Bulldogs look to rebound against Timberwolves

Bulldogs look to rebound against Timberwolves

Earle, who lost it’s season opener last week at home, looks to get its first win of the season tonight as the team travels almost two hours away to battle the Cedar Ridge Timberwolves

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Following a season opening loss to the Central Cougars (1-0 overall, 0-0 4A Conference), the Earle Bulldogs (0-1, 0-0 2A Conference) look to earn their first win of the season on the road tonight, traveling almost two hours to play the Cedar Ridge Timberwolves (0-1, 0-0 3A Conference).

Earle assistant coach Carl Miller hopes that a healthier quarterback in Gerry Bohannon will lead the Bulldogs to their first win of the season. Bohannon played through a “nagging hamstring” injury last week in the Bulldogs 22-14 loss to the Cougars.

“With him not being 100 percent, he looked pretty good (last week),” Miller said of Bohannon. “But, he’s feeling a lot better this week. So, we expect a little bit more this week. We’re not going to play him as much. But, I’d say he’s at about 85-90 percent.”

Despite the injury, Bohannon still accounted for both of the Bulldogs touchdowns, rushing into the end zone twice while accumulating 55 yards on the ground in the process.

Bohannon also completed 11 of 23 passes for 165 yards on a night where remnants of Hurricane Harvey played a part in a slower than usual Earle passing attack. Miller hopes that with a dry field in Cedar Ridge this week, those numbers will be more impressive.

“The field conditions weren’t 100 percent,” Miller said. “And, we had a bunch of dropped balls on a wet night still, even though it wasn’t raining. That’s the passing game. That’s one of our biggest strengths, passing the ball.”

And, through that passing game Miller feels that Earle can have success against a Cedar Ridge defense which allowed 35 points in their season opening loss last week.

“We’ll exploit their secondary,” Miller said. “Surely, we’ll be able to exploit them.”

The Bulldogs will also look for a running attack led by Jacquez Gray and offensive lineman Montrell Blockmon to have another big night. Gray totaled 125 yards on 12 carries for Earle in the season opener while Blockmon received Farm Bureau’s Player of the Week award.

Defensively, the Bulldogs hope to see more from Cordell Chase who recorded 12 solo tackles in Week 1. But also, Earle will need a big game from their defensive line as Miller says his team is preparing to disrupt a talented Timberwolves passing attack.

“Their quarterback is good now,” Miller said. “He can pass the ball. You’ve got to put some pressure on him. You’ve got to get back there too him because he can pass it. And, he’s got a few guys who can catch. So, we respect their passing game.”

Miller says that although Bohannon feels much better this week, if the Bulldogs jump out to an early lead, the Divison-1 prospect could only play the first half in order to remain healthy for the Bulldogs upcoming conference schedule. “Hopefully, we’ll go up there Friday and he can only play that one half if we come out hitting and clicking like I know we should,” Miller said. “And, we can rest him up some more. These non-conference games really don’t matter… Now, you want to win them. Don’t get me wrong. You want to win them. But, you want to come out of them unscathed and unhurt too because the conference games are what matter.”

With an extra week of practice and dry conditions, there is no excuses for the Bulldogs to not start the game off in dominating fashion, according to Miller.

“On a dry ground, I know for a fact that we’ll look a whole lot better,” Miller said. “Then we’ve been spending extra time in practice working on the catches and the routes and everything. There shouldn’t be no excuse this week. I expect a better ballgame this week.”

Kickoff in Newark, Arkansas tonight between the Bulldogs and Timberwolves is slated for 7:00 p.m.

By Collins Peeples