Bulldogs unable to overcome slow start, fall 36-18

By Adam Pettit

The Queen City Bulldogs traveled to Chisum High School to take on the Mustangs last Friday night. The Bulldogs were looking to rebound from a loss in an offensive shootout with Linden-Kildare in the previous week.  
Chisum was also looking to rebound from a defeat. In a game delayed by lightning a couple of times Chisum jumped out to an early lead and held off a strong offensive effort by QC late in the game en route to a 36-18 win.  
The game began with QC on defense. On the first play of the game, the Mustangs fumbled the ball on the handoff and Hunter Fitts recovered for the Bulldogs. 
Queen City began its first drive on the Chisum 37-yard line. Threatening skies turned into rain at this point and the Bulldogs had trouble getting into a rhythm. On fourth down, QC elected to punt. 
The punt was blocked by the Mustangs on a mishandled snap.
On the possession change, the weather worsened and the game entered a lightning delay. 
When play resumed, Chisum immediately turned the ball over again on a fumble. 
Matthew Davenport knocked the ball loose and Tyler Adcock recovered on the Bulldogs’ 40-yard line. 
On the first play from scrimmage, quarterback Josh Henry took the snap and scrambled down field for a 34-yard pickup. QC continued to pound the ball on the ground down to the Chisum 15-yard line.  
On fourth down, QC elected to go for it but a pass to Dwight Glover fell incomplete and the Mustangs took over on downs.
Chisum tried the same approach as QC on the next drive. After eight consecutive run plays, the Mustangs were forced to punt in a fourth-and-five situation on their own 43-yard line.  
QC took over and began the next drive on its own 20-yard line.  
On second down, Henry took the snap and sprinted down field for a 51-yard gain that was called back due to a block in the back against QC.  
The call did not put a halt to the Bulldogs’ drive, but a fumble on deep in Chisum territory did. The Mustangs player returned the ball 78 yards to the QC 10-yard line. 
The Mustangs did not make it into the end zone, eventually settling for a field goal. With 10:38 remaining in the first half Chisum led 3-0.  
At this point, another lightning delay stopped play for nearly 45 minutes.
When play resumed, the Bulldogs began from their own 25-yard line on offense, but was forced to punt after just three plays.  
The Mustangs took advantage of big plays on their next drive to score the first touchdown of the game with just over five minutes remaining in the half. The PAT was good and the Mustangs increased their lead to 10-0.
On the next QC drive, the Bulldogs continued to struggle to find their way on offense and were forced to punt after three plays. Chisum wasted no time in scoring again, this time on the first play from scrimmage.  The Mustangs’ quarterback dropped back and found his receiver on a fade down the right side of the field for a 51-yard touchdown. 
The PAT was unsuccessful this time and with 2:41 left in the first half the score was Chisum 16-0. The teams entered halftime with the same score.
Midway through the third quarter, Chisum found pay dirt again from one-yard out on a run up the middle.  The Bulldogs were able to intercept the two point try as the Mustangs increased their lead to 22 points.  
At this point in the game, the QC offense came to life. This was apparent on the next drive.  
After a chop block penalty, Henry took the snap on first-and-23 and outran everyone on the field with a 75-yard touchdown sprint to the end zone for the Bulldogs’ first score of the game.  
The two point conversion failed but QC cut the lead to 22-6 with four and half minutes remaining in the third quarter.  
On the QC kickoff, the Mustangs fumbled and the Bulldogs recovered on the Chisum 31-yard line. QC was unable to take advantage of the turnover though, and had a fumble of their own on the Chisum five-yard line.  
The QC defense forced a Chisum punt on the next possession and the Bulldogs set up shop in the middle of the field.  
On the first play from scrimmage, Henry ran the ball up the middle for his second touchdown of the night, this time from 47 yards out. 
The two point try was unsuccessful but QC was within 10 with the score standing at 22-12.
The Mustangs responded quickly on their next drive with a 70-yard touchdown pass down the right side of the field and converted on the PAT to stretch the lead back to 17.
QC continued its offensive campaign as well. On first-and-10, Glover took the ball down the right side of the field for a 59-yard touchdown.  
The Bulldogs were not able to convert on the two point conversion, but the lead was cut to 29-18 with 11:42 remaining in the game and QC would not get any closer to catching the Mustangs.
The Mustangs went on to score once more on a 13-yard touchdown late in the game to bring the final score to Queen City 18 and Chisum 36.
The Bulldogs are on the road next week at Hooks. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.