STRONG – There wasn’t much offense for either team when the 2-A Mineral Springs Hornets met up with the 3-A Strong Bulldogs Friday night. Both teams had less than 200 yards of offense in a game that saw the Bulldogs edge out the Howard County Hornets, 26-20.
The Hornets scraped together 169 yards with 151 coming on 37 carries and 18 in the air while the Bulldogs earned a total of 186 yards with 157 on the ground and 29 via the pass.
Hornet quarterback Octavion Ceaser hit 3/7 passes for 18 yards and one touchdown, which went for four yards to Deshaun Compton in the first quarter. The Hornet QB also ran the ball 15 times for nine yards.
The Hornet rushing game was led by Compton with seven carries for 76 yards followed by Rickey Walker with seven carries for 44 yards and a four-yard TD run. Adding to the total were Tahjil Beal with seven carries for 20 yards and Cameron Lee with one carry for two yards.
The Hornet rushing game had an average of 4.08 yards per carry.
Lee collected the most all-purpose yards with an 85-yard kick-off touchdown run in the third quarter.
The Bulldogs picked up their first points of the night on a safety in the first quarter as a result of a bad snap on a punt. The team was 3/3 on two-point conversions.
The Strong defense collected six more points from the Hornet’s only fumble of the night, recovered for a TD in the third quarter.
Strong’s running game was led by Dez Newton with 27 carries for 118 yards and one TD followed by LeAndrew Greer with six carries for 36 yards. Lavonte Washington added five carries for 13 yards and one TD and Makalis Jefferson capped the total with one carry for 10 yards. The Bulldog runners averaged 4.02 yards per carry.
Strong lost one of three fumbles on the night and were penalized five times for 35 yards. The Hornets were also flagged five times for 35 yards.
Mineral Springs will return to their home field Friday night to host the 3-A Centerpoint Knights of Pike County.
The Knights are 2-0 so far with a 50-14 win over the Murfreesboro Rattlers and a 14-13 overtime win over Magnet Cove. Strong will travel to Marianna to take on Lee High School.
