Bulldogs dominate
Published 2:11 am Saturday, October 22, 2011
HEADLAND — There was a chill in the air Friday night, but Headland fans must have thought their team had been frozen.
Andalusia’s defense halted Headland’s spread offense, and the Bulldogs ran away with a 63-0 region victory on senior night for the Rams.
The Bulldogs scored six touchdowns in the first half, and added three more in the second half to remain undefeated this season heading into next week’s 68th meeting with rival Opp.
“It was a great team win,” AHS head football coach Brian Seymore said. “Our kids played hard. They came out of the locker room ready to play.”
With this victory, Andalusia is 9-0 overall, and 7-0 in Class 4A, Region 2.
Three of Andalusia’s six touchdowns in the first half came at the hands of senior tailback/linebacker Jacard Townsend.
Townsend had a 41-yard touchdown rush, a 5-yard scoring rush on a fumble recovery and a 50-yard touchdown reception.
Andalusia’s Ralph Sims scored two rushing touchdowns from 8 and 6 yards. Bulldogs quarterback Michael McCalman added the sixth touchdown as time expired in the first half from 8 yards.
With the second string in late in the second half, Andalusia’s Derrick Dorsey scored two touchdowns from 18 and 26 yards, and Quentavien Johnson scored on a 21-yard rush.
Seymore said the second string effort late in the game looked “good.”
“I really liked getting those young kids in there,” he said. “They scored two touchdowns. They looked good. That’s from lining up against these older kids. They’ve gotten more physical, and that’s what I like to see.”
At the start of the game, Andalusia’s defense allowed the Rams to rush and pass for 40 yards on Headland’s first offensive possession.
From then on out, the Bulldogs’ defense took control.
Andalusia took the ball on its own 37-yard line, and senior quarterback C.P. Rogers, who rushed for 66 yards, took the ball 16 yards on the ground to set up Townsend’s first touchdown of the night with 8:46 left in the first quarter. Rogers took the 2-point conversion in and the Bulldogs took the 8-0 early lead.
The Bulldogs made it a 14-0 game on Sims’ 8-yard rush on a four-and-eight play. Andalusia tried for the 2-point conversion, and the ball was batted away on a pass from Rogers.
On Headland’s next offensive possession, Rams quarterback Aaron Sanders missed the snap, which enabled Townsend to score his second touchdown of the evening. With the point after attempt no good from Courey Hopkins, the Bulldogs took a 20-0 lead.
From there, Sims scored his second touchdown with 5:02 remaining in the second quarter, Lakelyus “Fathead” Adams added the 2-point conversion and the Bulldogs led 28-0.
Andalusia held the Rams on defense again to force a punt, where the Bulldogs started on their own 31-yard line.
With less than two minutes in the first half, McCalman connected with Townsend on the 50-yard touchdown pass, the PAT from Hopkins was good and Andalusia took a 35-0 lead.
On the ensuing kick off, Hopkins put the ball in the right spot as it bounced off Headland’s Tyshawn McCray and into the hands of Andalusia’s Jud Rogers for the fumble recovery.
As time expired in the first 24 minutes of play, Andalusia utilized the clock and with seven seconds left, McCalman scooted in from 8 yards for the score. The PAT was good, and the Bulldogs led 42-0 at half time.
In the second half, Sanders gave up two interceptions, where Adams got a piece of both.
After Sanders’ second interception, Andalusia took advantage when Johnson scored from 21 yards out.
With the second string in, Dorsey sliced and diced his way through the Rams’ defense, scoring from 18 yards with 6:28 and 26 yards with 5:23 left in the fourth quarter.
Seymore said letting as many players as possible touch the ball was what the team wanted to do in the first place, and noted the defensive touchdown was huge.
“That’s a goal (every week),” he said. “Our defense made some big plays, and caused some turnovers. Anytime you score a defensive touchdown that gives you a leg up.”
Hopkins was 6-of-7 in extra point attempts, and Townsend rushed for 66 yards.