GOOD HOPE, Ala. — Good Hope hosted the Addison Bulldogs for its homecoming game at lovely James W. Shabel Field on an absolutely gorgeous Friday night for football. The Raiders wouldn’t allow the visiting Bulldogs to spoil their fun as the home team came away with a hard fought 13-8 victory.
The game started out with Good Hope receiving the opening kickoff and turning the ball over on a third down Tanner Malin pass that deflected off the Raider receiver and into the waiting arms of Dawg defender “Touchdown” Tommy Lee Daniel who came away with the interception. It was about the only thing that didn’t go right for Senior QB Tanner “The Flash” Malin all night.
Addison took over at their own 47-yard line with Freshman QB Jed “Wizard” Wilkins, filling in for injured starter Senior Christian “Ice Man” Roberts. Wilkins led the Dawgs down the field as Addison ran off 14 plays, all rushes, to get down to the Raider three-yard line. Facing a fourth and goal from the three, Addison went for it and the Raider D stood tall as Senior Caleb Willis stuffed the Addison back for no gain giving the ball to the Raiders after the excellent goal line stand.
The half continued as Good Hope then Addison would drive the ball down into their opponent’s territory but would be unable to cash in for the score.
The Raiders took possession of the ball at their own 37-yard line with 3:19 to go in the second quarter. This is when “Flash” Malin took over for the Raider offense. The Good Hope Senior signal caller took his team 63 yards in nine plays for the touchdown. Malin cashed it in from 2-yards out for the touchdown. The Robert Rodriguez extra-point gave the hometown Raiders the 8-0 lead with only 15 seconds to go in the first half. Malin accounted for all 63 yards of the drive with 4-yards passing and 59 rushing. The first Bulldog defender never tackled Malin probably all night.
The Half ended with the Raiders leading the Bulldogs 8-0.
The second half was exciting as the first with a small exception. The officials were hardly heard from in the first half as both teams combined for only one penalty. The second half was a different story as both teams combined for 11 penalties, most of them of the larger type. Neither fanbase or coaching staff was pleased with that fact especially since some calls were of the questionable nature.
Addison took the second half kickoff and drove from their own 33-yard line to the Raider 26. But once again, the stingy Raider defense held the Dawgs on fourth down.
The Raiders drive started at their 26-yard line, and they appeared to want to put the Dawgs away. The Good Hope offensive line opened major holes in the usually reliable Dawg defense, and it only took 5-plays to score their second touchdown of the night. Ethan Henderson, who is quicker than a hummingbird’s wings, scampered 21 yards on the first two plays and then Malin juked and jived his way for 33 more yards on the next play. Both Henderson and Malin had Dawg defenders grabbing at air as they went by. After a 7-yard run by Kaleb Jones, Henderson took the ball across the endzone from ten yards out for the score. The extra point was no good and at the 3:46 of the 3rd quarter, Good Hope had what appeared to be a comfortable lead of 13-0.
After an exchange of possessions, Addison took over with 9:07 to go in the game at their 46-yard line. After being in basically a two tight end, wing t formation all night trying to run the ball and consume clock, Addison went to a three and four wide receiver formation because they had to pass. This was putting a lot of pressure on a true freshman QB with only one start under his belt, but Mr. Wilkins appeared to be up for the task. After a Wilkins ten-yard run, he connected on a ten-yard completion to Daniel and then an 11-yard completion to Justin “Rocky” Mather to put the ball down at the Raider 16-yard line. Eli “Curly” Howse ran for 6-yards and then Mather tacked on a 5-yard run to put the ball at the Raider 11-yard line. Addison facing a fourth and six from the 11 had to go for it. Would they come up empty as they had on two previous occasions or could they cash it in. Wilkins found Mather in the front of the end-zone for an 11-yard touchdown pass to get the Dawgs back in the game. Mather was absolutely crushed between to Raider defenders as he caught the ball, but he was able to hang on for the score. Brody Dollar ran in the two-point conversion and at the 3:45 mark of the fourth quarter the game was closer at 13-8.
The Dawg defense was inspired on the next Raider possession and held the Raiders to a three and out forcing the punt.
Addison took over at their 45 and was determined to score and Good Hope was just as determined to stop them. After a series of quick passes and a run sprinkled in for good measure, Addison was facing a fourth and ten call from the raider 43-yard line with only 13-seconds to go in the ball game. Wilkins heaved the ball to the end zone in a desperation attempt to win the game, but Drew Easterwood picked off a pass at the goal line to seal the victory for the hometown Raiders.
Good Hope moves to 4-2 on the season while Addison falls to 3-3. Next week, the Raiders travel to Etowah while the Bulldogs travel to Cold Springs.
Unofficial stats: Addison had 37 running plays for 133 total yards. Addison ran 20 pass plays for 64 total yards. Addison had 57 total plays for 197 total yards. Good Hope had 29 running plays for 227 yards. Good Hope had seven pass plays for 23 yards. Good Hope had 36 total plays for 250 total yards.
Addison’s Wilkins was 8 of 20 for 64 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Good Hope’s Malin was 4 of 7 for 23 yards and one interception.
Addison was led in rushing by Mather with 11 carries for 44 yards. Wilkins had eight carries for 32 yards and Jack Wilson had seven carries for 21 yards. Good Hope was led by Malin with 13 carries for 119 yards and a touchdown. Anderson had 14 carries for 87 yards and a touchdown.
Addison’s Mather had five catches for 45 yards and a touchdown. Daniel had two catches for 14 yards. Good Hope was led by Braxton Marshall who had one grab for 14 yards.
Defensively, Addison was led by Howse with a game high seven tackles, Hayden Holland and Brody Dollar had four tackles apiece. Cordell Barnett, Daniel and Mather had three tackles each. Isiah Treece had a sack and Daniel had an interception. Good Hope was led by Paydon Bagwell with six tackles. Easterwood, Jones and Elijah Bartlett had five tackles a piece. Clayton Herring, Jager Burns and Jed Clements had four tackles each. Easterwood and Malin each had an interception the win.
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