The best football game of this year’s football season happened this past Friday night between the Dodge County Indians and the Bleckley County Royals. The Indians hosted the Royals in Eastman at Memorial Stadium, and what a game!
Bleckley County won the coin toss and elected to defer to the second half. Dodge County received the opening kickoff and the first drive began on the 20-yard line.
D’Eric McNair (#11) and Marlek Lamb (#8) would carry the ball once each but were quickly shut down by the Royal defense as the Indians had to punt on fourth and six on the 24-yard line. Walt Turner’s (#86) kicked a short punt and the Royals took over on their 43-yard line.
The Royal’s moved the ball downfield with two consecutive first downs and a personal foul penalty against the Indians, which put the ball on the 28-yard line of Dodge County.
The Royals moved the ball to the 16-yard line into the red zone for a possible scoring opportunity. On fourth down and four on the 10-yard line, Dodge County’s Raheem Brown (#23) lead the Indian defense and stopped the Royals from scoring.
Dodge County took over on the 10-yard. After several incomplete passes, Turner was forced to punt. Bleckley County returned the punt to their 30-yard line. Dana Northcutt (#2) intercepted a Royal pass on the 34-yard line.
Dodge County did not get a drive going as a result of a fumble by McNair. McNair recovered the ball and the Indians suffered a loss of yards back to the 45-yard line. Turner punted the ball away on fourth down.
Bleckley County began their third possession of the first quarter from the 10-yard line. The Indian defense held the Royals to only a two-yard gain for the three plays. The Royals punted the ball away from their 12-yard line.
Dodge County’s fourth possession in the first quarter showed promise as the Indians moved the ball after two consecutive first downs. A hand-off from McNair to Lamb fell apart when Lamb fumbled the ball on the 48-yard line and the ball was recovered by Bleckley County. This ended the first quarter of play with no score in the ballgame.
The Royals started a drive in Indian territory on the 49-yard line. The Royals moved the ball to the 39-yard line. A fumble on fourth and short turned the ball over to the Indians.
The Indians began their fifth possession from the 24-yard line but were quickly shut down by the Royal defense, which forced a fourth down 48-yard punt by Turner.
The Royals began their fourth drive from the 22-yard line. The Indian defense played strong and held the Royals to only a 3-yard gain. The Royals punted the ball away on fourth down.
The Indians started their sixth drive on the 50-yard line. A McNair hand-off to Marcus Brown (#3) moved the ball to the 25-yard line of Bleckley for another first down. The Indians fumbled the ball and Bleckley regained control on the 24-yard line.
The Royals didn’t advance far on their sixth possession as Darren Faison (#23) intercepted a pass on the second play of the drive.
The Indians fumbled on their seventh possession on the 31-yard line and the Royals ran the ball down to the 24-yard line.
The Royals fumbled on their seventh possession and was recovered by Indian defender Cameron Howard (#24).
The Indians would try to start their eighth drive of the game from the 13-yard line but were stopped by the Royals. Turner punted the ball away on fourth down from the 18-yard line of Dodge.
The Royals final drive in the first half began on the 41-yard line and the Dodge defense forced a Royal punt from the 39-yard line.
The Indians began their last drive of the first half from their 4-yard line but time expired in the second quarter. Halftime score was Dodge 0 and Bleckley 0.
Bleckley County received the ball at the start of the third quarter and marched downfield to the 6-yard line. On fourth and two, the Royals kicked a field goal for a Bleckley 3 to Dodge 0 lead.
Dodge County began the third quarter action at the nine-minute mark of the third quarter from the 20-yard line. The Indians moved the ball to the 40-yard line but were forced to punt on fourth and five.
Bleckley County took over on their 25-yard line. On third and ten, Bleckley threw a pass that was intercepted by Dodge’s Dana Northcutt (#2).
The Indians moved the ball with three consecutive first downs to the 33-yard line of Bleckley.
The Royal defense slowed the Indians and on fourth down forced a punt by Turner. The fourth down snap was high and Turner was unable to punt the ball and the Royals recovered the ball on the turnover.
Bleckley County started their third possession late in the third quarter on the 25-yard line of Dodge County. The Royals moved the ball to the 7-yard line. The Indian defense held the Royals and on fourth down, the Royals kicked a field goal to extend the lead to Bleckley 6 and Dodge 0.
Dodge County’s third possession from the 20-yard line was stopped by the Royal defense.
Turner punted on fourth and twelve. Bleckley received the punt with great field position on the 50-yard line.
Darren Faison (#22) intercepted a Royal pass and Faison returned the ball into Royal territory to the 13-yard line with less than eight minutes of play left in the game. The Indians moved the ball down to the 2-yard line for first and goal. Brown ran the ball in for a touchdown tying the game. Turner kicked the extra point and the Indians took the lead. The score was Dodge 7 and Bleckley 6.
Bleckley County answered with a quick touchdown with four minutes left in the game. Bleckley decided to go for a two-point conversion and was successful. With one minute fifty-four seconds remaining the in the game, Bleckley re-took the lead. The score was Bleckley 14 and Dodge 7.
Dodge’s final drive of the game began on their 38-yard line. The Indians moved the ball downfield to the 20-yard line of Bleckley County. McNair threw a completed pass to Curtis Rushing (#8) and Rushing ran into the end zone for a touchdown with less than 10 seconds remaining. The score was Bleckley 14 and Dodge 13. The Dodge coaching staff opted to go for the win. A two-point conversion attempt failed and with just seconds remaining in the game, Bleckley held-on for the win. Final score was Bleckley County 14 and Dodge County 13.
The Dodge County Indians (4-5) will travel to Sylvania this Friday night to play the Screven County Gamecocks (2-7) in a key region game finale. Game time is 7:30 p.m.
