The Jasper Bulldogs dealt the Battlin’ Bears playoff hopes a serious blow Friday night with a 34-14 victory over Little Cypress-Mauriceville.
Following a first-quarter stalemate in which neither teams offense could find its footing, Jasper’s high-powered offense, led by running back Decorian Holmes, took control of the game in the second quarter with 21 consecutive points and never looked back. Holmes finished the night with three touchdowns on 27 carries and 245 yards.
The Bears potent running attack, which finished the night with 296 rushing yards and 349 total yards of offense, chewed up the clock and moved the ball, but never found the end zone until early in the third quarter. The big play of the drive was a 65 yard scamper by running back Samuel King down the left sideline to the Bulldogs five-yard line. Two plays later King punched the ball in for a touchdown and narrowed the score to 21-7.
Unfortunately for Bears fans, the Bulldogs only needed six plays to go 51 yards as Holmes bolted in straight up the middle of the LC-M defense to extend the lead 27-7.
Following a punt by LC-M on its next drive, Jasper only needed four plays to put the game away for good. The key play was a 57 yard run by Holmes down the right sideline to the Bears 10 yard line. Holmes scored standing up two plays later from 9 yards out for a 34-7 lead.
LC-M did not quit, even when the game was out of reach. The Bears used a 10 play, 53 yard drive to put its final points on the board, courtesy of a 10 yard scoring run by Kayne Williams with 1:44 left in the game.
LC-M (2-3, 3-6) will have a bye week this Friday and will take to the road in the final week for a contest against Huffman-Hargrave on Nov. 6.
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