Jaguars Down ‘Dogs

9/4/08
By: Clint Cox

The Marianna Bulldogs traveled to Quincy to take on East Gadsden in a Kickoff Classic and fell 24-13 to the Jaguars. The night started on a good note for the ‘Dogs as Tre’ Long took the opening kickoff and raced 90 yards for a touchdown. Troy Clemmons added the point after kick and Marianna led 7-0 before the fans were barely in their seats. But from that point on the speed and athletism of the Jaguars took over as East Gadsden reeled off 24 unanswered points during the first two quarters and led 24-7 at the half. The second half saw little scoring until late in the game when Marianna QB Fidel Montgomery rambled 20 yards down the sidelines for a score. A two point pass failed and the Bulldogs left Quincy with the 11 point defeat.
Marianna certainly didn’t overload their workhorse, senior running back Bradley Battles, in this preseason game. Battles had 43 yards on 6 carries. Instead Head Coach Rob Armstrong made sure that the other less experienced backs got plenty of carries. Jacorian Borders had 47 yards on 11 carries, R.J. Bowers had 12 carries for 40 yards, Kevin Lockhart had 30 yards on 9 carries and Montgomery had 5 carries for 41 yards. "I feel good about the number of guys that we were able to get some carries," said Armstrong. The Bulldogs will also count on running back Quan Boykin who sat out this game due to injury.
Armstrong was not concerned with the final tally on the scoreboard. "We got to play a lot of folks and now we can take the film from this game and start preparing for our opening game," said Armstrong. He also talked about the opening kickoff return by Long. "Boy it was good to see Tre do that, I was proud for him. He’s been working real hard," said Armstrong.
The Bulldogs open the 2008 campaign at home on Friday when they play host to Blountstown at 7 pm.