The Bay Springs Bulldogs staggered 2A powerhouse Philadelphia early Friday night with a 1-yard scoring plunge by Jamarious Hosey, and Hosey would set up a second Bulldogs’ touchdown in the second quarter with four strong carries that helped move the home team from the Philadelphia 36 to inside the 10 in the second quarter. Dallen Jones then took a first-and-goal hand-off from the 9 and posted the Bulldogs second TD of the night, which gave them a 12-8 lead over the No. 2 ranked 2A team in the state with 7:06 left to play until halftime.
The Bulldogs could not hold the advantage, due largely to the fine running of Tornadoes tailback Cortney Smith. Less than 90 seconds after Jones’ score gave Bay Springs the 4-point lead, Smith ran straight at the Bay Springs defense, veered toward the right sideline and raced 57 yards for his team’s second score. Deiondre Fox found the end zone for the 2-point conversion to make the Philadelphia lead two, 14-12, with 5:50 left to play before the intermission.
The Bulldogs’ next drive lasted eight plays and took them inside the visitors’ 30, but a fourth-and-1 run by Hosey was stacked up at the 26, giving the Tornadoes the ball back with 2:01 remaining in the second quarter. Five plays later, facing a third-and-10 with :26 left on the first half clock, quarterback Ahyunte Crosby heaved a long pass to Stetson Moore, who grabbed the ball at the Bay Springs’ 5. The Tornadoes lined up and spiked the ball with three ticks left on the clock before halftime. Smith logged his second score of the evening with 0:00 showing on the scoreboard. He escaped two Bay Springs tackles before crossing the goal-line. Crosby found Griffin with a lob pass in the left corner of the end zone to tack on the 2-point conversion, giving Philadelphia the momentum and a 22-12 lead at the intermission.
The Bulldogs got a huge break less than a minute into the third quarter when Adrian Cole grabbed a tipped punt and scooted about 25 yards for the score to narrow the deficit to 22-18. There were a sea of hands near the tipped ball, but it looked like Lajavieon Gammage was the Bay Springs defender that got his paw on the low punt to set up Cole’s score. Smith, however, punched in his third score of the contest at the 9:18 mark of the third, and Trey Crockett found Griffin with a 29-yard TD toss to push the Philadelphia lead up to 20 with just over four minutes left in the third quarter. The teams traded scores in the final quarter, which included Smith finding the end zone again on a 20-yard jaunt on the first play of the fourth quarter, to make the final tally 44-25 in favor of the Tornadoes.
“Philadelphia beat us at the game we like to play, being physical,” said Bay Springs head coach Dan Brady after the game. “We had our chances, but we hurt ourselves. Whoever is on the team next week will recover; we will work; we don’t lose like that; that’s not the way we play.”
Philadelphia moved to 2-0 on the young season, while the Bulldogs fell to 1-1.
