2010 Football: Hornets drop Dogs to 0-5 but something must give on Friday

Three winless teams currently inhabit the league basement…Gallatin, Albany and King City. The winner of Friday’s GHS Homecoming game breaks out while the loser shares the bottom rung with King City, which is idle this week.

Albany brings a nine-game GRC losing streak into this week’s meeting with Gallatin, along with the most porous defense in the league. The Warriors have given up an average of 50 points per game to opponents that have a combined record of 15 wins and 10 losses. Albany fell to Polo, 61-6, last week.

On the flip side, Gallatin has played only one opponent (Maysville) with a losing record. Like the Warriors, the Bulldogs have yet to score more than twice in a game, having done so last Friday against Hamilton’s jayvee lineup in the second half. The Bulldogs have fought through a brutal early schedule and look to turn things around in the second half.

"We need to get back on track with some wins and build momentum going into our district play," Bulldog head coach Jeff White said. "We can only do that if we focus on our next opponent and not look ahead," he added. "The only thing we are concerned with this week is figuring out a way to beat Albany."

Hamilton made Gallatin its latest victim to a running clock. The Hornets built a 49-0 lead in the first half and settled for a 51-12 final margin of victory.

The Bulldogs nearly pulled off something that not many teams have been able to do over the last two seasons…namely score against the Hornet varsity unit.

After waiting nearly nine minutes to get their hands on the football, the Bulldogs struck quickly with a big play. Hamilton led, 14-0, after scoring on their opening series and tacking on seven points again after recovering a squibbed kickoff.

On their first play from scrimmage, Bulldog quarterback Brandon Ness kept on the option play and rambled 62 yards to the Hornet 19-yard line before being chased out of bounds. Unfortunately, the Bulldogs could muster only two more yards in three plays before facing a fourth and nine. Ness tossed a pass over the middle to Devin Hall, who briefly maintained position in the end zone before defenders jarred the ball loose.

The Bulldogs slugged away at the Hornet defense with very little effect until the third quarter when Hamilton substituted freely on both sides of the ball. Ness broke free on a 52-yard scoring run one minute into the third quarter. Sophomore Jackson Leggett scored his first TD as a Bulldog on a one-yard dive play with 30 seconds left in the third. Both conversion attempts failed.

"We have been working on our option game the past few weeks and finally felt confident enough to use it vs. Hamilton," Coach White stated. "I gave us some big plays and Hamilton wasn’t prepared for it," he added. "Unfortunately, we had some fumbled snaps that made for some very poor meshes and some errant pitches that either killed drives or created turnovers that gave Hamilton good field position. All of those problems will get better with increased repetitions," he added.

The Bulldogs sustained no additional injuries from Friday and should get Chad Ness back for the Albany game. The status of center Bo Malo is uncertain.

Friday’s game will start at 7 p.m., following Homecoming coronation ceremonies, which begin at 6 p.m.

Grand River Conference Standings – Week 5

September 24 Results

Hamilton 51, Gallatin 12
Princeton 55, King City 20
S. Harrison 21, Maysville 8
Polo 61, Albany 6

Oct. 1 Schedule

Albany at Gallatin (Homecoming)
Hamilton at S. Harrison
Polo at Princeton
Maysville at Braymer