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By Caleb Thomas

The Pike County Bulldogs (4-6, 4-3) traveled to New Brockton to take on the Gamecocks (3-7, 2-5) and won 42-7 in a region matchup to close the regular season. However the Bulldogs were eliminated from the playoffs as Ashford beat Daleville.

“I thought we played well in all phases of the game,” said Pike County head coach Mark Hurt. “We finally played a complete game, and I’m proud of the kids.

“Everyone showed up and continued to play, and we have a lot of young players coming back next year.”

Pike County’s defense forced 4 turnovers in the first half to put the contest away, taking a 35-7 lead into the locker room. The Gamecocks fumbled the ball away three times in the half and threw an interception. The Bulldogs forced two more turnovers in the second half.

“The defense got of us out of some bad situations tonight,” said Hurt. “They played well and played hard tonight.”

The Bulldogs started the game with a fumble recovery by Kamarian Toney, and promptly drove down the field to score on a rushing touchdown from Braylin Jackson to go up 7-0. Jackson finished the game with 8 carries for 55 yards and a touchdown, also pulling in 4 passes for 85 yards and a touchdown through the air.

New Brockton tied the game back up with a drive of its own, but Bulldogs receiver and defensive back Khalil Foster took the ensuing kickoff 85 yards to the house to give Pike County the lead back.

After that, Pike County never looked back, piling on in the first half. New Brockton fumbled the kickoff, allowing Pike County to score again. Azhoree Eutsey found Artrayvian Davenport for a 32-yard touchdown on a fourth-and-long, making it a 21-7 game late in the first quarter.

The Bulldogs forced two turnovers in the second quarter, capitalizing off of them with a potent offense. Eutsey – who finished the game 8-for-21 passing with 192 yards and 2 touchdowns – threw a 50-yard touchdown pass to Jackson following another Gamecock fumble.

“Our freshman quarterback looked great tonight, and that looks great for the future,” said Hurt. “We’re going to build on tonight.”

Antavious Redmon leaped up for an acrobatic interception late in the second quarter, and the Bulldogs scored another touchdown to make it 35-7. New Brockton brought the ball inside the Pike County 5-yard line with under five seconds remaining in the half, but couldn’t punch it in.

Although the Bulldogs fumbled the opening kickoff of the second half, their defense stood tall, forcing a turnover on downs inside their own 10-yard line. The teams traded punts to end the third quarter before Pike County put together a long drive down the field.

Eutsey ran in a four-yard touchdown to make it a 42-7 game, and New Brockton fumbled yet another kickoff right after. Pike County threw an interception, but the defense forced another turnover on downs after a Gamecock drive down the field.

A short punt set up a short field for New Brockton, but Foster picked off a pass to seal the game.

Pike County finishes the season at 4-6 and 4-3 in region play, barely missing the 4A playoffs.