Scoop27
09-17-2016, 01:03 PM
FREEPORT — Everything that could go wrong did go wrong for the Brazosport Exporters in the first 15 minutes of Friday night’s game. And the Sweeny Bulldogs took full advantage of it.
The Exporters fumbled the ball away five times in the opening minutes, with the Bulldogs turning those miscues into touchdowns and eventually pulling away for a 41-14 win at Hopper Field in Freeport.
In all, Brazosport (1-3) turned the ball over four times in the first quarter, including its first three offensive plays from scrimmage, as well as on the first drive of the second quarter.
“We had too many turnovers and too many mistakes,” Brazosport head coach Ben Rudolph said. “We have to do a good job of ball security and taking care of the football. We’re going to have to keep hammering away on the details and the fundamentals.”
Donovan Banks, Elijah Smith, Caleb Walker and Dylan Pate each picked up first-quarter fumbles for Sweeny (2-2), while Josh Ellis snared a fifth loose ball early in the second quarter.
As a result of the early Brazosport mistakes, Sweeny had plenty of momentum and short fields to drive on. The Bulldogs found the end zone all five times, with quarterback Evan Green running in scores three times. Green’s scoring runs came from 1, 11 and 6 yards.
“We can’t give the defense short fields like that,” Rudolph said. “Anytime you make a team drive the ball down the field, you have a much better chance of stopping them or creating a turnover of your own. When you give them a 30-yard field, the percentages swing against you.”
Also scoring early for Sweeny were Banks and Malik Willer. Banks finished the evening with two touchdowns — from 21 and 6 yards out — and 174 total yards on the ground. Willer’s score came from 28 yards out.
“That was his first time to run from the tailback spot,” Sweeny head coach Randy Lynch said of Banks. “We moved Malik Willer back there, as well. He’s just got a little extra gear and that’s what we needed tonight.”
The Bulldogs finished with 365 yards of offense, including 292 on the ground.
Just as impressive was Sweeny’s defense, which limited Brazosport to 88 yards of offense and only two touchdowns. One of the Exporters’ scores came on an 85-yard kickoff return by Fabian Peoples, while the other was a 23-yard run by Ameer King.
“Our defense stepped up for us again,” Lynch said. “We also executed a little better on offense tonight, and that was nice to see. We made a few personnel changes and it worked tonight.”
Sweeny held a 28-7 lead after one quarter and extended it to 34-14 at the half. A third-quarter Sweeny touchdown was the only scoring of the second half.
The win was the 11th time the Bulldogs have defeated the Exporters on the gridiron, with Brazosport holding a 16-11-1 lead all-time in the series.
Sweeny closes its nondistrict schedule with a road game at Edna next week. Brazosport has a week off before starting district play by hosting Sealy on Sept. 30.
The Exporters fumbled the ball away five times in the opening minutes, with the Bulldogs turning those miscues into touchdowns and eventually pulling away for a 41-14 win at Hopper Field in Freeport.
In all, Brazosport (1-3) turned the ball over four times in the first quarter, including its first three offensive plays from scrimmage, as well as on the first drive of the second quarter.
“We had too many turnovers and too many mistakes,” Brazosport head coach Ben Rudolph said. “We have to do a good job of ball security and taking care of the football. We’re going to have to keep hammering away on the details and the fundamentals.”
Donovan Banks, Elijah Smith, Caleb Walker and Dylan Pate each picked up first-quarter fumbles for Sweeny (2-2), while Josh Ellis snared a fifth loose ball early in the second quarter.
As a result of the early Brazosport mistakes, Sweeny had plenty of momentum and short fields to drive on. The Bulldogs found the end zone all five times, with quarterback Evan Green running in scores three times. Green’s scoring runs came from 1, 11 and 6 yards.
“We can’t give the defense short fields like that,” Rudolph said. “Anytime you make a team drive the ball down the field, you have a much better chance of stopping them or creating a turnover of your own. When you give them a 30-yard field, the percentages swing against you.”
Also scoring early for Sweeny were Banks and Malik Willer. Banks finished the evening with two touchdowns — from 21 and 6 yards out — and 174 total yards on the ground. Willer’s score came from 28 yards out.
“That was his first time to run from the tailback spot,” Sweeny head coach Randy Lynch said of Banks. “We moved Malik Willer back there, as well. He’s just got a little extra gear and that’s what we needed tonight.”
The Bulldogs finished with 365 yards of offense, including 292 on the ground.
Just as impressive was Sweeny’s defense, which limited Brazosport to 88 yards of offense and only two touchdowns. One of the Exporters’ scores came on an 85-yard kickoff return by Fabian Peoples, while the other was a 23-yard run by Ameer King.
“Our defense stepped up for us again,” Lynch said. “We also executed a little better on offense tonight, and that was nice to see. We made a few personnel changes and it worked tonight.”
Sweeny held a 28-7 lead after one quarter and extended it to 34-14 at the half. A third-quarter Sweeny touchdown was the only scoring of the second half.
The win was the 11th time the Bulldogs have defeated the Exporters on the gridiron, with Brazosport holding a 16-11-1 lead all-time in the series.
Sweeny closes its nondistrict schedule with a road game at Edna next week. Brazosport has a week off before starting district play by hosting Sealy on Sept. 30.