HANCEVILLE, Ala. – After falling to Section on the road last week, Hanceville returned to Ray Talley Stadium Friday night to cap off the regular season against Elkmont. The Bulldogs fell behind early but ran off 24 unanswered points to down the Red Devils 24-6 in the season finale.
Elkmont got the ball to start out the game and their ground game gave Hanceville fits as they picked up some huge first downs during the drive, including picking up a first down on fourth-and-two from the 35, but the Bulldog defense stood tall after that, forcing a turnover on downs. On just the third play of its series, though, a huge hit on Brosnan Ward caused him to fumble the football as the Red Devils recovered the fumble. Elkmont quickly capitalized on the turnover as a 35-yard touchdown pass gave them a 6-0 lead with 1:58 remaining in the opening quarter.
The Red Devils recovered the kickoff, but Hanceville’s defense quickly forced another turnover on downs. Unfortunately, another Bulldog fumble gave the ball right back to Elkmont. Another turnover on downs gave the ball right back to Hanceville as they started to move the ball down the field behind some tough running by Ward. After picking up a first down on a Ward 11-yard run, an unsportsmanlike penalty on the Bulldogs backed them up to the 44-yard line. Two plays later, Braxton Broad found Ward for a 22-yard gain and another first down run by Ward put them at the 11-yard line, but another Hanceville penalty later on in the drive was the difference as Broad got stuffed on fourth down. Neither team got anything offensively as the Bulldogs went into the half trailing 6-0.
Behind a mixture of the run and pass, Hanceville started out the second half strong as a pair of first down runs by Ward, plus an eight-yard pass from Broad to L.J. Smith, put them at the five-yard line. Two plays later, Kelson Moore scored on a 1-yard run to give the Bulldogs an 8-6 lead with 8:26 remaining in the third period. Hanceville forced an Elkmont punt on its opening defensive possession, but they were forced to turn the ball over on downs on their next series.
A pair of Red Devil penalties got their drive off to a very shaky start and the Bulldogs’ Marquies Leeth picked off an Elkmont pass two plays later. Back-to-back offsides penalties on the Red Devils quickly brought Hanceville out of a deep hole and Broad used his arm and legs to help the Bulldogs move down the field. After a Hanceville penalty, Ward found a hole on the right side and took off down the right sideline as he scored on a 36-yard run to increase the Bulldog lead to 16-6 with 10:22 remaining in the game.
A series of Elkmont penalties quickly had them behind the sticks and later on, Tyler Hughes recovered a Red Devil fumble. Hanceville quickly cashed in off the turnover as Broad scored on a 12-yard run right up the middle to make it 24-6. Hughes helped seal the 24-6 win for Hanceville with a sack on fourth down.
Ward finished the game with 138 yards on 19 carries and a touchdown. Broad passed for 62 yards and added 52 more on the ground and a score, while Moore found the end zone as well. Leeth finished with an interception for Hanceville, while Hughes recovered a fumble and added a sack to his stats. The Bulldogs finish the season 3-7 and they have a bright future ahead of them as they will have some great talent coming back in 2022.
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