The Wortham Bulldogs dominated the second quarter and defeated the Leon Cougars 28-7 at Cougar Field Friday night. The Bulldogs extended their record to an unbeaten 3-0 for the second consecutive season.
Leon took the ball on the first possession and used the Wortham game plan against them. Leon marched down the field and needed 14 plays to go 75 yards and used almost eight minutes of the first quarter clock. On third and long, Leon quarterback Brock Bumpers found Taylor Evans at the pylon for the 11-yard touchdown and after the extra point, the Cougars had a 7-0 lead with 4:08 remaining.
The Bulldogs have started drives near midfield several times over the first three games and they would begin their first drive at their own 46-yard line. A couple of short runs put the Bulldogs with a first down at the Cougar 35. Junior running back Yancey Bean busted through the line and scored on the 35-yard run with 1:34 left in the first quarter. The conversion run was no good and the Cougars held the lead at 7-6.
Leon ended the first quarter with their second possession and drove down inside the Wortham 40-yard line. On fourth down and one, Parker Thomas was stuffed by defensive lineman Cash Perez and the Bulldogs took over. Wortham needed seven plays to go 61 yards and junior quarterback Jon Ross Black tossed a pass in the left flat and Cameron King raced up the far sideline for the 20-yard touchdown Perez added the conversion run for the 14-7 Wortham lead midway through the second quarter.
The next turn of events just happened to turn in the Bulldogs’ favor. The kick sailed straight up in the air and landed at midfield and no Cougar covered the ball. James Johnson recovered for the Bulldogs and Wortham put the offense back on the field at the Cougar 49. Wortham would turn the ball over on downs.
Leon put ball control back on the offense with an eight-play drive into Bulldog territory and on fourth and five, Bumpers was picked off by Evan McCoslin and his return set the Bulldogs at midfield.
Following a penalty, Black hit Bean for the 56 yard catch and run for the touchdown with 21 seconds remaining in the half. The conversion run was short, and the Bulldogs led 20-7 at the halftime break.
The Bulldogs took the opening drive of the second half and put the exclamation point on the win. In six plays, the offensive line pushed through and Black scored on a quarterback keeper and Bean ran in the two point conversion for the 28-7 lead.
The Bulldog defense held Leon to 43 yards of total offense in the second half to preserve the Bulldog win.
The Wortham Bulldogs will travel to Blooming Grove on Friday for their final non-district game when they take on the Lions.
(Photos by Melissa Perez)
