QC surges early, holds on for late 26-20 win

By Adam Pettit

The Queen City Bulldogs’ football team opened the 2016 season at home last Friday against the Cushing Bearkats.
Queen City bolted out of the gates and staved off a ferocious comeback by the cats to take a 26-20 win.
The Bulldogs, led by second year Athletic Director Justin Burk, began the game on defense after winning the coin toss.  
The first offensive series for the Bearkats was stifled by a swarming QC defense and resulted in a three-and-out. Cushing punted the ball and the Bulldogs began their drive on their own 34-yard line.  
On first-and-10, QC lined up with an uncovered Tyler Adcock on the far left side the field. The Bulldogs did not make any changes to the play at the line and were unable to capitalize on the defensive oversight.  After some hard runs by Isaiah Stiger and Dwight Glover, QC found itself with another first-and-10.  
The Bulldogs’ coaching staff noticed that Adcock was not covered on the first play of the game and decided to test Cushing’s defensive awareness.  
Adcock lined up on the left side of the field and was once again left uncovered. Quarterback Josh Henry dropped back and lofted a pass into Adcock’s hands. Adcock sprinted downfield untouched for a 52-yard touchdown. The extra point, kicked by Colton Davis, was successful and the Bulldogs led 7-0 with 7:30 left in the first quarter.  
The Bulldogs’ defense continued its dominance on the Bearkats’ second offensive series. On second-and-11, linebacker Jaeger Jaynes blitzed the line and laid a hard hit on the ball carrier resulting in no gain.  
Cushing was eventually forced to punt again and QC took over on the Bearkats’ 39-yard line. After a jet sweep for a loss and a run up the middle for five yards, Stiger took the hand off and ran down the right side of the field for a 37-yard gain. 
QC found itself with first-and-goal on the Cushing three-yard line. On third down, the Bulldogs went back to Stiger for a run on the right side. Stiger found the end zone for the second score of the game.  
The PAT was good and QC led 14-0 with two minutes left in the first quarter.  
On the QC kickoff, Cushing continued its habit of starting offensive drives with a long field. From the Bearkats’ 25-yard line, Cushing was unable to generate any offense thanks to a quarterback sack by Jaynes. On fourth-and-14 from their own 21-yard line, the Bearkats were forced to punt again. 
The snap was mishandled and the punt was returned to the 37-yard line, giving the Bulldogs another short field.  
QC took advantage running four plays for positive yardage before a hand off to Dwight Glover for another touchdown. The point after was unsuccessful this time, giving QC a 20-0 lead with under nine minutes left in the half.  
Cushing started to generate offense on its next drive. The Bearkats used the passing game to advance the ball to the Bulldogs’ 36-yard line. The QC defense was able to stop the progress though, when Adcock intercepted the ball on the five-yard line, returning it to the QC 17.  
On the first play of the Bulldogs’ next drive, Henry kept the ball and darted down the field for a big gain which was cut in half because of an illegal block by QC. 
The Bulldogs eventually fumbled the ball a few plays later returning possession to the Bearkats, and the teams entered half the half with a score of QC 20 and Cushing 0.
In the third quarter, Cushing kicked off to the Bulldogs. QC started to lose some of its offensive momentum after an interception in the backfield was returned by the Bearkats for a touchdown. The point after was unsuccessful and Cushing cut the lead to 20-6 with 8:24 left in the third quarter.  
The Bulldogs’ next drive was also cut short by a fumble on a quarterback keeper. The Bearkats recovered on the QC 24-yard line. Cushing struggled with delay of game penalties all game. 
After another one of those penalties resulting in second-down-and-15, the Bearkats’ quarterback threw a dump pass for a 27-yard touchdown. The PAT was no good and the Bulldogs’ lead was cut to 20-12 midway through the third quarter.  
Queen City was forced to punt for the first time in the contest on their next drive, returning the ball to Cushing once again. The Bearkats maintained possession of the ball for the next seven minutes of the game, resulting in another touchdown, this time from nine yards out. The two-point conversion was good and Cushing tied the game at 20-all.  
Feeling a little heat from the comeback, Queen City’s offense was able to respond on the next drive. After a solid kick return by Dexter Burrow, QC began its series on the Cushing 37-yard line.  
After a couple of runs by Stiger, running back David Price took the ball down the left side of the field for a 25-yard touchdown to give QC the lead.  
The PAT was unsuccessful but the Bulldogs led 26-20 with 8:05 left in the game.  
Cushing’s last offensive drive of the game was cut short by an impressive interception by James Williams.  Queen City controlled the ball and the clock by taking a knee to end the game, and solidify the victory.
QC continues its campaign next week against Prairiland in Pattonville. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
Queen City’s junior varsity football team opened the season with a 30-0 win over Cushing.
Dylan Scott had one rushing touchdown in the game and also connected with Nate Burden for a touchdown in the contest. Burden also had a two-point conversion run.
Daries Allen had one rushing touchdown and two, two-point conversions; Kemya Hicks had one rushing touchdown, and on defense both Seth Crowley and Tyler Walraven recovered fumbles.
The JV squad hosts the Prairiland Patriots at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 1, within the friendly confines of Smith-Wall Stadium.