The Waldron Jr High Bulldogs had a double dose of bad luck on Thursday, September 2nd. The team not only had a few key players out but also had to face a stacked Mansfield Tiger team. The Bulldogs may have been down in players, but they weren’t down in fighting spirit. Waldron jumped at every chance to take down the Tigers, but in the end, they were just too worn out to succeed in a 28-0 loss to their rivals.
The Bulldogs opened the game with some stiff defense as they shut down Mansfield’s prized rushing attack for a quick three and out. Waldron then took over on offense but couldn’t light the fire to drive downfield. With their defense again taking hold of the Tiger’s tail, the Bulldogs proved that they would not be bullied around forcing the Tigers out again. Shortly after, disaster struck for Waldron. The Bulldogs were putting together some offensive movement when the ball was fumbled allowing Mansfield to pick it up and score. If once wasn’t bad enough, on their next possession the flippin’ fumble beast struck the Bulldogs again and Mansfield again picked the ball up to score.
Waldron is a proud program though and their players are the definition of never quit. The Bulldogs defense continued to keep Mansfield at bay. Tiger running backs were swarmed by black jerseys as Waldron kept up the heavy pressure. Mansfield was able to fool the Bulldogs though by faking a run and going with a play-action pass for a touchdown to close the half with the Tigers up 20-0.
Down but not out, the Bulldogs came out of the half with determination to step it up. The offense put together some more good drives, but couldn’t execute them far enough downfield to score. Waldron would allow only one more offensive touchdown by the Tigers but still had issues holding on to the ball in the second half as the Bulldogs turned the ball over two more times. Waldron’s efforts were not in doubt at any point though as they pushed for the full four quarters. The Bulldogs held Mansfield to just one offensive score in the second half, but missing players and self-inflicted miscues were too much as the Bulldogs fell to Mansfield with a 28-0 final.
The Bulldogs can hang their hat on defense as they held the Tigers to a mere 97 yards rushing and just 34 yards passing. Future opponents had better not take them lightly on offense though. Although the score of this game would suggest Waldron’s offense is poor, they are not by far. Players will return to the team and ball security corrections will be made. Jr High Coach Garett Lazenby said, “I’m very proud of our players. We only had 16 kids that could play in that game and each one of them gave everything they had on the field. That’s all anyone can ask of them. I think once we get more players back from quarantine we will be just fine.” The Bulldogs will have a bye week to get those players back again and then face off against the Ozark Hillbillies on September 16th.
