Bulldogs Oust Midgets In Class 1, District 7 Opener
Photo courtesy of Macon Schweizer
Isaac Bird stuffs a Putnam County runner during Gallatin’s district win on Friday. Bird caught a touchdown pass and had an interception in the win.
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“I continue to be proud of this group of players and coaches and the way they bring it each week,” Gallatin head coach Patrick Treece said. “This group is not ready to hang it up for the season and will continue to fight for every opportunity that we get.”
Putnam County, the district’s seven seed, didn’t represent much of a challenge on paper, but the Midgets entered the game on a high after upsetting Polo in the final week of the regular season. Gallatin was able to avoid the trap, however, building a 34-0 lead in the first half before cruising to the finish and into the semifinals.
Quarterback Peyton Baker gave Gallatin the early edge, scoring twice in the first quarter. Jagger Gray followed the first score — coming just two minutes into the ballgame — with a successful 2-point conversion run and Gallatin led 14-0 midway through the opening frame. Gray then scored a touchdown of his own and ran in another two to put the Bulldogs up 22-0 after one quarter. Gray added a second rushing touchdown late in the half and Gallatin got its first passing touchdown with 22 seconds left in the second quarter on a pass from Baker to Isaac Bird. That sent Gallatin into the locker room with a 34-0 advantage.
In the second half, Gray added his third touchdown and third 2-point conversion as Gallatin stretched the lead to 42. Draven Wright scored late in the third quarter on his first rushing touchdown of the night to send Gallatin into the final frame with a 48-0 lead.
Putnam County would get into the end zone twice in the fourth quarter, picking up 2-point conversions after each score to close the gap to 48-16, but the game was already in hand at that point as the Midgets’ season ended and Gallatin advanced to the semifinals.
Gallatin was able to avoid a turnover in the game while Putnam County suffered a pair of giveaways. Bird picked off a Putnam County pass in the first half and Gray fell on a fumble in the second.
“We knew [Putnam] would come in here with great confidence after knocking off Polo the week prior,” Treece said. “We just wanted to make sure that we gave great effort and did the little things right. The playing field was completely saturated and I thought we did a great job of playing through the conditions and still playing at a high level. We were able to avoid turning the ball over and owned the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.”
With the win, Gallatin moved to 8-2 overall on the season and into the Class 1, District 7 semifinals where the Bulldogs will host Milan on Friday. Gallatin won the regular-season meeting with Milan, also played in Gallatin, 40-6.
The district meeting between the two schools will kick off at 7 p.m. on Friday.