The Bay Springs Bulldogs set a couple history bars on the football field Friday night.
Before last Friday's win over Pelahatchie, Jimmy Carter was President the last time the Bulldogs were 5-0 [1980]. That is noted in retrospect to a couple of Bulldogs teams over the past six years under head coach Dan Brady's helm that have contended for a couple 2A South State Championships and one that did claim the 2A South in 2016. Brady and his squad are now 6-0.
Bay Springs for the first time in history also crossed the state line Friday night to play football. The Bulldogs made the most of its maiden adventure outside the “Magnolia State” and into the “Yellowhammer State” by knocking off 4A Clarke County [Alabama] in a 14-7 defensive slugfest.
“It's really special, and I am proud for the kids,” Brady said of the historic game played in Grove Hill, Alabama. “We wanted to change it up on them and do something out-of-th- ordinary to kind of mix it up for them to see how they would respond as a team. I am very proud of them; they played their tails off. Coach [Stacy] Luker has a great team here at Clarke County, but I am extremely proud of our team. They are just finding a way to win, and man, that just makes me proud of these kids.”
Bay Springs is accustomed to scoring, but that wasn't the case against Clarke County. Brady's Bulldogs team took a 6-0 lead late in the first quarter on a Lamarcus Stubbs 1-yard touchdown run, and fell behind 7-6 at the beginning of the second quarter on a Clarke County 27-yard interception return for a touchdown. Later in the second quarter, freshman running back Ty Jones put Bay Springs back on top at the 6:45 mark with a 6-yard touchdown run and 2-point conversion.
The scoring stopped there.
But, the Bay Springs defense did not. Bay Springs dug in and throughout the game forced six turnovers. Clarke County battened down the hatches as well, and the two teams battled defensively until the final buzzer.
“I think we had a good plan [on defense], and I credit that to our defensive coaches, and our kids played hard,” Brady explained. “They knew the plan and believed in the plan. I like the way we are playing right now. We think that every ball that's in the air is ours; we think anytime they [other teams] run the ball, we can get a fumble. We are playing hard, and we couldn't ask for anything better from our kids.”
Two very notable turnovers Bay Springs grabbed were a Zyon Ross fumble recovery deep in Bay Springs territory in the second quarter that voided a possible Clarke County score and a Marcus Ruffin interception that sealed the deal late in the game. Bay Springs had driven to the Clarke County 7-yard line, faced a fourth-and-goal, and fell short at the 4-yard line with 1:59 left in the game. Ruffin hauled in the interception, and the story was all but written in the history books a couple snaps later.
Bay Springs will enjoy this victory, but will quickly have to get ready for its toughest test of the season that will take place next Thursday night when the Bulldogs will travel to Taylorsville to face a tough Tartars team in the Region 5-2A opener. Taylorsville [5-1], one of the pre-season favorites to make a 2A championship run, has dominated teams all season long, but did fall to Jackson Prep in a 28-0 shutout Friday night on the road.
Brady knows, despite his team's unblemished start heading into the game, his team will have to be prepared for a physical football game, but he expects his players to rise to the challenge.
“Records don't matter. I know coach [Mitch] Evans is going to have his team ready, and we are going to be ready. There's going to be a lot of good players on that field Thursday night playing football” he said.. “I'm excited about it. I know it's going to be a packed house. It's going to be a short week , but we are going to be ready to go.”
Bay Springs and Taylorsville will kick off at 7 p.m. at Tartar Field.
