The Corrigan-Camden Bulldogs suffered a 42-9 blowout road loss against the Shelbyville Dragons Friday.
After an early back and forth, Shelbyville’s skill players stole the momentum and kept their foot on the gas for their homecoming matchup hosting Corrigan.
“We had not seen a team throw and catch as good as them, as well as run the ball. They run a real, true spread offense. With our new secondary, we had to work through some things,” said Bulldog head coach Brett Ratliff. “At the end of the day, we cannot get into the red zone multiple extra times and not come up with points. We did fight hard against this highly-ranked team and I think we are closer than some might think.”
Bulldog junior quarterback Da’Tavin Love started Corrigan on their second possession with a long keeper to get near the red zone.
The Bulldogs would stall, but capitalized with a 40-yard field goal from junior kicker Adian Hinojosa to take the slight 3-0 lead early.
Corrigan’s defense continued to perform, leaving the Dragon offense no room to breathe in the backfield and forced a punt.
From near midfield, the Bulldog offense exploded, with sophomore quarterback Mikey Murphy throwing a deep ball snatched by sophomore Emmanuel Foreman to reach the red zone again.
Corrigan tried to settle for a shorter field goal this time, but Shelbyville’s defense was much faster. The kick was rushed and just short.
The Dragons started the second quarter with an open junior receiver Bryant Scarborough for a 51-yard touchdown pass to take the 7-3 lead.
Shelbyville further extended the lead on their next possession, as another long pass was successful to junior Jerrick Hargrove, which helped set up another completion inside the end zone. The 13-yard touchdown made it 14-3 in the second.
Shelbyville would again easily march down the field, and junior quarterback Gavin McDonald evaded tackles on a keeper for another touchdown to extend the lead to 21-3 late in the half.
Dragon senior back Ronnie Williams later punched in a rushing touchdown to pull away 28-3 before the half.
Shelbyville junior running back Andy Johnson got the first score of the third quarter with a rushing touchdown.
Corrigan did receive a nice kickoff return, plus a penalty to start them off in Dragon territory. A potential highlight touchdown late in the third by senior back Derrick Reagie was taken away by another holding penalty.
Reagie was able to make up that yardage to get back in scoring range and set up his own completion in the end zone for Corrigan’s single touchdown of the night.
The Bulldogs recovered a fumble turnover later in the fourth, but gave it back on an interception taken back to the Bulldog 10-yard line.
This set up Scarborough for a catch wide open in the end zone, finalizing the lead at 42-9 late in the game.
The Bulldogs will be on the road again next week to face the Alto Yellowjackets, with kickoff set for 7 p.m.
