Bulldogs Win Shoot Out In Overtime

By Clint Cox
The Marianna Bulldogs rallied to pulled off a 37-30 overtime win against the visiting Walton County Braves this past Friday night at Bulldog Stadium. With Walton leading 14-7 at the half the Bulldogs loaded their guns for a second half shoot out and fortunately had just enough bullets to get the district win. The Bulldogs were led by a trio, including R.J. Bowers who rushed for 149 yards and a TD. Fidel Montgomery added 88 yards and 3 TDs while Tre Jackson rambled for 74 yards and a score.

The Bulldogs took a first quarter lead on a 7 yard run by Fidel Montgomery. Ryan Rudd added the point after kick to make it 7-0. But Walton came back with two unanswered scores in the second quarter to seize the lead and the momentum. Late in the third quarter the fireworks began as Montgomery scored again on a 7 yard run. The extra point snap was high and holder Tre Jackson took off in an attempt to run it in. After retreating as far back as the 25 yard line he began weaving his way back toward the end zone. In an unlikely manner Jackson finally found paydirt, diving into the end zone for the two points. That gave Marianna a 15-14 lead. Walton came right back and less than two minutes later reclaimed the lead at 21-15. But the Bulldogs fired right back on the next possession as Jackson bolted 63 yards down the sideline for a score. Rudd added another point after kick to give Marianna a 22-21 lead.

The fourth quarter saw Walton once again seize the momentum with a TD run on the first play of the quarter. The two teams had shot it out in a 3 ½ minute flurry of scoring, combining for a total of 27 points. The Braves went for two but failed, thus taking a 27-22 lead. Both squads appeared exhausted from the humidity and flurry of activity and were unable to move the ball much of the fourth quarter. Walton did manage a 27 yard field goal though late in the game to increase their lead to 30-22. The Bulldogs got the ball back with 1 ½ minutes to play and knew their back was to the wall. Electing to run the ball rather than pass, Marianna amazingly marched right down the field without throwing a pass. With :27 seconds to play Bowers bolted 30 yards for a score. Marianna needed two to tie and they got it as Bowers bulled his way into the end zone to tie the game at 30-30.

Overtime saw Marianna get first possession and it took all of four plays but Montgomery punched it in on fourth and goal. Rudd’s kick after made it a 37-30 game. Walton QB Liam Miller had been nearly flawless in running the spread offense, throwing for almost 300 yards and no interceptions. But his first pass in overtime was tipped and Marianna’s Marjean Dean picked off the pass to seal the victory.

Marianna improved to 3-1 on the season and will travel this Friday to Bristol to take on Liberty County.