The Tioga Bulldogs traveled to Fort Worth in Week 2 to face the Southwest Christian Eagles and took their second loss of the season, falling to the Eagles 3815 on Sept. 4.
It got late early for the Bulldogs, with the Eagles’ offense exploding for four touchdowns in the first half, which proved to be an insurmountable lead.
'They have big-time players,” said Zach Birdwell, Tioga athletic director and head football coach. “That’s one of the reasons we wanted to play them. There’s not an offensive line in 2A or 3A that looks like that one, a [great] quarterback and one of the best, if not the best, running backs we’ll see this year. We want to see that type of talent now so that when we roll into district nothing will catch us off guard.”
Southwest Christian struck first in the contest when quarterback Eli Hufstetler found receiver Bayne Martin open behind Tioga’s defense for a 62yard bomb, putting the Eagles up 7-0 after their opening possession.
Tioga’s offense went threeand- out on the ensuing drive and punted the ball back to Southwest Christian, who found the end zone through the air again when Hufstetler connected with Dane Smith for a 66-yard touchdown, making the score 14-0.
The Eagles lead stayed at 14-0 until Hufstetler called his own number on an option play and found an opening in the Bulldogs’ defense for a 50-yard touchdown run, extending Southwest Christian’s lead to 21-0.
The Eagles’ offense found the end zone one more time before the half when Hufstetler found Martin for a 35-yard touchdown pass and added a short field goal to send the teams into the half with Southwest Christian leading 31-0.
Tioga’s offense found the end zone on its opening possession of the second half, with Jake David powering through Southwest Christian's defense from 16 yards out, making the score 31-7.
The Eagles answered with a rushing touchdown of their own, with Hufstetler knifing through the Bulldogs’ defense for his second rushing touchdown and fifth total touchdown on the night, pushing Southwest Christian’s lead back to 31 points.
Tioga would add another score late when quarterback Cole Boyd found Jaxson Hurst in the corner of the end zone, but Southwest Christian held on to win 38-15.
Boyd led Tioga through the air, going 22 for 40 with 177 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT, while David led the ground game with 83 yards on 12 carries and 1 TD.
Hurst was the Bulldogs' top receiver with 6 receptions for 79 yards and 1 TD.
Despite the loss, Birdwell said he was proud of the way his team played in the second half and said he hopes the Bulldogs can carry the momentum with them into next week.
“We put our kids through a tough offseason and fall camp, and during this tough nondistrict schedule, we’re learning what we need to fix and what will make our kids mentally and physically tough,” he said. “We saw some things tonight we needed to see and that we need to fix going into Week 3.”
