LYNN – The Addison Bulldogs hit the road this week to take on the Lynn Bears and came into the game with a 4-0 record having soundly defeated their first four opponents. In a tight game, the outcome is usually decided in just a handful of plays and tonight those plays came in the form of critical mistakes from the Bulldogs, leading to a 21-18 loss.
The Bulldogs’ defense forced a three-and-out from Lynn on the first possession of the game and quickly got the ball to their offense. The offense marched down the field eating up nearly half of the first quarter but fumbled the ball inside the 2-yard line handing it back to Lynn.
Lynn’s next possession ended with an interception by senior standout Tyler Borden to set up the Bulldogs’ offense with good field position midway through the second quarter. Borden took advantage of his defensive takeaway and spun through the Bears’ defense from 20 yards out to give Addison a 6-0 lead with less than two minutes in the first half.
The Bulldogs recovered the ensuing kickoff due to none of the Lynn returners touching the football and set up Addison’s offense on the 12-yard line with 1:43 in the half and three timeouts. The Bulldogs were unable to capitalize on the opportunity and were kept out of the end zone, leaving the score at 6-0 at halftime, but the big defensive stop shifted the momentum to the Bears when the teams went into the locker room.
The Bears forced a punt from the Bulldogs on the first possession of the second half and took advantage as they ran the ball in from the 12-yard line after a six-minute drive to take a 7-6 lead.
The Bulldogs answered with a quick scoring drive that was finished off with a leaping touchdown from junior Zayne Guthrie that gave the lead back to Addison 12-7 early in the fourth quarter.
The Bulldogs seized more momentum with a big stop on fourth down inside their own 30-yard line with less than eight minutes to go in the fourth. Addison’s offense was unable to pick up a first down due to a false start penalty that backed them up; they lined up to punt but the snap was low and went through the legs of the punter. Lynn recovered the ball on the 2-yard line and scored on the next play to go up 15-12.
The last critical mistake of the night for the Bulldogs was on the next kickoff when one of the up-men muffed the kick and the Bears recovered the ball with the lead and five minutes left to play. Lynn put the game away on a 26-yard touchdown run to stretch its lead to two possessions with less than three minutes to play.
Addison put together an impressive, quick drive ending with a 3-yard touchdown pass from sophomore Grant Rice to freshman Logan Wilkins to cut the lead to 21-18 with 30 seconds in regulation. But the Bulldogs could not recover the following onside kick and dropped their first game of the season to Lynn.
The loss puts Addison at 4-1 as teams approach the half-way point of the high school season; the Bulldogs will look to put this game behind them as they get ready to travel to Vinemont next week.
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