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The Pike County Bulldogs closed out 2023 spring football practices with a 28-21 win over Class 6A’s Sindey Lanier Poets at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Troy in the kickoff of the 2023 C-Spire/Troy Cable Spring Classic.

The Dawgs were originally slated to play Selma in the spring but the 5A team pulled out and Sidney Lanier took its place. The Poets were originally going to face Loachapoka in their spring game. Lochapoka will now play Luverne instead.

Things didn’t start off hot for Pike County as Sidney Lanier jumped out to a 13-0 lead in the first half and seemed poised to turn the game into a route. Pike County had different ideas, however. Junior Nemo Williams sparked the Bulldog offense with a 55-yard run midway through the second quarter and, on the next play, Markelis Hobdy scored on a 10-yard run to cut the Poets’ lead to 13-7.

After a Sidney Lanier turnover on downs, Pike County marched on an 11-play, 75-yard drive capped off by a 1-yard Williams touchdown. The PAT gave the Dawgs a 14-13 lead late in the half.

After a Sidney Lanier three-and-out, Williams raced into Poet territory on a 28-yard run but time expired with PCHS hanging on to a 14-13 lead at halftime. Williams ended the half with 111 yards on the ground.

The two sides traded punts to open the third quarter but with just under six minutes remaining in the period, PCHS junior Khalil Foster intercepted a Poet pass and returned it 17 yards into Sidney Lanier territory. After a 19-yard pass from Omari Barrow to Kam Christian, Williams pounded his way inside the 5-yard line and Que Carter scored on a 2-yard run to extend the Bulldog lead to 21-13.

At the end of the third quarter, Sidney Lanier scored on a 10-yard run and a two-point conversion tied the score 21-21 going into the fourth quarter. Pike County answered right back, however, when Braylin Jackson took a screen pass from Barrow 65 yards for an electric go-ahead touchdown to put PCHS up 28-21.

The Bulldogs forced another punt and then ran the clock out to secure a positive end to the spring.

Pike County piled up 361 yards of offense with 195 yards on the ground and 166 yards through the air. Sidney Lanier totaled 264 yards in the game. Williams finished the game with 126 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries, while Jackson caught four passes for 113 yards and a touchdown. Barrow completed 8-of-10 passes for 157 yards and a touchdown along with 21 yards on the ground.

Defensively, Foster tallied nine tackles and an interception, while Hobdy earned six tackles and a tackle-for-loss and Williams had five tackles, two tackles-for-loss and a sack.

The C-Spire/Troy Cable Spring Classic continues today with Luverne facing off against Loachapoka at 1 p.m., followed by Carver-Birmingham vs. Monroe County at 4 p.m. and Charles Henderson vs. Hewitt-Trussville at 6 p.m.