’Dogs cage Hawks — Seminole up next

By Roger Gilmore
BEACON SPORTS EDITOR

posted Oct 1, 2009 - 11:44:10am

Last week at the New Smyrna Beach Airport Complex, the undefeated DeLand Bulldogs (4-0) cruised past the Spruce Creek Hawks, 42-0, in their initial district test, and yet the game was rather different.

Friday, the ’Dogs will be back on the road heading to Sanford to tangle with the defending state Class 6A champion Seminole gridders, with a 7:30 p.m. kickoff. The ’Noles are coming off a tough, 21-20, overtime triumph over the Daytona Beach Mainland Bucs.

One of the things about the DeLand-Spruce Creek game that wasn’t different was the defensive play of the ’Dogs, as they rang up the shutout. The Hawks were limited to a mere 33 yards rushing, and just nine passing.

One of the differences in this game, compared to earlier ones, was the ’Dogs seemed to just cruise along. There was no 200-yard or even 100-yard ground gainer, as they settled for just 176 yards rushing. Shontrelle Johnson and Pop Saunders led the ground barage with 67 yards and 56 yards, respectively. Nick Ciciarelli had more carries than usual, and tacked on 38 yards, while hitting all five of his passes for 70 yards.

DeLand scored on its first three possessions. They first needed seven plays to cover 51 yards, and Saunders scored from the 4 for a 6-0 lead. Big gainers on the drive were a 15-yard pass from Ciciarelli to Saunders, plus a 12-yard bolt by Johnson.

Following another

Hawks punt, the ’Dogs marched 65 yards on seven plays, as Saunders jitterbugged the final 16 yards untouched, and he then ran the 2-pointer for a 14-0 lead, with 11:10 left in the half.

A short SC punt gave DeLand great field position at the Hawks’ 40. It took only six plays for the victors to find the end zone, as Johnson displayed some of his colorful moves to score from the 10. Hunter Haire’s PAT made it 21-0.

Still, the ’Dogs were on track with their third TD of the period, when Saunders returned a Spruce Creek punt to the 39 of the hosts. On the third play, Ciciarelli found lanky Dramon Grady in the corner of the end zone. He soared above several defenders for one of his great catches on a 15-yard aerial. Haire made it 28-0, with 20.9 seconds before halftime.

The Hawks tried to go to the air as the second half opened, but the pass was tipped and intercepted by Shawn Willis, who raced 68 yards for the TD, with Haire again on target.

Later, a 6-yard punt gave the ’Dogs another scoring shot from the 19 of the Hawks. On the sixth play, Ben Denoyer tallied from the 1, with Haire ending the scoring, as 3:12 was left in the third stanza. The clock was running in the fourth quarter because of the 42-point spread.

The Bulldog defenders kept the Hawks so bottled up, it didn’t seem as though there were that many plays for the losers. However, Mark Joyce was the ringleader of the defenders, and Eldrick Bright, Dentrall Pate, Paris Hayden and several others got in some good licks throughout the game.

A reminder that Homecoming 2009 is just around the corner for the Bulldog Nation, as the date is Oct. 9, with the Pine Ridge Panthers in town for the big weekend. The next two games will also be here in Spec Martin Memorial Stadium, with the New Smyrna Beach Barracudas in town Oct. 16 for Community Night, and then the final regular-season home game will be Oct. 23, with the Deltona Wolves here for “The Battle of the Bone.”

— info@beacononlinenews.com

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