There were low temperatures, wind and a lot of rain. Then there were the Lawson Cardinals. It all added up to be too much for the Trenton Bulldogs on Wednesday night as they were eliminated from the Missouri Class 2 playoffs with a 39-0 loss.
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Trenton looked okay early on as Clay Oneal took the first play from scrimmage and went 48 yards, but Trenton could do nothing more with the opening drive and turned the ball over on downs deep in Lawson territory. The Cardinals had a little success running the ball on their opening drive, but ultimately fumbled, giving the ball back to the Bulldogs.
“We came out and we started well,” Croy said. “The big run by Clay allowed us to flip the field position and that was important in a game like that with that kind of weather. We failed to take advantage of it, though, but our boys came out and played well.”
Trenton would be forced into a punt on the ensuing drive and the punt was blocked when Brennon Vandevender’s plant foot slipped out from under him in the sloppy conditions. Lawson would take advantage and score the first touchdown of the game. Near the end of the first quarter, Lawson used timeouts to ensure Trenton would have to punt into the wind one final time before the teams switched end zones for the second quarter. This allowed Lawson to set up in good field position and the Cardinals were able to score five seconds into the second quarter.
“I thought Lawson took advantage of the weather conditions early on and used them to their benefit,” Croy said. “They called timeouts there at the end of the first quarter to maintain good field position. We could never dig out of that hole once they got up on us. We couldn’t mount any kind of attack to get us back in the game.”
Lawson scored twice more in the first half, once on a broken 42-yard run and once with just 31 seconds left in the half. The latter was a back-breaking blow that sent the Bulldogs to the locker room down 26-0.
If anything, the rain picked up in intensity in the second half. Trenton was shut out again while Lawson pulled away with two more scores, both in the third quarter.
The loss marked the second straight season Trenton has been shut out in the opening round of the playoffs, but the Bulldogs were able to improve their record from a year ago, finishing 6-5 as opposed to last year’s mark of 5-6.
“After the 2-8 season a couple of years ago, we knew we had to get back to where we expected to win football games,” Croy said. “Last year we were 5-5 and then lost in the playoffs and finished 5-6, but that was an improvement. This year we took another step in the right direction. Hopefully, the group we have coming back next year can take what this group has given them as an example and take it further and improve and have successful football teams here at Trenton.”
* UNOFFICIAL STATISTICS *
INDIVIDUAL SCORING
First Quarter
L – Ty Cox 19-yard run (Garrison Green kick)
Second Quarter
L – Benton Maddux 7-yard run (run failed)
L – Maddux 42-yard run (run failed)
L – Blake Edwards 1-yard run (Green kick)
Third Quarter
L – Cox 27-yard run (Green kick)
L – Maddux 23-yard run (kick blocked)
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Team Statistics
Stat THS LHS
First Downs 8 13
Total Offense 139 350
Rushes-Yds 44-139 50-297
Passing-Yds 0 53
Passes 0-3-1 2-4-0
Penalties-Yds 0-0 1-5
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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING – Trenton, Clay Oneal, 9-68; Jacob Spillman, 17-38; Fred Pannell, 6-37; Dillon Triplet, 1-5; Colby Larson, 1-3; Keegan McGinness, 9-(-4); Brennon Vandevender, 1-(-8). Lawson, Benton Maddux, 12-114; Ty Cox, 6-55; Adam Turpin, 8-32; Johnny Sutphin, 5-28; Blake Edwards, 9-16; team 9-41.
PASSING – Trenton, Spillman, 0-3-1. Lawson, Edwards, 2-4-0, 53 yards.
RECEIVING – Trenton, none. Lawson, Zack Shobe, 1-35; Austin Simmons 1-18.
DEFENSE – Trenton, James Fairchild, 11 tackles, 1 TFL; Morgan Schelker, 10 tackles; Pannell, 10 tackles; Colby Larson, 7 tackles, 1 fumble recovery; Dalton Burkeybile, 7 tackles; Tommy Kincaid, 6 tackles; Tyler Carpenter, 5 tackles; Oneal, 4 tackles; 1 TFL, 1 sack, 1 fumble recovery; Dakota Galvin, 4 tackles, 1 TFL; Triplet 4 tackles; Austin Taul, 3 tackles; Jacob Meservey, 2 tackles; Landon Hughes, 1 tackle.