After scoring on the first play of the game in the first game of the season, it wasn’t exactly all downhill for the Mexico Bulldogs, but they could have done better Friday night.
Unable to stop host Hillsboro on any of its five fourth-down conversions, the Bulldogs came up short 21-19 to start their third varsity campaign under Devin Brown.
“We practiced that play all week,” the Mexico High School head coach said of new quarterback Austin Reed’s 76-yard strike down the right sideline to Chaves Richardson.
“It’s great when it works, and obviously it gave us a lift, but we couldn’t stop their six-to-eight minute drives.”
Reed, a former wide receiver himself, kicked the extra point to make it 7-0 Mexico just 19 seconds into the first meeting of the schools. But Hillsboro responded with a 13-play scoring drive, using up some seven minutes to go 65 yards, capped by a 15-yard TD pass to make it 7-all.
The first of two touchdown runs by Shia Miller, this one covering 12 yards, put the Bulldogs ahead 13-7 on the last play of the opening period, only to see the Hawks take a 14-13 edge into halftime after a 56-yard, 14-play march midway through the second quarter, then increase its advantage to 21-13 after using 11 plays to cover a short field midway through the third and score again on the ground.
Miller’s 22-yard dash into the end zone with just 47 seconds left in period three showed the Bulldogs weren’t going to give up easily. Mexico recovered a key fumble inside its own 5-yard line early in the fourth quarter, but gave the ball back on a turnover of its own with 3:49 remaining. The Hawks took a knee near the Mexico goal line as time expired.
“Sure, we were competitive, but this was a game we expected to win,” Brown noted. “Give Hillsboro credit, they made the plays, but we made a lot of mistakes and blew a lot of defensive assignments.
“I was glad to see us able to move the football and Austin had a pretty good first outing, but if we had made some stops, we would have won.”
Reed completed 9 of 12 passes with 1 interception for 158 yards. Richardson caught 4 passes for 93 yards, while Miller ran 11 times for 93 yards and Haylon Jacobs 9 for 42.
The Bulldogs return to the road Friday when they begin NCMC play against Marshall. Mexico’s first home game is Sept. 10 against Winfield.
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After scoring on the first play of the game in the first game of the season, it wasn’t exactly all downhill for the Mexico Bulldogs, but they could have done better Friday night.
Unable to stop host Hillsboro on any of its five fourth-down conversions, the Bulldogs came up short 21-19 to start their third varsity campaign under Devin Brown.
“We practiced that play all week,” the Mexico High School head coach said of new quarterback Austin Reed’s 76-yard strike down the right sideline to Chaves Richardson.
“It’s great when it works, and obviously it gave us a lift, but we couldn’t stop their six-to-eight minute drives.”
Reed, a former wide receiver himself, kicked the extra point to make it 7-0 Mexico just 19 seconds into the first meeting of the schools. But Hillsboro responded with a 13-play scoring drive, using up some seven minutes to go 65 yards, capped by a 15-yard TD pass to make it 7-all.
The first of two touchdown runs by Shia Miller, this one covering 12 yards, put the Bulldogs ahead 13-7 on the last play of the opening period, only to see the Hawks take a 14-13 edge into halftime after a 56-yard, 14-play march midway through the second quarter, then increase its advantage to 21-13 after using 11 plays to cover a short field midway through the third and score again on the ground.
Miller’s 22-yard dash into the end zone with just 47 seconds left in period three showed the Bulldogs weren’t going to give up easily. Mexico recovered a key fumble inside its own 5-yard line early in the fourth quarter, but gave the ball back on a turnover of its own with 3:49 remaining. The Hawks took a knee near the Mexico goal line as time expired.
“Sure, we were competitive, but this was a game we expected to win,” Brown noted. “Give Hillsboro credit, they made the plays, but we made a lot of mistakes and blew a lot of defensive assignments.
“I was glad to see us able to move the football and Austin had a pretty good first outing, but if we had made some stops, we would have won.”
Reed completed 9 of 12 passes with 1 interception for 158 yards. Richardson caught 4 passes for 93 yards, while Miller ran 11 times for 93 yards and Haylon Jacobs 9 for 42.
The Bulldogs return to the road Friday when they begin NCMC play against Marshall. Mexico’s first home game is Sept. 10 against Winfield.
