The Dierks Outlaws closed out their season Friday night 245 miles away from home with a 28-7 loss to the Earle Bulldogs in the first round of the Class 2A playoffs.
The Outlaws, under first-year Head Coach Vince Perrin, closed out their schedule with a 6-5 record that included wins over Horatio (27-20), Mountain Pine (40-8), Mineral Springs (57-46), Lafayette County (41-12), Mount Ida (42-21) and Spring Hill (53-7). The losses came at the hands of Earle, Gurdon (41-28), Fouke (45-41), Foreman (56-41) and Murfreesboro (26-20).
The 7-4 Bulldogs will be at Murfreesboro this Friday night for Round 2 to face the 8-3 Rattlers, who dumped Lavaca from the playoff bracket, 38-30, in the first round.
Dierks’ offense was held to 277 yards Friday night against Earle. The ground game picked up 230 yards while quarterbacks Caleb Adams and Lane Woodruff combined for just 47 yards and hit only seven of 29 attempts.
The Outlaws were held scoreless until the fourth when Colton Strode capped a drive with a two-yard run and Guillermo Sanz kicked the extra point.
The Delta Bulldogs amassed 393 yards of offense with 351 coming on the ground and 42 via the pass.
Earle jumped to a 12-0 lead in the first quarter and then added eight more points for a 20-0 lead at the half. Both teams were scoreless in the third frame and then both had single touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
QB Adams led the Outlaw rushing game with 13 carries for 68 yards followed by Peyton Frachiseur with eight carries for 59 yards and Woodruff with eight carries for 47 yards. Strode carried two times for 10 yards.
Jarret Fox led the Dierks receivers with four catches for 41 yards. Also pulling in catches were Woodruff, Strode, Cale Adams and Caleb Adams.
Earle’s ground attack was led by Trevon Reel with 20 carries for 152 yards and three TDs followed by Gerry Bohanon with 21 carries for 118 yards. Bohanon hit five of 14 passes for 42 yards and one TD.
