The Corrigan-Camden Bulldogs earned their second-straight district victory in a 45-18 blowout over the Hearne Eagles Thursday at Bulldog Stadium.
After suffering a blowout loss last season at Hearne, this year’s Bulldogs were prepared for the battle against the Eagles and kept the pressure on all sides of the ball.
“We came in with a great game plan and special teams ended up being the winner in this game,” said Bulldog head coach Brett Ratliff. “Their bad snaps gave us short fields, plus a kickoff return. That set us up for some good things to happen, offensively. We made solid tackles on defense and our coverage in the secondary held up.”
Corrigan’s defense started strong, forcing a quick three-and-out that led to a bad snap on the punt, turning the ball over on downs.
Starting from inside the red zone, the Bulldogs quickly struck, as senior quarterback William Ratliff kept the ball and broke a tackle into the end zone for an 18-yard touchdown.
The Eagles continued to struggle on long snaps, with another punt ending in a turnover in the backfield, putting Corrigan at the four-yard line.
Bulldog junior running back Derrick Reagie would punch it in for a four-yard rushing touchdown to help extend the lead 14-0 for Corrigan.
After another failed possession by the Eagles, Corrigan struck immediately with a Ratliff power sneak up the middle for a 39-yard touchdown to make it 21-0 late in the first quarter.
The Bulldog offense was finally forced to punt in the second quarter and Hearne quickly took advantage, as junior running back Nigel Sweed broke free for a 50-plus yard touchdown run.
This put Hearne on the board 21-6 after a blocked extra kick early in the second quarter.
Late in the half, the Bulldogs successfully converted a fake punt to continue moving the sticks.
Just a few seconds were left on the clock by the time the Corrigan reached first down inside the red zone, so Bulldog senior kicker Ismael Santoyo would deliver on a midrange field goal to further extend the lead 24-6 at halftime.
Bulldog senior Mason Murphy opened the second half with a massive kickoff return for a touchdown, which further helped Corrigan pull away with 31 points.
Bulldog senior linebacker Tahj Thomas later made an interception to set the Corrigan up with great field position. This set up Ratliff on another run along the left side for a 31-yard touchdown and made it a 38-6 lead for Corrigan.
Ratliff and Reagie continued to dominate on the ground going into the fourth quarter, but the Bulldog secondary got challenged again, as Eagle senior receiver Jadamion McGee received an 84-yard touchdown pass.
This cut the deficit 38-12 after a blocked extra kick.
Inside the final minutes, Reagie finished with a 19-yard rushing touchdown, followed by Sneed responding on a long distance rushing touchdown, adding to the final score.
The Bulldogs will play their next district match on the road against the Normangee Panthers. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Panther Stadium.
