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By Caleb Thomas

The Pike County Bulldogs (3-3, 3-1) beat the Daleville Warhawks (0-6, 0-4) by a score of 40-0 in front of a raucous home crowd at its homecoming game, scoring a season-high in points.

The Bulldogs used a potent air attack and suffocating defense to down the Warhawks.

“I thought we played a little sloppy in the first half, but we got it together at halftime,” said Bulldog head coach Mark Hurt. “We improved in the second half and gave a team effort.”

Braylin Jackson was a star from the first drive, intercepting a pass to put the Bulldogs in good field position. He caught 6 passes for 119 yards and two touchdowns on the offensive side of the ball for the game.

“Braylin is an athlete,” Hurt said. “He’s used to making plays and we just have to put him in the right situation.”

After the Jackson interception, running back Quentavian Carter broke off a 30-yard touchdown run to put Pike County up 7-0. Carter finished the game with 106 rushing yards and two touchdowns on just 9 carries.

Although turnovers prevented the Bulldogs from getting into the end zone again in the first quarter, the defense forced a safety to make it 9-0.

Pike County was outstanding on defense, led by Mark Griffen and Renaldo Slater. Griffen had two sacks and a fumble recovery while Slater picked up a tackle for loss and a sack from the defensive line.

“We played well on defense,” Hurt said. “Our Achilles heel this season has been coverage, but we did better with that tonight and we’ll continue to work on that phase of the game.”

Quarterback A’zhoree Eutsey had a dominant second quarter to put the game out of reach. After connecting with Artrayvian Davenport for a 17-yard touchdown, the Bulldogs recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff.

Eutsey took no time to get on the board again, finding Jackson in the end zone for a 29-yard touchdown to make it 23-0. He finished the game 13-of-17 passing for 221 yards and 3 touchdowns.

A field goal with just over a minute left in the first half gave Pike County a 26-0 lead heading into the locker room.

In the second half, the Bulldogs picked up right where they left off, with Eutsey airing it out to Jackson for a 62-yard touchdown to open the third quarter.

After yet another stop, Carter picked up his second touchdown of the night from 20 yards out to extend the lead to 40-0.

Pike County looks to continue its momentum at home next week against Straughn. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. next Friday, Oct. 11.