Sept. 7, 2009

Bulldogs, Buice too much for Trojans

By Scott Wright

GASTON – Running back Demont Buice piled up nearly 300 all-purpose yards in the first half and freshman quarterback Jordan McCartney passed for 250 yards as the Gaston Bulldogs improved their record to 2-0 with a 46-23 win over Class 1A Region 6 foe Gaylesville Friday night.

Buice, who plans to play football for Dabo Swinney at Clemson next season, was on the field sparingly after halftime and did not have a carry in the second half. In two quarters he rushed 10 times for 178 yards. He added 108 yards on two returns, including an 88-yard touchdown on the opening kickoff.
Dustin Isbell missed the PAT but Gaston led 6-0 only 17 seconds into the game.

Buice scored his first rushing touchdown from the Trojan 47-yard line on Gaston's third possession. Another failed PAT left the score 12-0.

After Gaylesville went three-and-out, McCartney fired a 71-yard TD to Adam Anderson on first down. Buice's two-point conversion run upped the score to 20-0 with 2:47 left in the first quarter.

After stopping the Trojans again, McCartney found junior Colin Jarbo wide open for a 36-yard touchdown. The score was 26-0 after another failed PAT, with 11 minutes remaining in the half.

Buice scored again from 65 yards out less than three minutes later, following another four-play possession by the Trojans. Isbell's successful PAT made it 33-0.
Gaylesville advanced the ensuing kickoff to near midfield and finally got on the scoreboard one play later on eighth-grader David Sanford's 53-yard touchdown run. Luke Murphy's kick was good.

A five-yard touchdown run by Gaston's Jackson Bogle capped a seven-play scoring drive that was highlighted by McCartney's 43-yard pass to Joshua Wise. The 39-7 score did not change again before halftime.

Gaylesville finished the game with 120 yards on the ground and another 140 yards through the air, including a 53-yard bomb from Murphy to John Vanpelt that closed the score to 39-15 just over three minutes into the third quarter. With 8:42 remaining in the game, Murphy tossed his second TD pass of the night to Zackary Cavin. The two-point conversion got Gaylesville to within two scores, at 39-23.
Three plays later, Gaston coach Swane Morris unleashed his young quarterback one last time. McCartney hit a wide-open Jarbo deep down the middle of the field for a 44-yard TD. Isbell's kick closed out the scoring.

Morris was happy to get to see some of his younger players perform in the second half, but said his first-teamers still have to work at playing better.

“There are some plays that we are not blocking right, new plays that we haven't run very much,” Morris said. “The mechanics aren't down like they should be. We're about to get deep into region play and we've got to fix that.”

Morris said he was impressed with how hard the Trojans fought despite being down by four scores at halftime.

“Give them credit, they never gave up,” he said. “No. 35 runs hard and their line blocked well. I'm just glad our guys realized they had to turn back on, and they did.”

Gaylesville's Brian Clowdis said his team wouldn't have had to fight so hard in the second half if they'd performed better in the early going.
“We didn't play very smart in the first half and we talked about that at halftime,” he said. “In the second half, I thought we had fun and played football. That's the best team in the region and I thought we played them as hard as we could play.”
Clowdis said he is beginning to see some improvement in his team, giving him hope for the weeks ahead. The challenge, he admitted, will be to keep his team playing hard despite being 0-2.

“We're backed into a corner and it's going to say a lot about us, how we compete next week,” he said. “Are we going to come out swinging or cower in the corner? That's what I told the team tonight after the game.”

This week, Gaylesville hosts Woodville, which lost 62-0 to Cedar Bluff last Friday. Gaston (2-0) travels to winless Collinsville.