By Marla Jones, Sports Editor • marla@southerntorch.com
GERALDINE, Ala. — In Class 3A, Region 7 play the Geraldine Bulldogs defeated the Pisgah Eagles, 56-20 on Friday night.
With 9:57 remaining in the first, the Pisgah Eagles fumbled the ball on first and 10. The Bulldogs took advantage of the error. The Bulldogs scored first on a 25-yard pass completion from D.J. Graham to Jackson Bearden with 8:48 remaining in the first. The extra point attempt by Jose Garcia was good, giving the Bulldogs the early 7-0 lead. Seconds later, the Pisgah Eagles scored when Parker Law connected with Nate Cornelison on a 81-yard touchdown pass. The Eagles went for two but were shut down by the Bulldogs, making the score 7-6. D.J. Graham returned the kickoff to the Pisgah 4-yard line. With 6:14 remaining in the opening quarter, Anthony Baldwin scampered into the endzone for the Bulldogs. The extra point attempt by Garcia gave the Bulldogs the 14-6 lead. Geraldine’s defense stopped Pisgah for negative yardage and forced a punt. Graham went around the right end, scoring on an 15-yard quarterback-keeper. The PAT was good, giving the Bulldogs the 21-6 lead with :17 remaining in the first.
The Pisgah Eagles scored on a 81-yard run by Nate Cornelison to start the second quarter. The Eagles successfully went for two to narrow the Bulldog lead to 21-14 with 10:38 remaining in the first half. The Bulldogs scored on a 71-yard pass connection from Graham to Bearden to make the score 28-14. The Bulldogs added more points to the board before the half with a 6-yard run by Caleb Hall. The PAT was good giving the Bulldogs the 35-14 advantage with 6:40 remaining in the second quarter. Chase Kermandy recovered a Pisgah fumble to set up a six-play, 13 yard touchdown run, with 2:22 remaining in the half.
Kyle Thackerson took the second-half kickoff down to the Pisgah 4-yard line. Baldwin scampered in with 11:42 remaining in the third, giving the Bulldogs the 49-14 lead. After a series of fumbles between both teams, D.J. Graham intercepted the Pisgah ball. The Bulldogs worked their way down the field for the score when Jose Garcia proved that is not just a great kicker and scored from 2-yards out. He then kicked his own field goal, to make the score 56-14 with 9:23 left in the game. After a long drive, Pisgah scored the final touchdown of the night, on a 12-yard run into the endzone with 4:04 remaining in the game, making the final 56-20.
The Bulldogs finished the night with 369 total yards Pisgah finished with 374 yards.
The Geraldine Bulldogs were awarded the Southern Torch Team of the Week. They have an open week on their schedule for this week.
