CattouseFan
09-04-2005, 04:30 PM
MIKE SZVETITZ / Staff Writer
September 3, 2005
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Opelika quarterback Jonathan Chandler handed the ball off to running back Joseph Wilson, who flipped it to receiver Michael Motley, who then chucked it downfield to a wide open Marquez Strickland.
The chase by the Jefferson Davis defense was on and so was Opelika’s rout - on the game’s first play.
The double-reverse pass covered 70 yards for the score, giving the Bulldogs (2-0) their first of five touchdowns on the way to a 38-0 victory against the Vols on Friday night.
“(The offense) does one trick play a week,” Opelika head coach Spence McCracken said. “Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. That one worked, and it was all downhill from there.”
The first play did two things for the Bulldogs. It deflated Jeff Davis’ defense right away, allowing the Opelika offense to build a quick lead. And it also helped heal a wound that had been bothering McCracken and his team for the last year.
Last season in Week 2, Opelika suffered a 28-0 loss to the Vols at the Crampton Bowl. As if the loss wasn’t bad enough, it was the first time in three years the Bulldogs had fallen in a regular-season game.
Friday night, McCracken couldn’t help but think back to that Thursday night in Montgomery.
“There was a little bit of that,” he said. “Tonight was really about us getting better. You know I watched that tape so many times and I realized this is a different year with a different team.
“We just wanted to focus on getting better, but, yeah, there was a little (of last year’s loss) on my mind.”
After the opening touchdown, which came 20 seconds into the contest, the Bulldogs took three more possessions to get back into the end zone. On the third play of the second quarter, Strickland took a handoff around the left end for 9 yards and a touchdown. Kent Hagan added the extra point, and Opelika was up 14-0.
On the next Bulldogs possession, Chandler hooked up with Motley on a 32-yard post route for the third score of the game with 6:58 to play before half.
Opelika would add one more score with 2:53 in the second quarter on a Zach Spence 9-yard run for a 28-0 lead at the break.
And that was enough playing time for the Bulldog starters, as most of them sat out the entire second half with a comfortable lead.
“We were fortunate to be able to get our starters out of there and play some younger kids,” McCracken said. “I was real proud of the way they all played tonight.”
At the half, Chandler had racked up 92 yards passing and a touchdown, while Spence had 49 yards on six carries and a score, leading the Bulldog ground game.
Meanwhile, the first-string Opelika defense had completely shut down the Jeff Davis offense in the first two quarters, holding it to just 33 total yards - 4 rushing and 29 passing.
“What can you say,” Jeff Davis coach Steve Bailey said. “They are very athletic and talented. They just physically whipped us on both sides of the ball.”
The second half showed some promise for the Vols offense against the second-string Opelika defense.
Junior running back Arthur Stokes rushed for a game high 109 yards, with 107 of them coming in the second half. But every time Jeff Davis threatened to score, the Bulldog defense would make a play to keep them out of the end zone.
“They didn’t score,” McCracken said. “And I was really impressed with our defense for that.”
On the Bulldogs’ first possession of the third quarter, Hagan capped off a four-play drive with a 44-yard field goal to put Opelika up 31-0.
Then, on their next possession, Bulldog backup running back Jeffery Dorsey punched it in from 2 yards away for the game’s final margin.
September 3, 2005
ADVERTISEMENT
Opelika quarterback Jonathan Chandler handed the ball off to running back Joseph Wilson, who flipped it to receiver Michael Motley, who then chucked it downfield to a wide open Marquez Strickland.
The chase by the Jefferson Davis defense was on and so was Opelika’s rout - on the game’s first play.
The double-reverse pass covered 70 yards for the score, giving the Bulldogs (2-0) their first of five touchdowns on the way to a 38-0 victory against the Vols on Friday night.
“(The offense) does one trick play a week,” Opelika head coach Spence McCracken said. “Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. That one worked, and it was all downhill from there.”
The first play did two things for the Bulldogs. It deflated Jeff Davis’ defense right away, allowing the Opelika offense to build a quick lead. And it also helped heal a wound that had been bothering McCracken and his team for the last year.
Last season in Week 2, Opelika suffered a 28-0 loss to the Vols at the Crampton Bowl. As if the loss wasn’t bad enough, it was the first time in three years the Bulldogs had fallen in a regular-season game.
Friday night, McCracken couldn’t help but think back to that Thursday night in Montgomery.
“There was a little bit of that,” he said. “Tonight was really about us getting better. You know I watched that tape so many times and I realized this is a different year with a different team.
“We just wanted to focus on getting better, but, yeah, there was a little (of last year’s loss) on my mind.”
After the opening touchdown, which came 20 seconds into the contest, the Bulldogs took three more possessions to get back into the end zone. On the third play of the second quarter, Strickland took a handoff around the left end for 9 yards and a touchdown. Kent Hagan added the extra point, and Opelika was up 14-0.
On the next Bulldogs possession, Chandler hooked up with Motley on a 32-yard post route for the third score of the game with 6:58 to play before half.
Opelika would add one more score with 2:53 in the second quarter on a Zach Spence 9-yard run for a 28-0 lead at the break.
And that was enough playing time for the Bulldog starters, as most of them sat out the entire second half with a comfortable lead.
“We were fortunate to be able to get our starters out of there and play some younger kids,” McCracken said. “I was real proud of the way they all played tonight.”
At the half, Chandler had racked up 92 yards passing and a touchdown, while Spence had 49 yards on six carries and a score, leading the Bulldog ground game.
Meanwhile, the first-string Opelika defense had completely shut down the Jeff Davis offense in the first two quarters, holding it to just 33 total yards - 4 rushing and 29 passing.
“What can you say,” Jeff Davis coach Steve Bailey said. “They are very athletic and talented. They just physically whipped us on both sides of the ball.”
The second half showed some promise for the Vols offense against the second-string Opelika defense.
Junior running back Arthur Stokes rushed for a game high 109 yards, with 107 of them coming in the second half. But every time Jeff Davis threatened to score, the Bulldog defense would make a play to keep them out of the end zone.
“They didn’t score,” McCracken said. “And I was really impressed with our defense for that.”
On the Bulldogs’ first possession of the third quarter, Hagan capped off a four-play drive with a 44-yard field goal to put Opelika up 31-0.
Then, on their next possession, Bulldog backup running back Jeffery Dorsey punched it in from 2 yards away for the game’s final margin.