Graydee Rains and Haden Bradford stop Sawyer Morrow following a short gain
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Tom Crouse tackles Hamilton’s Sawyer Morrow despite being held from behind.
Hamilton’s balanced offense put up enough points Friday night to turn back upset-minded Gallatin, 21-13, in the latest installment of the 100-year rivalry.
Friday night marked Hamilton’s 11th straight win in the series and the first single digit margin of victory since 2005. Gallatin last won in the series, 39-21, in 2007.
The contest started well for the Bulldogs, despite the fact that the Hornets drove the length of the field on the game’s opening drive. Gallatin’s defense held three times inside the 10-yard line and an illegal procedure penalty against Hamilton pushed the ball back to the seven and set up a fourth and goal situation.
Hornet quarterback Ryan Cook looked for running room but Tom Crouse speared in to make his third tackle of the series that kept the Hornets out of the end zone.
The Bulldogs could do nothing offensively in their opening series and in less than a minute gave the ball back to the Hornets. Sophomore running back Sawyer Morrow would score on a four-yard run and kick the extra point for a 7-0 lead.
The Hornets recovered a fumble late in the first quarter and that would lead to another TD with :36 on the clock. Senior Derek Aiken raced in from 10 yards out and Morrow’s PAT pushed Hamilton’s lead to 14-0.
The Bulldogs ran only five offensive plays in the first quarter and just a dozen in the first half, for negative total yardage.
Morrow broke loose for a 41-yard scoring run early in the third quarter as the Hornets threatened to turn the game into a rout, but the Bulldogs found some offensive life and positive yards moments later.
Aidan Adkison returned the ensuing kickoff 33 yards to finally put the Bulldogs on the Hornet side of the field. A Drayton Harris to Adkison pass covering 25 yards moved the ball to Hamilton’s 30 yard line. Adkison capped the drive with a 30 yard scoring run on a jet sweep. Adrian Hernandez’s extra point kick missed wide left.
An interception by Gaven Gray helped set up Gallatin’s second score of the third period. Haden Bradford bounced off the left side for a 4-yard TD at the 2:00 mark and the Bulldogs pulled to within 21-13 after the PAT kick.
Gallatin’s defense continued to be rock solid in the third quarter, holding the Hornets on three plays and forcing a short punt that set the Bulldogs up on the Hornet 46 as time elapsed in the quarter, but mistakes continued to haunt offensive efforts.
A holding penalty doomed a drive in Hornet territory and Gray downed a Tristen Gibson punt on the Hornet 4-yard line. The Hornets could move only out to the 11 and Adkison’s punt return set up promising field position for the Bulldogs on the Hornet 26.
An interception by Hamilton’s Cale Whitt gave the ball back to the Hornets and allowed them to wind the clock down to under a minute left in the game before turning the ball back over on downs. Four subsequent incomplete passes would give the ball back to the Hornets with 36 seconds left.
The Bulldogs managed only 103 yards of total offense compared to over 300 by the Hornets.
Gallatin will look to get back in the win column this Friday when the Bulldogs open Grand River Conference play by hosting 0-2 Trenton. The black and gold Bulldogs own losses to Lathrop and Lexington, a pair of Class 2 state-ranked teams.