Marlin ISD

Bulldogs Slip & Slide To Victory!
(Move Into A Tie With Burnet for #1 in the State
According to Collier-Sharp Poll)

It was a dreary night in Caldwell that saw the Hornets "sting" the bulldogs on the first offensive play from scrimmage. But that was it for the Hornets, as they had no more sting left as the Bulldogs went on to win their 3rd district game by a score of 33-7.

On the opening play, Hornet running back Brian Gilbert, busted through the dog defensive line on the left side and out ran the defensive backs for a 65 yard touchdown. The point after was good and somewhat surprisingly the Hornets were up 7-0 in the rain.

Marlin went 3 and out on their first possession and then the defense began to take over for the dogs. Lakendrick Washington recovered a Hornet fumble at the 38-yard line and the dogs began to move on offense. They reached the 12-yard line where Daniel Ronquillo tried a 29-yard field goal that just missed and the score remained 7-0 Hornets with 3:05 to play in the first quarter.

Once more the Marlin defense held and forced another Caldwell punt. The field conditions made this one very hard to handle the ball as D'Nerian Wrighter fumbled the punt but Red Richardson was there and picked it up and ran it back 20 yards to the Hornet 41 yard line.

The Hornet defense held the dogs to 3 yards on three plays as the 1st quarter ended. As the second quarter started the dogs chose to go for it on fourth and seven at the Caldwell 38. A gutsy call by the "Big Dog" that paid off as quarterback, Thaddeus Freeman picked up just what he needed reaching the 31 yard line. On the very next play, the Tank explodes through the line and runs 31 yards for a touchdown. Ronquillo added the point after and we were tied at seven.

Once again the defense led by John Sadler, Nate Humphrey and Stephen Woodward rose to the occasion. The Hornets go 3 and out and are forced to punt. The punt only covered four yards and the dogs are in great field position once again. Starting at the Hornet 41, Thad runs for two, Tanks tacks on 12 more and then Thad back to pass, tucks it under scrambles right and leaps over a defender for 12 more yards to the Hornet 24. After a procedure call sets the dogs back five yards, Tank rumbles for 12 then four more yards to set up a first and 10 at the 13. Another penalty cost the dogs 5 yards but on the very next play, Thad drops backs, has excellent protection and finds a wide-open Cody Malone in the end zone for a touchdown. Ronquillo misses on the point after but the dogs take the lead 13-7 and this is where the score would remain at the half.

The third quarter saw both teams having a hard time moving the ball. But the dogs drew close with 2:39 to play as Freeman tried to hit Anthony Simms with a pass on third down. The ball fell incomplete but the refs called pass interference on the Hornets and the dogs had a first and ten. Tank ran for 16 yards into Hornet territory on the next play then added four more yards. Then it was Thad for 19 yards and the dogs were threatening again. Tank for 9, Thad for 10 and the dogs were barking at the two as the third quarter ended.

The fourth quarter turned out to be Thad's quarter as he scored three times. His first touchdown came on a second and goal from the one very early in the quarter. The dogs went for two and came up short but they moved their lead to 19-7.

Caldwell began their next possession on their own 23-yard line. On a third down and four, bulldog defensive player, Devon Hughes nearly intercepted a Hornet pass and the Hornets were forced to punt. Hughes would have another chance.

With 7:53 to play, once again the Hornet quarterback threw to Hughes side and this time Devon picked it off to set up a first and 10 from the Hornet 18 yard line. After a procedure penalty put the dogs back to the 23 Tank runs 10 yards to the 13 where Thad scored his second touchdown of the quarter to make it 25-7. Ronquillo's point after was good and the dogs were up 26-7.

Thad's third touchdown of the quarter came on the Dogs last possession. With three minutes to play the Dogs take over on downs at their 36-yard line. Who do they turn to run out the clock - The Tank! - 16 yards to midfield, 10 more to the 40, 12 more yards to the 28 with 2 minutes remaining. Red for 5 yards to the 23 and with 40 seconds remaining in the game - Thad takes it the final 23 yards for his third touchdown and the Dogs go on to win 33-7.

On the night Tank Smith rushed for 160 yards on 22 carries and scored one touchdown. On the year now Tank has 862 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns. There is a chance that Tank could reach 1000 yards rushing on the year this Friday night against Lorena.

The Marlin defense once again put on a stellar performance. If you take away the opening run of the game (65 yards) the defense held the Hornets to 36 yards rushing and only 35 yards passing (this came on 1 pass). The Hornets had only 4 first downs in the game. On the year the defense is giving up an average of only 178 total yards per game.

So the Bulldogs move to 3-0 in district and are in a tie for first place in the district with the Cameron Yoe (3-0) who beat the Troy Trojans. This Friday night the Bulldogs return home for Parent Night as the Lorena Leopards come to Legion Field. Game time 7:30 PM

Marlin ISD
Created August 26, 1997 -- last revision September 2002
Please mail comments or suggestions to tsimpson@marlinisd.org

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