Bullpups Keep On Winning

9/18/08
By Clint Cox

MARIANNA – The Marianna Middle School Bullpups remained unbeaten for the 2008 season with a 16-0 win over the visiting Tigers from Jefferson County on Tuesday night. Shaundre McAroy got the ‘Pups on the scoreboard in the first quarter with a 55 yard scoring run. A two point conversion made it an 8-0 game. As the game moved into the second quarter Micha Reed fielded a punt for the Bullpups and returned it 75 yards for a touchdown. Reed added the two point conversion run to make it a 16-0 game. The Bullpup defense, led by Dontavious Pittman, held the Tigers in check for the remainder of the half to allow Marianna to keep a 16-0 lead at the half.
After a scoreless third quarter the Bullpups got a big 39 yard run from Quayshaan Johnson to advance to the Tiger’s 11 yard line. But the drive stalled and the Bullpups were unable to add any more points to the scoreboard.
Bullpup Head Coach Hunter Nolan said he was glad to get the win but his squad wasn’t as sharp as they needed to be. "I thought Jefferson County came out ready to play more than us. We’ve got to do a better job of getting our guys ready to play. But we got the win so I won’t complain about that. I wish we could have punched that last drive in for a score so that I could get some of the backups into the game," said Nolan. After going 7-0 in 2006 and 6-0 in 2007, Nolan knew it would be tough to repeat given the youth and inexperience of 2008 Bullpups. He only had four players return from last year’s team but had a tremendous turnover for fall practice. " I think our success this season is due to our program going in the right direction. We had 90 kids come out and I had to cut 30. We have about 50 kids out right now and everyone has bought into what we are trying to accomplish," Nolan commented.
The Bullpups are now 3-0 and will travel to Cottondale on Tuesday for a contest against the Hornets.