’Dogs run away with win
Trion has hot start in big win against Armuchee
There were moments Friday night where Armuchee seemed inches away from turning a game-changing play. The Trion Bulldogs ensured those moments were few and far between however as the Bulldogs handled the Indians 34-7 at Armuchee.
Trion, on the other hand, scored on three of its first four possessions to grab an early 20-0 lead.
The Bulldogs set the tone on the opening drive, covering 70 yards in 10 plays with Drake Clowdis powering over from one yard out for the touchdown.
Trion scored twice more in the first half, as their Wing-T offense ate up chunks of yards.
The Bulldogs’ second scoring drive covered 49 yards, and Jarrett Pierce knifed his way into the end zone from five yards out.
Gabe Howell ended Trion’s first half scoring on a 36-yard run midway through the second quarter, giving the Bulldogs a 20-0 lead.
“I was very proud of the way our guys played in the first half. We had about 150 yards rushing,” Trion head coach Justin Brown said. “What I was most proud of is that we had no penalties in the first half and no turnovers in the first half. We played physical football, and we executed.”
Armuchee’s chance at shifting momentum came late in the opening half when the Bulldogs had a snap go over their punter’s head.
A swarm of Indians buried the Trion punter, giving Armuchee the ball at the Trion 16.
Three plays resulted in three yards, and the Indians’ field goal attempt on fourth down sailed just wide right. Trion’s Drake Clowdis came up with the next big play on the evening as the junior corralled a partially blocked Armuchee punt and scampered 23 yards into the end zone for a touchdown and a 270 lead early in the third quarter.
Howell ended the Bulldogs’ scoring later in the third quarter, breaking a 52-yard touchdown run.
The Indians refused to go quietly however.
Early in the fourth quarter, Trion went for a fourth and short deep in Armuchee territory, but fumbled the ball.
Several Armuchee players descended on the ball, and Will Phillips picked it up and ran 69 yards into the end zone, cutting Trion’s lead to 34-7.
Later in the fourth, Armuchee’s Brody Everett broke a big punt return deep into Bulldogs’ territory, but it was called back due to an illegal block.
For the most part, Trion’s defense held Armuchee’s offense in check allowing only a couple of first downs on the evening.
“They’re young in their offense. If they’ll give Coach Mo time here, he’s going to do a great job. They’re where we were two or three years ago in this offense,” Brown said. “It played to our advantage, because our defense sees the Wing-T every single day.”
Howell led all rushers with 142 yards on 11 carries and scored two touchdowns. Trion used 11 different running backs on the evening.
The Indians’ Dakota Mobbs led Armuchee in rushing.
Armuchee ( 0- 2) is back in action next week, traveling to play Coahulla Creek in a non- region game.
Trion ( 2- 0) has an off week before facing Class 4A LaFayette on the road in two weeks.
“We’ve beaten two Class AA teams now. We have a week off now and play Class 4A LaFayette. That’s our last upper class team on our schedule,” Brown said. “If we can take care of business against them, that’s going to put us in good footing as far as the playoffs go. We got a big win against Gordon Lee last week and now this week against Armuchee. Being 2-0 feels great.”
Trion is in Class A where playoff seeding is decided by a power-ranking system rewarding teams with more points for wins against higher classification opponents.