Published: October 20, 2007 01:15 am         

Third-rated Wildcats maul Gilmer 47-0, improve to 7-1

MEADOW BRIDGE — Class A No. 3 Meadow Bridge jumped on Gilmer County for 27 first-quarter points and rolled to a 47-0 victory Friday at Frank Arritt Stadium.

Key to the victory was seven Gilmer County turnovers.

“Wow,” Gilmer coach Bill Shahan said. “That’s been the killer for us all year. Turnovers are our biggest nemesis.”

After recovering their own on-side kick on the opening kickoff, the wheels quickly came off for the Titans. Gilmer (2-6) snapped the ball over quarterback Ethin Wolfe’s head on a third-and-10 play and the Wildcats’ Korey Persinger recovered the loose ball on the Gilmer 30-yard line.

Three plays later, Billy Trump sprinted 20 yards for a Meadow Bridge touchdown and a 6-0 lead with 9:32 remaining in the first quarter.

Gilmer’s next possession ended with another turnover. Eric Halstead picked off a Wolfe pass and Meadow Bridge (7-1) took just five play to convert the turnover into another score.

Halstead picked his way through the Titans’ defense for an 11-yard TD run and Rob Hypes kicked the PAT for a 13-0 advantage.

The Wildcats continued to dominate the first quarter on defense.

The Bennett brothers combined for Meadow Bridge’s next score. Justin Bennett blocked a Titans’ punt and Tyler Bennett fell on the ball in the end zone for another Wildcat touchdown. After Hypes added the PAT, it was 20-0 with 4:25 left in the first quarter.

“We had worked on the punt block,” Wildcats coach Larry McClintic said. “We had watched them. I thought our kids did a good job jacking it up and getting after it.”

Gilmer County continued to sputter on offense. After a nine-yard punt gave Meadow Bridge the ball on the Titans’ 35, the Wildcats charged down the field in three plays, two Nathan Neely runs of 18 and 13 yards and a Halstead 4-yard TD toss to Hypes.

“We told our kids, ‘don’t let them play with you’ and ‘don’t let them think they can play with you,’” McClintic said. “Our kids came out and played hard. Then, we played our JV’s most of the second quarter.”

The 27-0 onslaught left Gilmer feeling shell-shocked.

“All of a sudden, we’re down 27-0 and it’s tough to battle back from that,” Shahan said.

From there, the Wildcats added three fourth quarter scores to close out the contest, a 14-yard Justin Bennett pass reception, a 54-yard Patrick Kincaid interception return and a 24-yard Tyler Bennett run.

Trump would finish 84 yards on just six carries for Meadow Bridge, while Halstead and Neely would contribute 72 and 71 yards apiece on the ground.

Meadow Bridge travels to Mount Hope Friday.



— E-mail: rjett@

register-herald.com

Meadow Bridge 47, Gilmer County 0

GC (2-7) 0 0 0 0 — 0

MB (7-1) 27 0 0 20 — 47

First Quarter

MB: Billy Trump 20 run (Kick failed), 9:32

MB: Eric Halstead 11 run (Rob Hypes kick), 6:11

MB: Tyler Bennett recovered a blocked punt in the end zone (Hypes kick), 4:25

MB: Hypes 4 pass from Halstead (Hypes kick), 1:46

Fourth Quarter

MB: Justin Bennett 14 pass from Halstead (Pass failed), 11:03

MB: Patrick Kincaid 54 interception return (Bryan Gwinn rush), 9:21

MB: T. Bennett 24 run (Pass failed), 6:42

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — GC: Drew Simmons 17-123, Ethin Wolfe 7-11. MB: Billy Trump 6-84-1, Halstead 3-72-1, Nathan Neely 5-71, T. Bennett 6-31-1, Gwinn 3-31, Hypes 2-13.

PASSING — GC: Wolfe 3-15-2, 56. MB: Halstead 3-6-0, 35-2.

RECEIVING — GC: Daniel Delude 2-38, Jordan Knight 1-18. MB: Hypes 2-21, Justin Bennett 1-14.

TURNOVERS — GC: Franklin Hosey (fum. rec.). MB: Halstead (int.), Kincaid (int.), Korey Persinger (fum. rec.), Chris Whitt (fum. rec), Gwinn (fum. rec.), T. Bennett (fum. rec.), Cody Martin (fum. rec.).