third quarter.

“We were trying to get the ball on the edge and just didn’t have any success,” Williams said. “Once the game got out of hand, we tried to slow it down and we got pretty banged up and wanted to get up out of here without any injuries. We’ve got another big region game next week.”

Toward the end of regulation, the Bulldogs managed to find the end zone again. Brockington scampered for 15 yards for the Lanier first-down. Two plays later, he went left and found a seam along the sideline to punch in an 11-yard TD run and a two-point conversion for the final margin with 4:11 left in the game.

Despite losing their fourth straight game to open the season, Williams admits his team’s youth and inexperience have created some growing pains during this stretch.

“Some of our older guys, our juniors –– half of our junior class has never played high school football,” Williams explained. “So we’re almost in the process of starting a brand new program. We’ve got so many guys that have never played or haven’t played in several years so their football IQ is very limited. We’ve got three seniors on the roster so it’s about getting a little bit better every day and building for the future.”

UP NEXT

Lanier travels to Atkinson County next week to face the Rebels, a team the Bulldogs defeated in their spring game six months ago.

“That was six months ago, so it’s a whole new ballgame next week,” Williams said. “They’ve gotten a whole lot better since the spring. We’ve got to match their intensity next week. We’re going to their place, very difficult place to play and we’ve just got to get ready to play for 48 minutes.”