Falling to district champions

Bulldog junior quarterback Michael Sullivan gets tackled on a short gain.

By Albert Trevino
By Enterprise Staff

The Corrigan-Camden Bulldogs suffered a 55-12 blowout loss against the Centerville Tigers to close out the regular season Friday.

While the Bulldog offense was limited in the regular season closer at home, the explosive Centerville offense racked up rushing touchdowns early to run away with their fifth-straight district win in as many tries.

“Coach (Kyle) Hardee has a great group that has come through and they are very senior-heavy this year,” said Bulldog head coach Brett Ratliff. “This group controls the field. When they come out here, they know what to do and are very machine-like.”

With heavy pressure on the Bulldog quarterbacks, Centerville’s defense kept receptions to a minimum and restricted Corrigan to focusing on their inside rush options

“Their defense did a great job of game planning against our play action. I thought we had some success overloading the strong side and running weak,” Ratliff said. “We did have some open receivers, but I knew their pass rush was so aggressive.”

An early fumble by Corrigan allowed Centerville their first possession. The Tigers pounded the ball and finished that drive with senior back Andrew Newman rushing along the right side for a walk-in touchdown.

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The Bulldogs were later forced to punt, and a bad snap went into the end zone for a safety, which extended the Centerville lead to 9-0.

Newman followed up by evading several tackles for a 24-yard rushing touchdown to extend the early lead. The Tiger offense continued to exploit the right side, with Newman sprinting 88 yards for another touchdown. That score gave Centerville a comfortable 22-0 lead going into the second quarter.

The Bulldog offense later had their first possession that went into Centerville territory by rushing between the hashes. However, Centerville’s defense made adjustments and forced an incomplete pass on fourth down.

A short pass to senior running back Lamarcus Justice turned into a 70-yard trip to the end zone, which began to open the game wide in Centerville’s favor. Justice wasted no time on the next possession, going 73 yards for a rushing touchdown.

Corrigan would eventually threaten to score after a deep pass to senior receiver Brodgrick Price into the red zone. After senior receiver Ayden Sowders made a reception to get 12 inches outside the goal line, senior back Jarius Hood punched it in for the short rushing touchdown. This put Corrigan on the board with a 35-6 score late in the half.

The Bulldogs came out swinging with an onside kick recovery to start the third quarter. After marching down the field, Corrigan faced a fourth-and-goal from the one-yard line. A boot play-action toss from Bulldog sophomore quarterback William Ratliff was complete to Hood for a score, which made it a 41-12 game.

Tiger senior Zantayl Holley scored a short rushing touchdown, then freshman Amarius Phillips went 50 yards and into the end zone going into the fourth.

The Bulldogs are expected to play either the Timpson Bears or Garrison Bulldogs for the first playoff round in Lufkin next Friday. Details on the playoff match will be on the Polk County Enterprise Facebook page.