Marlin ISD

Cougars Bite Harder Than Dogs

This past weekend was not a good one for the bulldogs. The Bosqueville bulldogs were knocked from the playoffs by the Bremond Tigers, the Chilton Pirates knocked out the Iola bulldogs and our own Marlin bulldogs were "aired" out by the China Spring Cougars by a score of 43-14 at Waco ISD. (The Marlin Bulldogs now stand at 0-5 in the new Waco ISD Stadium.)

Going in to the area championship game the dogs knew they were going to have to stop the Cougar passing game to have a chance at winning. On the ground the bulldogs out rushed the cougars 100 yards to 86 yards but the tantrum of Shawn Bell and Justin MacGibbon was too much for the dogs to handle. MacGibbon finished with seven catches for 202 yards and three touchdowns while Bell connected on 15-21 passes for 270 yards and five touchdowns.

This one got ugly from the start as China Spring jumped out to a 13-0 lead before the dogs had garnished a first down. With 26 seconds left in the first quarter Bell hit Lance Luedeker with a four- yard pass, Kurt Kelm added the point after to make it 7-0 Cougars. The Cougars converted three third downs and a fourth and two to keep the drive going.

A bulldog fumble at their own 8-yard line led to the second Cougar score. On second down Bell found MacGibbon in the corner of the end zone. The point after was no good but the Cougars were up 13-0 with eight minutes left in the second quarter.

On the next Cougar possession, Bell hit MacGibbon for a 37 yard pick up down to the dog eleven-yard line. From there he hit Tyler Holcomb for the Cougar third score, Kelm added the point after and the dogs were in trouble down 20-0 at the half.

The Cougars intercepted a pass just before the half and were driving once more but bulldog cornerback, Matterial Richardson stepped in front of a Bell pass at the goal line to keep the score at 20-0.

MacGibbon's next touchdown catch was the "turn out the lights" type of catch. A 67-yard catch and run on the second play of the third quarter put the Cougars up 26 to nothing. Kelm's point after made it 27-0.

The Cougars added a 27-yard field goal from Kelm before our hometown dogs finally found the end zone. Senior Alvin Hall took a handoff from QB Thaddeus Freeman and on his last carry of his high school career he scampered for 36 yards to the Cougar 10 yards line. (Hall finished with 70 yards rushing on the day). With 33 seconds remaining in the third quarter, Freeman found senior wide out, Wayne McIntosh in the end zone for a touchdown. The two point conversion failed to leave the score at 30-6 China Spring.

Bell answered with his 5th touchdown pass - a 38-yard toss to MacGibbon. The extra point by Kelm was good to make it 37-6.

China Spring's final touchdown of the afternoon came on an 8-yard run by Shane Cates with 10:13 left in the game.

The dogs had the last call. Freeman (a junior) hit Sophomore D'Nerian Wrighter over the middle with a 52-yard pass and run for a touchdown. Wrighter then added the two-point conversion to make the final score 14-43.

Marlin after starting the season at 0-4 finishes the season at 7-5 having won seven games in a row. And another district championship going 5-0. That is three district Championships in a row and all undefeated! Looking at the district alone over the last four years from October 16, 1998 to the present, the dogs stand at 20-0 in district! The last time they lost a district game was to Robinson on October 9, 1998. Now that's pretty impressive!

The Big Bad Biting Barking Bulldogs will be back.

2001 Season Comes To An End

Marlin ISD
Created August 26, 1997 -- last revision August 2000
Please mail comments or suggestions to tsimpson@marlinisd.org

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