Indians hold on for win over Bulldogs

The Indians received the opening kickoff and returned it to their own 45-yard line. The Indians offense wasted little time as Cyprin Burse scored on a 55-yard touchdown run on their first play from scrimmage. Cole Evans’ point after kick was good and the Indians led 7-0 with 11: 41 left in the first quarter.
Toombs County received the ensuing kickoff at the goal line and returned to their 12. Three plays later, Indian Leonard Floyd intercepted a Bulldog pass and ran it back 30 yards for a touchdown. Evans’ point after touchdown (PAT) was good and Dodge led 14-0 with 9:46 left in the first quarter.
The Bulldogs began their next offensive drive at their own 38-yard line and moved the ball 63 yards on 13 plays to score their first touchdown of the game with 3:12 left in the first. Dodge led 14-7. Dodge County scored again on their next drive that started on their own 36. Burse scored on a 45-yard touchdown run five plays later to put the Indians up 21-7 after Evans’ PAT was good with 1:04 left in the first quarter.
Neither team scored in the second quarter as both defenses held tough.
Toombs County received the kickoff to begin the third quarter and returned the ball 95 yards to score their second touchdown of the night and cut the Indians’ lead to 21-14. The Indians punted on their first possession of the third quarter. The Bulldogs received the next punt at their own 48 and two plays later moved the ball to the two-yard line on a long pass play before tying the game 21-21 three plays later on a one-yard touchdown run with 7:19 left in the third quarter.
Toombs forced Dodge to punt on their next possession and then took the ball on the 50-yard line and moved the ball to the nine-yard line on eight plays and was forced to attempt a field goal at the 1:52 mark of the third. The field goal was good and Toombs County took the lead 24-21.
The teams exchanged fumbles on their next possessions. Toombs fumbled the ball again on their next possession and Dodge recovered on the Toombs 46-yard line. The Indians took the ball and moved it for the go ahead touchdown in 10 plays on running from Burse and pass receptions by Laquan Hogue and Floyd from quarterback Shawn Honeycutt. Burse scored on a one-yard run with 4:50 left in the game. Freshman Walt Turner, coming in to replace injured Cole Evans, made the first extra point of his high school career and the Indians had taken the lead back at 28-24.
Toombs County took the ensuing kickoff and moved it to the Indian 32-yard line before the Dodge defense held the Bulldogs on four consecutive plays to preserve the Indian win with 1:47 left in the game.
The Indians gained 11 first downs on 293 yards of total offense. They gained 234 yards on the ground and 59 yards through the air. Offensive leaders were: Cyprin Burse with 197 yards rushing on 28 attempts and three touchdowns; Shawn Honeycutt completed four passes on six attempts for 59 yards; Leonard Floyd caught two passes for 44 yards and Laquan Hogue caught one for 15 yards.
Defensive leaders for Dodge were: Herschel Anderson had eight tackles and 10 assists; Laquan Hogue had seven and a half tackles and three assists; Leonard Floyd had five and a half tackles and five assists and one interception return for a touchdown; Marquis Gordon had five and a half tackles and five assists; Kyree Davidson had four tackles and six assists; Denzel Sanford had three and a half tackles and seven assists; Derome Clark had three tackles and six assists; Cyprin Burse had three tackles and two assists; Michael Austin had two and a half tackles and one assist; Devon Moorehead had two tackles and two assists.
The Indians travel to Cochran on Friday, October 16 for a huge region game with archrival Bleckley County. Kickoff is set at 7:30 p.m.