FOOTBALL IS
August 22, 2018
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AUGUST 22
4.:30 p,m.
JV Softball
(vs, Rutland)
5 p,m.
C-Team Football
(vs. Lamar CountY)
5:55 p,m,
Varsity Softbatl
(vs. Rutland)
mws Y z3
6.'00 p,m.
JV Volleyball
(vs, Lee County)
6,'00 p,m.
Varsity Volleyball
(vs. Lee County)
7.'00 p.ml
9th Grade Volleyball
SAW OUSI
J UST Zr
HEREGO DOGS!
TUBDAY, AUGU 28
4:30 p,m.
iVSoftba,
(vs, West Laurens)
p,m,
Varsity Softball
(vs. West Laurens)
AND YOU CAN
GET ONE FOR
SUBSCRIBE TODAY
BEFORE IT'S OVER!
In-County: $40
Out of County: $48
Dogs score
42 first-half
points before
lightning cuts
game short
By Rkt'lmnd
forsyth@mymcr.net
The Mary Persons Bulldogs
got their 2018 season offto a
"lightning-quiclC start with
35 first-quarter points en
route to a 42-0 home victory
over overmatched Gaines-
ville in two quarters.
The victory was MP's 600th
in program history, making
the Bulldogs just the 16th
program in Georgia High
School Association (GHSA)
history to reach the mark.
The win was also the 63rd of
MP head coach Brian Nel-
son's Dogs' coaching career,
matching Steve Chafin for
second-most by a head coach
in MP history.
In a game shortened to
one half due to lightning~
the Bulldogs completely
overwhelmed once power-
ful Gainesville, stomping the
Red Elephants from begin-
ning to unexpected end. The
contest will likely be best
remembered years from now
for the sideways rain and
bolts of lightning that caused
the game to be delayed for
more than an hour-and-a-
half and eventually halted
altogether.
However, MFs brilliant
first-half offense, which lit
up the scoreboard before the
storm moved in, shouldn't
be overshadowed. Senior
running back Quen Wilson
exploded through Gaines-
vales lowly secondary for
139 yards and three touch-
downs on just five carries.
MP's passing attack was
equally efficient with senior
quarterback J.T. Hartage
completing all five passes he
threw for 108 yards. And not
to be forgotten, MP's defense
accounted for a score with
free safety Desmond Wil-
liams picldng off a pass by
GainesviUe quarterback Walt
Dixon and returning it 36
yards untouched for a score.
It was the second straight
week Williams took a pick to
the house, but the first time it
counted since his memorable
pick-six on Aug. 10 against
Southwest (Macon) came in
an exhibition game.
Williams said of Friday's in-
terception: "I was in the right
coverage, deep third He
(Dixon) kind of overthrew it,
and I was in the right zone.
So I caught it and went from
there"
In just two quarters of ac-
tion, MP's offense accounted
for 337 total yards, induding
229 on the ground, on just 14
offensive plays while limiting
GainesviUe to just 97 yards
on 41 plays. Perhaps most
impressively, all of MP's five
offensive touchdown drives
were 1 minute, 37 seconds in
length or shorter, and all of
the scoring drives lasted four
plays or fewer.
The rout was on almost im-
mediately after MP received
the opening kickoff. Starting
at their own 33-yard-line, the
Bulldogs marched 67 yards
in four plays for the first
score. Hartage connected in
the flat with Williams and
Wilson, respectively; on back-
to-back plays for a combined
43 yards. Two plays later,
MP senior running back Quen Wilson exploded for 139 yards and 3 touchdowns
season-opening blanking of Gainesville at Dan Pitts Stadium on Friday night.
if the game hadn't ended at halftime due to lightning. (Photo/Kim Holderfield)
senior slot receiver Antoine
Davis took a reverse handoff
from Hartage and burst to-
ward the left end zone pylon,
juking back to the inside of
the Red Elephants' comer-
back at the five-yard-line and
crossing the goal line for a
15-yard score. Junior Julian
Rivera~ extra point gave MP
a 7-0 lead with 10:45 left in
the first quarter.
GainesviUe's offense then
advanced to its own 49-yard-
line on the Red Elephants'
ensuing series, but MP
defensive end Derrick Good-
son stopped GainesviUe run-
ning back Quintavious Hayes
in his tracks in the backfield
on 4th-and- 1 for a two-yard
loss that halted Gainesville's
momentum. Starting at the
Red Elephants' 47-yard-line,
two plays later Wtlson jump
cut twice in the hole and then
put a crud move to the right
on a hdpless Gainesville free
safety, dashing to daylight for
a 41-yard score. Riverals extra
point made it 14-0 MP with
7:03 left in the first quarter.
After MP's defense held
Gainesville at midfidd on its
next series, forcing a punt,
Wilson went right back to
work when MP got the ball
back. On the first play from
scrimmage, the senior tail-
back took a Hartage handoff,
juked a linebacker and then
cut back inside for a second
time against the same free
safety for a 78-yard touch-
down run that was eventually
named 13WMAZ's Play of
the Week. Rivera's extra point
gave MP a 21-0 advantage
with 5:37 left in the first
quarter.
Just over a minute later, MP
padded its lead when W'd-
liams, who was playing his
first regular season game at
free safety after being named
all-region as a comerback
in 2017, picked off an errant
Dixon pass near the right
hash and cruised 36 yards
into the end zone. Another
See BULLDOGS Page 6B
on just five carries in the Bulldogs' 42-0
The final score might have been much worse
Forsyth CabieNet
