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A host of McKenzie Rebels stops a Gleason
rush.
An upset watch was in effect for the Gleason
area for much of the first half of Friday
night's game against the McKenzie Rebels,
but a strong second half by the Rebels
proved to be too much for the Bulldogs to
overcome as McKenzie got 28 points in the
final 24 minutes to seal a 38-14 win over
Gleason. The Bulldogs looked good early.
As they had done back in Week 4 to seal
their win over the Lake County Falcons, the
Dawgs put together a lengthy drive, keeping
the McKenzie offense off of the field for
much of the opening frame. Starting at their
own 24-yard line, the Bulldogs used 17 plays
to move the ball down the field. But, a
fumble and a lengthy loss on the final two
plays ended the drive near midfield.
McKenzie used the big loss on the final
Gleason play to create some momentum of its
own. On the opening play of the drive,
Quinton Bowden took the ball 43 yards down
the field inside the Gleason 10 yard line.
But, the Bulldogs responded with a stand
that was able to keep the Rebs out of the
end zone. After quarterback Austin McKinney
was stopped at the 4 yard line on third
down, the Rebels had to settle for a 21-yard
field goal from Harris Laughrey to make the
score 3-0 with 11:56 left in the first
frame. The Bulldogs were able to answer on
their next drive. A 10-yard run by Alex
Verdell got the ball rolling for the
Bulldogs and was followed two plays later by
an 18-yard gain from Zach Wallace that took
Gleason across midfield to the McKenzie 45
yard line. Verdell picked up an 18-yard gain
of his own a couple plays later, taking the
Dawgs down to the McKenzie 23 yard line.
Cody Ezell picked up another first down for
Gleason, getting an eight-yard gain to the
13 yard line. Three plays later, Verdell
capped the drive with a six-yard scoring
plunge. An excessive celebration penalty
cost the Bulldogs 15 yards and the pass
attempt on the two-point conversion failed,
but Gleason held the lead over McKenzie at
6-3 with 5:33 left in the first half. The
Rebels kept the ball on the ground for much
of the next drive, utilizing Jacob Fussell,
who picked up two big gains of 27 and 19
yards - the latter taking McKenzie into the
red zone. After a five-yard gain by Jake
Johnson, Bowden got the ball on two straight
plays to give the lead back to the Rebels.
Laughrey added the extra point to make the
score 10-6 with 2:21 left in the half.
Gleason was forced to punt on their next
possession, but were also able to hold the
Rebels in check for the rest of the half.
Though it took the Rebels until the second
quarter to score, McKenzie wasted little
time getting on the board in the second
half. A 21-yard gain by McKinney put the
ball near midfield. As he had done on the
previous scoring drive, Fussell came up big
for the Rebels, getting the ball four times
in the next six plays. The final carry was a
23-yard touchdown run. Laughrey added the
extra point to make the score 17-6 with 7:08
left in the third stanza. After forcing a
punt on the next Gleason possession, the
Rebels went back to work on offense. A
23-yard Bowden run opened the drive that
consumed the final five and a half minutes
of the third frame. An 18-yard pass from
McKinney to John Johnson took the Rebels
down to the Gleason 23 yard line. The Dawg
defense toughened and forced a fourth down,
but the Rebels went for it, giving the ball
to Fussell for a two-yard gain and a fresh
set of downs. A 10-yard run by Jake Johnson
put the Rebs inside the 10 yard line where
it took only two plays for Bowden to find
the end zone on a one-yard run. Laughrey
added the point after to make the score 24-6
with 11:58 left in the game. Gleason was
able to keep the game close. A eight-yard
pass from Nicky Spain to Wallace picked up a
first down at the Bulldogs' own 20 yard
line. Three plays later, that pairing was
flip-flopped as Wallace hit Spain for an
18-yard gain. The Dawgs continued to move
the ball through the air as Wallace hit
Verdell for an 11-yard pick up. A 12-yard
run by Verdell picked up another set of
downs and was followed by a 25-yard
touchdown pass from Wallace to Shadow Roney.
Verdell added the two-point conversion to
make the score 24-14 with 5:30 left in the
game. McKenzie made sure the Bulldogs were
not going to get any closer. An 18-yard pass
from McKinney to Richie Clark took the
Rebels to the Gleason 11 yard line. From
there, it took only two more plays for
McKenzie to get into the end zone as Bowden
scored another TD. Laughrey added the extra
point to put the Rebels ahead 31-14. On
the second play of the ensuing drive, a
Gleason fumble was recovered by McKenzie's
Tyler Watson. Two plays later, the Rebels
got their final score as Bowden scored his
fourth touchdown of the night. Laughrey
added the PAT to make the final score 38-14.
Gleason will host West Carroll this Friday
at 7 p.m. as the Bulldogs will look to
celebrate homecoming with an important
regional win. The Rebels will welcome
another Weakley County team, the Greenfield
Yellowjackets, to McKenzie at 7:30 p.m. |
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