Dan Brady and company retain the Battle for the Bell trophy for yet another year.
On a night where lightning halted the start of the 2018 MHSAA football season for two Jasper County rivals, an hour and thirty-mintue wait prolonged a fifth-straight win in the series by Bay Springs.
The Dawgs (1-0) dominated Stringer (0-1) on the Devil’s home turf Thursday night, 39-6.
Watch the video below to hear head coach Dan Brady’s post-game comments and highlights: https://youtu.be/wRZkXDBPPfE
It was viewed as a highly anticipated matchup. Both teams are expected to make a decent run in its respected classification, but Bay Springs dominated the matchup from start to finish as it had for the previous four years.
Stringer managed to avoid a shutout, though. With less than a minute to go in the game, a long kickoff return set the Devils up on Bay Springs’ 1-yard line. Backup quarterback Jackson Parker pushed his way through on the subsequent play to gave Stringer six. Parker rolled out of the pocket on a two-point conversion attempt but failed to score as time expired.Â
Four different offensive players scored touchdowns for Bay Springs.Â
Senior running back Anson Windham led the Bulldogs in yards gained on offense with 55 on eight carries. A 27-yard run into Stringer territory by Windham set up Bay Springs’ opening score. A face mask penalty on the play pushed the Bulldogs deeper down the field. Windham finished the drive several plays later on a 6-yard TD run.Â
Jamarious Hosey, Adrian Cole and Lemarcus Stubbs added to Bay Springs’ lead with offensive scores as well.Â
Special teams played a part in 13 of Bay Springs’ 39 points. Derrien Lee found the end zone on a 70-yard second-half opening kickoff return, and senior Jatron Thigpen scooped up a fumble on a fake punt attempt by Stringer on the following drive to haul in six more points. The PAT attempt on the latter was no good.Â
Bay Springs is set to face Philadelphia in Week 2. Philadelphia – also a 2A school – is ranked as high as No. 2 in 2A statewide. It will be a non-district contest.
Stringer will face another 2A team next week. The Red Devils travel to Clarkdale next Friday night.Â
