Bulldogs finish season with 20-14 win over Cougars
LAKELAND - Lanier County wrapped up its football season with a 20-14 win over Calhoun County Friday night at Roquemore Field. The Bulldogs scored on their first possession Friday night, and led the rest of the game. Calhoun County rallied in the fourth quarter, but Lanier held on to win. Tobbie Locklear's interception at the Cougar 45 with 2:16 left in the game sealed the victory for the Bulldogs. "It's a good way to finish the season," Lanier head coach Wade Beale said. "We dressed out 22 or 23 tonight, and they played hard. Most of them played both ways. I give them credit." Lance Davis ran for 78 yards on 18 carries, and scored two touchdowns for the Bulldogs. Calhoun County returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown, but a block in the back wiped out the score, and brought the ball back to the Lanier 33. The Cougars then drove towards the end zone. They got all the way to the Bulldogs' 2-yard line, but on fourth-and-goal from the 2, a group of Lanier defenders stuffed Calhoun's Ricky Ford at the 1, and ended the Cougars' drive. The Bulldogs then drove 99 yards in 12 plays for the game's first score. Five Davis runs and a 22-yard pass from Shane Sirmans to Burtrum Knight moved the ball into Cougar territory. Then Knight's 19-yard run gave Lanier the ball at the Cougar 22. Four plays later, on first down from the 10, Locklear found a hole and ran up the middle for a touchdown, giving the Bulldogs a 6-0 lead. In the second quarter, Lanier's Kevin Edwards blocked a punt, and the Bulldogs took over at the Calhoun 8. But a receiver dropped a pass in the end zone on third down, then a 27-yard field goal attempt went wide left, and Lanier came away empty. But four plays later, Lanier recovered a fumble at the Cougar 40. The Bulldogs then drove for their second touchdown of the game. On the first play after the fumble, Sirmans hit Edwards over the middle for 34 yards, down to the 6. Three plays later, Davis dove over the top from the 1, and crossed the goal line, increasing Lanier's lead to 12-0 with 4:16 left in the first half. On the ensuing possession, with Calhoun facing a third-and-13 from its own 46, Lanier's defense swarmed in and nearly sacked Cougars quarterback Freddie King. But King escaped, found room to run, and raced down the field for a 54-yard touchdown. Lanier County headed to the locker room leading 12-6 at halftime. After Lanier forced Calhoun to turn the ball over on downs midway through the third quarter, the Bulldogs drove 55 yards in four plays for another touchdown. Knight ran 14 yards on the first play, then Davis went left for 27 yards. Knight's 12-yard run moved the ball to the Calhoun 2, and on the next play, Davis went left, and ran into the end zone for his second touchdown of the night. Lanier's first two-point conversion pass failed, but Calhoun was called for roughing the passer. So the Bulldogs got a second chance at the conversion, and Jovan Smith ran the ball in for the two-point conversion, increasing the Bulldogs' lead to 20-6. With about seven minutes left in the game, Calhoun got the ball and drove 67 yards in 15 plays for a touchdown. The Cougars faced third-and-26 at one point in the drive, but found a way to get the first down. Then they had fourth-and-4 from the Lanier 12, but King found Ricky Haynes for 11 yards, down to the 1. The Bulldogs stuffed a run on first-and-goal, but on second down, King scored on a quarterback sneak. Then King ran the ball in for the two-point conversion, cutting Lanier's lead to 20-14. Calhoun's onside kick went out of bounds, and Lanier took over. But three plays later, the Cougars recovered a bad snap at the Lanier 40, and took over with 2:34 left in the game. But on the first play, the Cougars were called for holding in the backfield, and the ensuing penalty moved the ball all the way back to the Calhoun 39. On the next play, Locklear pulled King's pass away from a receiver for the game-sealing interception. Lanier got a first down, then took two knees and walked off the field victorious. Sirmans completed 4-of-7 passes for 79 yards for the Bulldogs. "He played really well," Beale said. "He threw the ball on the money. We dropped three, I know." Knight had 47 yards rushing and 22 yards receiving for Lanier. For Calhoun, King passed for 87 yards and ran for 86. He scored both of the Cougars' touchdowns. Haynes added 88 yards on the ground. With the season over, Lanier will transition into the offseason, and start working towards next year. "We've only got five seniors, so we've got a bunch coming back, and a few (others) that are saying they're playing next year. So we'll see. Our J.V. program went 5-1, so we're excited about that. We've got something to build on," Beale said. (Valdosta Daily Times)
Bacon Red Raiders down Bulldogs, 20-17
Hornets sting Bulldogs, 21-0
LAKELAND - “It took 31 minutes and 18 seconds for the first score of the game on Friday night at Roquemore Stadium between the Lanier County Bulldogs (2-6, 1-2) and the Pelham Hornets (3-4, 2-0). However, once the Hornets found the end zone they had little trouble getting back there. The Hornets first score came with 4:42 seconds left in the third quarter when quarterback Caleb Morrell found a wide open receiver for a 20-yard touchdown which made it 7-0. The Hornets found the end zone again after running back Denzell Washington scampered 64 yards and set up a 1-yard touchdown run which made it 13-0 Hornets. The Hornets final score of the night came with 9:06 left in the fourth quarter when they intercepted Bulldogs' quarterback Domenick Calhoun and returned it 20 yards for a touchdown. The loss is the second straight shutout loss for the Bulldogs after they were shutout last week at Clinch County , 40-0. "Were just not executing," Bulldogs head coach Wade Beale said. Offensively, the Bulldogs were led by senior running back Lance Davis who rushed for 84 yards on 17 carries. The Bulldogs had several opportunities on the nigh, but turnovers doomed any chance of offensive execution. "We fumbled the ball on the one foot line and we dropped passes and turned the ball over tonight," Beale said. "We just didn't execute, and you have to make plays to win a game." The Bulldogs will look to improve their record next week when they host the Bacon County Red Raiders for homecoming at Roquemore Stadium. (Valdosta Daily Times)
Bulldogs finish JV season at 5-1 with win at Baconton
CAMILLA -The young bulldogs finished their first ever complete JV season with a big come from behind win over Baconton Charter School. The Dawgs trailed 16-6 with 5 minutes left when Chavonte Raymond scored twice to win the game. will steedley threw for 2 touchdown passes in the game finishing with over 100 yds passing. Freshman Javon Smith had a 48-TD catch and finished the day with 80 yards recieving.
Passing game lifts Bulldogs over Randolph-Clay, 22-14
LAKELAND - The Bulldogs hosted the Randolph-Clay Red Devils in a much anticipated match up between old coach versus the new coach. The Red Devils came out and tried to use a running game to stiffle the Bulldogs, but Lance Davis and the defense was all over the place. On offense, Lanier came out in the spread and went to the air almost all night. Lanier moved the ball downfield at will using great catches by Burtrum Knight, Devon Hunt, Javon Smith and Athony Ethridge. However, the Bulldogs fumbled the first time in the Red Zone. The next time, Lance Davis took a screen pass and rambled down inisde the 5 yard line. Davis would score and Teddy Somolo would kick the extra point to go up, 7-0. Lanier missed a 40-yard field goal right before the half. Defense was the name of the game until the 9 minute mark of the 4th quarter when Randolph-Clay broke a long screen pass to go up 8-7. Domonick Calhoun and Anthony Ethridge put on a passing clinic using 6 plays to get inside the 5 yard line. From there Calhoun scored on a QB draw to go up, 15-8. Less than 2 minutes later Lance Davis picked off a Red Devil pass and went to the house to make it 22-8, Bulldogs. The Red Devils would score once more but it was not enough. For the game, Lanier's Calhoun threw for 258 yards with Ethridge having 156 yards receiving. Lanier added 81 yards rushing, most of it coming from Lance Davis. Davis broke a school record for tackles with 16. Overall, it was a great win in the Dawg House. Lanier will travel to Pearson next Friday to open up the Region 1A-A schedule against region rival, Atkinson County.
Bulldog JV Squad stays unbeated with win at Turner County
LAKELAND - In a total defensive effort, the Lanier County JV team remained unbeaten on the year as they outlasted the Turner County Rebels, 24-14. Early in the first quarter, Turner County took a 8-0 lead on a 55-yard interception return for a touchdown before Dokota Flowers hit a trap and run for 50-yards for a Lanier score. The Bulldogs two point conversion was successful. Down 8-7, Flowers came up big again for the Bulldogs as he returned a fumble for another score to put the Bulldogs up, 16-8 as the 2-pt conversion was successful. The Rebels came back with a late 4th quarter score to make things interesting. The PAT was unsuccessful. Lanier then closed the door as an interception was returned for a touchdown to make the final score 24-14.
Berrien comes from behind to knock off Bulldogs, 16-10
LAKELAND - In front of a near sell-out home crowd at Roquemore Stadium, the Bulldogs surprised their rivals from Region 1-AA, Berrien (2-0) who was fresh off a 48-8 win at Atkinson County last week. Lanier came out red hot as Burtrum Knight picked off a Berrien pass to set up Lanier's first major drive of the game. Dedrick McGriff led the charge as the Bulldogs reached the end zone just 9 plays later to take an early 7-0 lead. Berrien came roaring right by as they connected on a 3rd down pass play for the first Rebel score of the night. Berrien's 2-point conversion was successful and Berrien took a 8-7 lead which held until halftime. The second half was a defensive battle into late in the ball game. Lanier's Knight returned an INT to the Rebel 15 yard line late in the 3rd quarter. Two plays later Lanier fumbled but recovered which set up a 22-yard Field Goal by Teddy Somolo to put Lanier ahead, 10-8 late in the 3rd quarter. The Lanier defense continued to come up big as the Rebels were held to another three and out. Lanier had plenty of momentum as they moved the ball into field goal range once again, but this time Somolo's kick was blocked from 40 yards out giving the Rebels good field position. Lanier had another chance to put together one last drive but was stopped by 3rd and short fumble at the Rebel 35-yard line, which set up Berrien's final and winning drive. Berrien's go ahead score came with just under 2 minutes left in the 4th quarter on a deep pass route, putting the Rebels up for good 16-10. As a whole the team played much better this week as the coaching staff saw many improvements. Malick Kone, Junior Ghonkonde, and Burtrum Knight each had good games for the Bulldogs on the defensive side of the ball. Offensively, Dedrick McGriff led the charge with nearly 100 yards on the ground.
Bulldogs win scrimmage at Pelham
PELHAM - Lanier County High travelled to Pelham High School and opened Coach Beale's new head coaching career at Lanier County off with a 14-7 win . The Bulldogs opened the game with 5 straight first downs before stalling out at the Hornet 20 yard line. Pelham, moved the ball well before Junior Gnonkonde slowed them down with 6 tackles in the first quarter. Freshman Tony Jenkins made a couple of big plays as well. Defensivley, the Dawgs held as the offense struggled with 2 new quarterbacks in Dominque Calhoun and Shane Sirmans. Lanier did miss a great scoring opportuinity as Sirmans delivered a strike for a sure TD, but Jarred Williams dropped it. Both squads were scoreless at Halftime. Pelham drew blood on a weird no whistle call that allowed the Pelham defender to get up off the ground and run to the 1 yard line. Lanier battled back and tied it on a 35 yard scoring TD to Jarred Williams. The Bulldogs won the game late on a perfectly executed pass play to Freshman Javon Smith for 54 yards. All region kicker Teddy Somolo was perfect in extra points. Calhoun finished 8-for-15 for 159 yards passing. Lanier only had 47 yards on the ground and must improve on the blocking of the offensive line. Defensively, Gnonkonde led the show in tackles and Caleb Bennett made some great plays. Lanier had 2 turnovers as did Pelham. Offensively and defensively, Burtrum Knight had a great game. More exciting things are expected to come as the young season progesses.
