By Clint Cox
The Marianna Bulldogs snapped a two game losing streak in fine fashion by beating a previously unbeaten Blountstown squad 42-24. The Bulldogs had lost back to back games to two very good squads, Liberty County and Pensacola Catholic, who have a combined current record of 11-2. Marianna came out clicking on all cylinders against Blountstown. The Bulldog offense scored on three of their first four possessions. The defense tossed in a touchdown as well as Marianna led 28-6 at the half. Blountstown battled back though in the second half to make it a closer game but the Bulldogs took care of business in the fourth quarter to salt the game away.
Marianna opened the game with a quick score as Tre Jackson scored on an 18 yard TD run. Midway through the quarter Fidel Montgomery snatched the ball away from a Tiger and returned it 65 yards for a score. Two Ryan Rudd extra point kicks gave Marianna a 14-0 lead going into the second quarter. In the first four minutes of the second quarter Montgomery scored twice for the Bulldogs with a1 yard run and a 8 yard run. Two more kicks by Rudd and Marianna was up 28-0 with eight minutes to play in the half. Blountstown finally got on the board on the last play of the half with a touchdown toss to make it 28-6 going into the locker rooms.
Blountstown scored on the first drive of the second half and Marianna’s lead was trimmed to 28-12. But the Bulldogs countered later in the quarter on a 32 yard scoring run by Chris Bowers. Rudd’s kick made it 35-12. Blountstown came back with two more scores, one late in the third quarter and the other midway through the fourth quarter. Leading 35-24 Marianna got the ball with just under seven minutes to play. The Bulldogs put together an 8 play drive that culminated with a five yard run by Bowers for a score. After using up almost five minutes off the clock Marianna led 42-24 after another Rudd extra point kick. On the night Rudd was 6-6 on extra point kicks.
Bowers, just a sophomore, came in to relieve an injuried Marjean Dean at fullback midway through the second quarter. The young sophomore responded by rushing for 110 yards and 2 TDs on 12 carries. Jackson added 74 yards of rushing for the Bulldogs. Marianna improved to 4-3 overall and have a big district game coming up this Friday as they host Chipley. A win by Marianna locks them into no worse than a second place finish in the district and a berth in the post season playoffs.
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