Polk County Sports

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By Albert Trevino

The 3-2 Corrigan-Camden Bulldogs will finish the regular season on the road to face the 5-0 Newton Eagles this Friday.

The playoff-bound Bulldogs clinched their postseason spot last week against Warren and expect their toughest challenge this Friday against the Eagles.

Second-year head coach Brett Ratliff has helped lead Corrigan to a bounceback  year after missing the playoffs last season.

“It means a lot to this town and community.” said Ratliff. “Obviously, we have a tradition of winning here and I have been a part of that tradition. It took us a year to get going like we wanted. The kids have done everything I have asked them to do and we have played as a team. We have had a lot of fun and now we are in the tournament.”

The Eagles are also looking to improve from last year’s effort, being eliminated by Pewitt in the second playoff round.

Newton is coming off a 52-22 win last week at Hemphill and will finish undefeated in district with a win over Corrigan. Last year’s matchup resulted in 61-0 shutout loss for the Bulldogs.

Ratliff expects to utilize his entire playbook and offensive weapons to better compete with Newton and finesse some big plays this time around.

“We have to play as hard as we can and worry about ourselves, not the other team.” Ratliff said. “I think our style of play can keep them off balance if we are doing it well. We have to use our entire toolbox ...We hopefully can find some weak spots. There are very few, but if we can ever find something to exploit, we will.”

Newton’s signature power-run offense will be led by returning senior running back Deanthony Gatson. Other offensive playmakers include senior back Trinis Wash, junior back Tyler Porter and senior receiver Maliek Woods.

“[Gatson] is one of the better running backs in the state of Texas.” said Ratliff. “We have to stop him before he ever gets started. If he ever gets a head of steam, he is big, strong and fast.”

Regardless of the result in this matchup, the Bulldogs hope to keep enough of their winning momentum from the season to make a run in the playoffs.

“I say ‘Let us get to the tournament.’ If we can get to the tournament, great things can happen. I have seen fourth-seed teams do some amazing things.” said Ratliff.

Kickoff for Friday’s match is set for 7 p.m. at Curtis Barbay Field (Newton High School.)

 

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Christian Guzman fights the tackle to get a short gain. (Photos by Albert Trevino)

By Albert Trevino

The Corrigan-Camden Bulldogs came up short in a 19-13 loss against the Woodville Eagles on Friday.

Early mistakes versus the quick physicality of the Eagles squad kept the game out of reach for Corrigan, although the Bulldogs would fare better late in the game.

Bulldog junior quarterback Christian Guzman delivers a pass to JaVarion Williams.“Our first step was not the best early and they were moving around, stunting so many people ... That was the first time we saw that all year and we needed to see that before district starts,” said Bulldog head coach Brett Ratliff. “They are a really good football team and for us to play like this, I am proud of the guys. But I am disappointed because I felt like a couple of things here and there that we do better, we win the ball game.”

The Bulldogs quickly reached the red zone on its first possession, but later turned the ball over on downs.

This allowed the Eagle offense to strike first with a short pass from quarterback Jack Fowler to Raylon Williams that went 91 yards for a touchdown. With the extra kick, Woodville took the 7-0 early lead.

Later in the first quarter, Corrigan’s offense found themselves starting deep inside their own 5-yard line.

It did not take long for the Bulldogs to crumble under defensive pressure up front and allow a fumble recovery in the end zone for a defensive touchdown to extend the Eagle lead 13-0 into halftime.

The Eagle offense threatened to further extend the lead during the third quarter, marching deep into the Corrigan red zone.

However, a pass attempt was picked off by Bulldog junior JaVarion Williams, who ran the length of the field for Corrigan’s first touchdown. This helped cut the Woodville lead 13-7 for a one-score game.

Eagle defender LeBron Millers breaks up a pass attempt to Bulldog sophomore Tony Cooper.Woodville came back with a run-heavy scoring drive in the fourth quarter, finished off by Pop Prejean’s three-yard touchdown rush to go up 19-7 late in the game

The Bulldog offense responded with desperation fourth-down pass from junior quarterback Christian Guzman to Williams for a touchdown to make it 19-13 in the final minutes. 

Corrigan’s defense was unable to prevent a first down on the following Eagle drive, which sealed the win for Woodville.

Ratliff noted that, despite the loss, it was another solid four-quarter effort by his team.

“You learn a lot about your team. Are we going to start to slow down and give up when things are not going our way, or are we going to fight back and keep working?” Ratliff said. “These kids kept fighting and fighting. That proved to me that I know for four quarters, every single week we show up, we are always going to be in a football game.”

The Bulldogs will travel to Elkhart to battle the Elks for the last non-district game of the season this Friday at 7:30 p.m.

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JaVarion Williams breaks free for a big kickoff return.

By Albert Trevino

The Corrigan-Camden Bulldogs have a two-game win streak to start the season after defeating the Centerville Tigers 27-19 on the road Friday.

It was a physical battle until the end, just as advertised, with Centerville and Corrigan swinging the momentum throughout the night and taking it into overtime.

“We did what we had to in order to win.” said Bulldog head coach Brett Ratliff. “Coach Hardee has those kids hardnosed ... We knew we were going to have to play all four quarters and it actually took longer, but we did it.”

JaVarion Williams throws a touchdown under pressure on a reverse play. (PHOTOS BY ALBERT TREVINO)The Bulldog coaching staff made the necessary adjustments to help keep offense flowing and had the defense stepping up with big stops late in the game.

“These kids played the perfect team game tonight ... They did their jobs and what we ask of them. After four quarters and a little bit, it feels good to get this win.” Ratliff said. “[Centerville] had to earn every single yard that they got. [Defensively,] we had them figured out when it mattered the most.”

Corrigan struck first on the opening play from scrimmage with a reverse to senior JaVarion Williams, who threw his first highlight pass of the game to sophomore receiver Tony Cooper for a 68-yard touchdown.

Later in the first quarter, Tiger sophomore running back Andrew Newman answered by returning a punt over 50 yards to score and tie the game at seven points each.

Centerville would take a lead early in the second quarter with a strong drive, capped off with a short touchdown run by junior running back John Robinson. 

The two-point attempt was intercepted and no good, which made it a 13-7 lead for the Tigers.

Late in the half, the Bulldog offense turned the ball over inside the red zone on a fumbled handoff. However, the Tigers would fumble the ball right back to Corrigan. 

That turnover led to a short scoring drive for the Bulldogs, featuring some different formations with Williams and senior Deveion White under the gun. The drive was finished with a short touchdown run by White.

Tiger fullback Paxton Hancock is stopped by the Corrigan defense for a short gain.Corrigan’s extra kick was blocked, which tied the game at 13 points at halftime.

The Tigers came out strong in the third quarter, with junior fullback Paxton Hancock powering through 80-yards for a touchdown run. The two-point attempt was no good.

Late in the third, Williams’ second highlight pass would occur on a severely botched play.

A high snap fumble in the backfield was recovered by Williams, who also managed to sling the ball to senior receiver Ruger McLain under heavy pressure.

McLain broke away inside Tiger territory for another game-tying touchdown, followed by one last failed extra point.

Both defenses managed a shutout in the fourth quarter, which led to overtime.

Corrigan first took the field in overtime and scored on a Williams run, followed by a successful two-point pass. The Bulldog defense carried this momentum and followed this up with a quick three-and-out against Centerville to seal the victory.

The Bulldogs play their next match at home against the Woodville Eagles Friday at 7:30 p.m.

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Julian Gardner stiff arms a defender after the catch.

By Brian Besch

The offense sputtered and the defense allowed too many explosive plays, as the Livingston Lions (1-1) fell to Tyler Chapel Hill (2-0) 35-15 Friday. Homer Bryce Stadium in Nacogdoches was the setting for the rematch of two teams that met in the postseason’s first round last year.Quarterback Tyler Jones (14-for-25, 328 yards, 4 TDs, INT) and the high-powered Bulldog offense delivered big plays consistently enough to keep the Lion defense guessing. A 28-yard run, and passes of 84, 63, 60 and 28 yards were all Chapel Hill scoring plays, while adding a 13-yard sack for a safety. Jones found four different receivers for the scores, but hit Deuce McGregor (5 catches, 153 yards, TD) most in the game.  

Jontavian McNeal extends for the loose ball."It was a bad night of tackling and they got us on the post routes deep like they did last year,” Livingston coach Finis Vanover said. “We have to get in better shape. We weren't in as good of shape to play as many snaps on both sides of the ball. Some of our guys got a shock tonight, but they are not all of that until they get their legs ready to go. They have to be ready to play whether they are tired or not. 

“There were way too many busted assignments and we dropped the ball too much. We didn't protect the passer early and we started making poor decisions from the quarterback position. They buggered us up a little bit physically because of the double duty from a lot of folks and we had some guys out that we have been using for depth."After gaining 500 yards a week ago, the Livingston offense had problems sustaining drives or converting fourth downs with short yardage. Keeping Bulldog defenders out of the backfield proved to be a too large a task. Quarterback Damian Ruiz (7-for-18, 115 yards, TD), and later Jontavian McNeal, spent the night scrambling from the pocket, and Lion rushers had no room to generate yardage. "We made mistakes in the first half offensively when we had our first three drives," Vanover said. "We wanted to control the tempo of the game and we did and moved it down and would have a snafu. Three out of five possessions we had a chance."

The two Lion touchdowns would come on long pass plays. The first was a pass from Ruiz to Kendrick Williams on a fake punt for 60 yards. The next was backup quarterback McNeal, who found Julian Gardner (3 catches, 93 yards) for 65 yards.

Kendrick Williams 250 lft"They are a fine football team and they showed up to play,” the coach said of Chapel Hill. “We had our chances to punch back and forth. They were better than we were tonight and they got us pretty good. They physically manhandled us inside on both sides of the ball well over half of the time and you can't lose that battle. They pushed and pulled inside and we couldn't."The coach mentioned the Lions are in about the same position as last season's second game, coming off a 28-7 loss to Palestine. In 2020, Livingston began an eight-game winning streak by defeating Orangefield. The Lions will travel to Orangefield Friday to battle the Bobcats.