Haden Bradford fights for additional yardage after making contact with Wolverine defenders. [Staff photo/DC]
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The Gallatin Bulldogs won ugly last Friday night … but they did so with some beautiful plays.
Maysville looked like anything but a winless team as the Wolverines took the Bulldogs to the wire in a close contest that wasn’t decided until the fourth quarter. Gallatin needed a touchdown with 2:28 to play to finally turn back the upset-minded Wolverines, 23-14.
The Bulldogs nursed a 3-0 lead in the second quarter after Tristen Gibson kicked a 30-yard field goal but the Wolverines put together a sustained drive that ended with a Mallon Cole keeper up the middle for a touchdown with under four minutes to play in the first half. Mallon threw to Trent Strong for the two-point conversion that put Gallatin on the wrong side of the lead for the first time in 13 quarters.
The Wolverine lead failed to hold up for long. Facing second down and 12 to go for a first down, Bulldog quarterback Brinley Vandiver threw deep to Ross Critten across of the middle of the field and the senior speedster outran pursuit 82 yards for the go-ahead score. Gibson kicked the extra point to give his team a 10-8 lead at the break.
Maysville led Gallatin in first half first downs, eight to two, and in offensive plays from scrimmage by nearly a double margin, but five penalties came at bad times for the home Wolverines.
“I thought we came out flat on Friday night,” says Bulldog Head Coach Patrick Treece. “Maysville came out ready to play and hit us in the mouth,” he continued. “It took us a while to wake up and start playing football.”
The Bulldogs responded. Gallatin’s offense found a third quarter rhythm as the defense continued to hold Maysville out of the end zone. Aidan Adkison raced 74 yards for a score at the 10:27 mark. With under three minutes to play in the third, Vandiver faked a handoff and rolled right out of the pocket, finding JJ Waters behind Wolverine defenders on a flag pattern that covered 21 yards to the end zone.
Maysville and quarterback Cole put together a scoring drive in the fourth quarter, aided by a Bulldog pass interference penalty near the goal line. The penalty got the Wolverines out of a fourth-and-ten jam. Cole needed all the forward momentum he could muster into the end zone on another fourth down play from inside the one. A two-point conversion try failed, to preserve a two-score lead for the Bulldogs.
Strong play on both offense and defense carried the Bulldogs to the final buzzer. A first down catch by Waters appeared to get the Bulldogs out of a jam but pass interference wiped out a sizable gain. Facing third-and-18 on the ten, Vandiver delivered the ball to a streaking Critten over the middle, allowing the drive to continue and clock to run in Gallatin’s favor.
“Our ability to pass was the big difference maker, I felt,” said Coach Treece. “Our offensive line was phenomenal in pass protection as they have been so far this year,” he added. “Brinley did a great job distributing the football and our receivers made some nice catches in traffic.”
Despite eventually having to punt, the Bulldogs had one more defensive play to make when Gibson intercepted a Cole pass with a minute left in the game and returned the ball 41 yards to the Wolverine 34, putting an exclamation point on the win in the process.
Defensively, it took all eleven on the field to slow down Maysville’s strong run game,” Coach Treece advised.
Gallatin takes on winless Polo this Friday, climaxing Homecoming activities at GHS. Tough games loom on the horizon against South Harrison (4-0), defending GRC champ Milan (2-2), Princeton (3-1) and Putnam County (2-2).
“We found a way to get the job done, but we can’t have that type of performance and expect to win every Friday night,” said Treece. “I believe that it was a good wake up call for our guys. We have to get more physical, prepare better and get our defense off the field more often moving forward.”
Drayton Harris drives Maysville quarterback Mallan Cole to the ground early in Friday’s contest. [Staff photo/DC]
