Sept. 20, 2008

Final Stats

ADRIAN, Mich. - The Bulldog football team struggled in the first half with Bluffton on Saturday but got it going late in the second quarter and into the third scoring 31 points en route to a 34-7 win over the Beavers. Adrian had very little trouble moving the ball but their drives would stall out because of turnovers. Justin Warner made it 3-0 in favor of Adrian at the 8:52 mark of the first quarter on the first drive of the game for the Bulldogs. His 21-yard boot capped off an eight-play, 49-yard drive which lasted 3:58.

The next four drives resulted in three fumbles and one interception for the Bulldogs. The interception off of Mike McGee went back 27 yards as Dylan Moore scoring the only points for Bluffton. Adrian had one of their drives stall at the Bluffton 30 and one-yard lines and also a field goal attempt snap was muffed. Despite the miscues it was the Adrian defense which kept getting the ball back into the offense's hands.

The offense responded with 3:42 left until haftime as Jomar Jackson had a career-long 43-yard TD run which made the score 10-7 for the black and gold. Brad Smagala recorded his third interception of the season on the next Beaver possession and returned the ball to the Bluffton 40-yard line with 1:13 to go until intermission. Adrian added a big TD with 15 seconds to play in the quarter as Jackson scampered eight yards for a 17-7 halftime lead.

The Bulldogs scored on three of their first four possessions of the second half to put the game out of reach. After a punt on their first drive of the half, it was a pair of TD's and another Warner field goal which made the score 34-7. Myke Johnson scored on a 13-yard run with 8:49 on the clock in the third and Jared Edwards electrified the crowd with a 77-yard punt return for a TD which was just seven yards shy of the school record. Edwards finished the game with eight returns for 172 yards and also carried the ball for 16 yards on two carries. Johnson finished the game with 49 rushing yards on 11 carries.

Troy Niblock gained 96 yards on the ground on 16 totes and also caught two passes for 27 yards. Patrick Reagan led the receiving corps with two grabs for 51 yards. Harry Bailey and Bobby Watson each had six tackles to lead the defense. The defense allowed just 111 total yards which was the third fewest in school history. Adrian is now 2-1 overall and travel to Lake Erie next Saturday to wrap up non-conference play.