CHAPIN — The Newberry High School Bulldogs fell to Chapin High School 37-22 Friday night.
Newberry received the ball and found the end zone with 1:30 remaining in the first quarter, the PAT was good with the Bulldogs leading the way 7-0.
The Eagles answered back with a touchdown by Cooper Evans, the extra point was good, the score now tied 7-7. At the two minute mark before halftime, the Eagles took the lead after a touchdown from Jason Graves, the extra point was good with the Eagles leading 14-7.
Bulldog Ahmorae Wilmore would tie the score once again with 3:02 left in the third quarter, the extra point was good, the score now 14-14.
In the fourth quarter, the Eagles wasted no time finding the end zone with a touchdown by Roger Pedroni at the 11:55 mark, the extra point was good to extend the Eagles lead 21-14.
The ball would be in Newberry’s possession for a short time until a fumble and recovery by the Eagles would give them possession. At the goal line, the Eagle’s field goal attempt was successful, with the Bulldogs trailing the Eagles 24-14.
With 4:30 remaining, Eagle Taison Thomas would add to the lead with a touchdown, the extra point was no good, the score now 30-14.
Wilmore would make his way into the end zone for the Bulldogs for the second time, a two point conversion by the Bulldogs was successful, the Eagles still leading 30-22.
Evans would also find the end zone for the Eagles a second time, the extra point was good for a final score of 37-22.
Head Coach Phil Strickland said the game was lost in the first half with too many mistakes being made.
“We should have been up 21-0 before they even touched the ball, we had the ball the whole first half, they (Chapin) probably didn’t have about three or four minutes of possession time and they ended up scoring 14 and we came away with seven,” he said. “We’ve got to get better at not stopping ourselves and we had to play catch up, we’re not a catch up team.”
This week the Bulldogs will be back home at Mike Ware Field to take on Fairfield Central High School. Strickland said the Bulldogs have had tough contests with Fairfield Central in the past.
“We’ve had a lot of really tough contests with Fairfield Central and they are struggling a little bit, too, last week they were 0-3, but they’ve played some really good football teams. I think we’re both you and both trying to get better and we’ve got to work on ourselves more than anything,” he said.
Last year the Griffins defeated the Bulldogs 14-7, they are currently 1-3 while the Bulldogs are 1-2 overall in the season.
