photo by Ricky Stilley
Red Devils jump out to big lead, roll to 38-6 win
by staff reports
The Bowdon High School football team defeated Walker, 38-6, in a Region 6-A contest in Marietta on Friday night, setting up a showdown with rival Bremen next week at Warren P. Sewell Field for second place in the region and a first-round home playoff game.
The Red Devils jumped out to a 24-0 halftime advantage and never looked back in this one.
After forcing a punt on the Wolverines’ opening drive, Bowdon senior quarterback Avery Cheeks got the Red Devils (8-1, 4-1 Region 6-A) on the board with a short run to make it 7-0 with the extra point.
Walker (3-7, 1-5 Region 6-A) would have a touchdown called back for holding on its next possession, and the Red Devils would make the most of it upon getting the ball back, as a 30-yard run by sophomore Maricio Askew set up Cheeks’ second touchdown of the night, a 44-yard sprint around the left side to make it 14-0.
Later in the second quarter, Bowdon would take over possession after Walker turned the ball over on a 4th-and-2 situation, however a 79-yard pass play to Askew was called back due to a holding penalty.
The Red Devils would still manage to drive all the way down to the Walker 3-yard line late in the half before Askew coughed the ball up, turning it over to the Wolverines.
On the very first play of the next possession, though, Walker fumbled and Bowdon’s Cedric Strickland scooped up the ball and scored, making it 21-0 with 2:10 left in the half.
On the ensuing kickoff, Walker fumbled again, setting up a Cheeks pass to Terell Thornton to the Walker 7-yard line.
The Red Devils would get down to the 1-yard line with 13.7 seconds left in the half, but had to settle for an Alex Warren field goal, making it 24-0 at the half.
In the second half, Askew had a 30-yard touchdown run on the opening drive to push the score to 31-0, followed by a 69-yard touchdown run by Wesley Stephens for the Red Devils’ final tally at 38-0.
Walker would get its lone touchdown with 4:04 remaining in the game.
Bowdon aiming upward
by Corey Cusick/Times-Georgian
While attempting to practice on his actual practice field Wednesday, Dwight Hochstetler was forced to do some maneuvering after noting how the mud-bogged field was in the worst condition he’s ever seen due to all the rain in recent weeks.
The Bowdon High School football coach proceeded with practice by moving it to the outfield portion of the BHS softball field, which was not ideal, but basically all he could do as the Red Devils prepare to host Trion on Friday night at 7:30 in a critical Region 6-A matchup.
With the Bulldogs (4-2, 2-0 Region 6-A) ahead of the Red Devils (5-1, 2-1 Region 6-A) in the loss column, Friday’s game will have much to say with who’s a legitimate contender for the top playoff seeds in 6-A.
“Like we told our kids, if (Trion) wins this game, they’re pretty much in the playoffs. And if we lose this game, we’ve still got some tough games down the road. So it’s a big ball game for both clubs,” Hochstetler said. “The winner of this game’s pretty much got a playoff spot sewed up.”
Trion, which is coming off an open week, has won four straight, albeit against four teams that have a combined three wins in Model (0-6), Gordon Central (2-4), Mt. Zion (1-6) and Gordon Lee (0-6).
Still, Hochstetler said he expects a Bulldog team that is physical and traditionally plays Bowdon tough to arrive at Warren P. Sewell Field on Friday.
“Last year’s score was close. We didn’t exactly run away with it,” Hochstetler said in reference to the 21-7 Red Devil victory. “And they’ve got the majority of their players back. They only had five seniors on last year’s squad. So they’ve got all their skill back.”
Senior running back Ryan Wilson leads the Bulldog attack offensively, while junior quarterback Hayden Tucker has come in and done a solid job under center in place of Daniel Prince, who graduated.
Hochstetler said Tucker is a better runner than Prince, although Prince had the edge passing-wise.
Containing Tucker in the veer and the play-making ability of Wilson will be key, though.
“He’s pretty solid. He’s a good-sized kid. About 190 (pounds),” Hochstetler said of Wilson. “At times, they’ll give it to him four, five, six straight plays. So he’s hard-nosed, and we’re going to have to do a good job tackling.”
Overall, stopping the big play is the No. 1 concern for the Red Devil defense.
“You know, running the veer, every play is pretty much designed to go to the house,” Hochstetler said. “If you’ve got one kid out of position or one kid not doing his responsibility or just arm-tackling that running back when he’s running at an angle, it causes a lot of problems defensively. Every play is crucial. You can’t take a play off or anticipate somebody else making a play.
“So, defensively, every play we’re going to have to have our ears pinned and make sure we take care of responsibilities.”
Bowdon senior lineman Jarred Strickland said he expects the Bulldogs to be pumped up on Friday night with so much on the line.
“They usually are physical, and they’re going to be up,” Strickland said. “We’re expecting them to be.”
And with the wet conditions expected to continue throughout the week, Strickland said winning the turnover battle could be the difference in the game. The Red Devils lost three fumbles in their win last week at Gordon Lee.
“I don’t know. With this rain, there’s going to be a lot of turnovers, I guess,” Strickland said. “We had a lot of fumbles last week. When we’re running it, our backs have just got to hold it better.”
And after Hochstetler earned career victory No. 300 last week at Gordon Lee, he is hopeful the team will not have a mental letdown after putting so much into the milestone win.
Because while the team had fun with it, Hochstetler said it’s time to move on.
“They was kidding me about my picture in the paper and everything like that. But I hope there’s no letdown because of it. I hope they realize what’s at stake this week and get this 300 behind us. You know, I’m embarrassed even talking about it at times,” Hochstetler said.
“We need to put it behind us and just concentrate. We’ve got four games left and three of them at the house. We’re still trying to earn a playoff spot and a first-round playoff game at the house, so there’s still a lot at stake. We’re pleased to be 5-1, but we’ve still got a lot more football left to play.”