Patriots Mauled by Bulldogs 28-0

After two big wins on the road, the Jefferson County Patriots returned to their home field for the first time of the 2018 season.  The Bearden Bulldogs traveled over from Knoxville to Leroy Shannon field, and gave the Patriots their first major challenge of the season.

The night started off with Bearden kicking off to Jefferson County.  The Bulldog defense quickly limited the Jefferson County offensive line to stay put in Bearden territory.  The Patriot’s Issac Workman successfully recovered the ball during the first play of Bearden’s drive, and it was Jefferson County ball on the 45.  Unfortunately the Patriot offence couldn’t yet find the hole in the Bulldog defense, and Bearden regained possession of the ball.  The Jefferson County defense was able to slow the movement of the offence to some extent, but unfortunately, with just 38 seconds to go in the first quarter the Bearden Bulldogs made their first touchodown of the evening.

Staff Photo, Angie Stanley, Jefferson County Post Sports

Staff Photo, Angie Stanley, Jefferson County Post Sports

The Second quarter was where the Bulldogs were able to pull so far ahead.  The first half of the quarter, mostly, found a battle of the defenses, with both walls to thick to break through.  With 6:59 left in the half, the Bulldogs managed to get in to the Patriot psyche with a long touchdown and good extra point, bringing the score 14-0.  The Patriot offence could not convert third and short in their next possession, and the Bulldogs regained the ball with decent field position.  Bearden cashed in on this also, and pulled ahead of the Patriots 21-0.  The game was now up to a three possession deficit, but there was almost five minutes left in the first half, and another half still yet to play.  Trying to gain some ground, the Patriots’ drove hard, but a dropped pass by Hawkins gave the ball back to the Bulldogs.  The Patriot defense forced a turnover to downs, trying to put some wind in the offensive sails.  Unfortunately an Atkins fumble with 40 Seconds left in the half got picked up by the Bulldogs, and ran into the endzone, putting the Bearden Bulldogs ahead of the Jefferson County Patriots 28-0 to end the half.

Staff Photo, Angie Stanley, Jefferson County Post Sports

Staff Photo, Angie Stanley, Jefferson County Post Sports

After the halftime break, both teams came out determined to continue fighting the good fight.  Both teams found the holes in the defense and secondary to prevent the other team from scoring.  The Jefferson County defense limited the Bearden offence to only 65 yards the entire half, but as tight at the Patriots were, the Bulldogs were just as tight.  Neither team could advance the score during the second half and the game ended with the Bearden Bulldogs going back to Knoxville with the victory, 28-0

Even with the tightness of the Bearden defense, Jefferson C0unty’s Kris Hawkins still managed to have 18 carries for 80 yards. Tanner Adkins went 5-12 with 44 yards to add to his numbers.  Jefferson County had 99 yards to Bearden’s 218.

Now that it’s time for the Patriots to shake the loss off and move forward, they are preparing for the Carter Hornets.  The last time the Patriots faced off against the Hornets, Jefferson County dominated them 35-7.  Carter is coming off an impressive 14-0 win  against the Seymour Eagles, but the Patriots are sure to be spending the week patching up any holes they may have found facing Bearden.  Kickoff will be at 7:30 in Dumplin Valley.

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Source: Angie Stanley, Mike Stanley Jefferson County Post Sports