The ever-dangerous Pike County Bulldog defense forced eight turnovers Friday night and closed out the regular season with a 35-0 win over Washington County.

Jahmir Lampley caused three of the turnovers when he picked off a trio of Washington County passes.

“They were my first interceptions in varsity football,” Lampley said. “It was big. I wanted to help our guys win on senior night and go out with a W on senior night.”

The defense has been a dominant force all season and after struggling a bit last week it was nice for head coach Fred Holland to see his defense rebound.

“We were fortunate to be able to keep that team out of the end zone,” Holland said. “It was a true testament to how hard our guys work.”

The game started slow by both offenses. Pike County scored the first touchdown in the second quarter.

Both Pike County and Washington County came out on their opening possession and went three and out. Pike County struggled to move the ball forward, falling being the chains early with three opening drive penalties.

Washington County looked to capitalized and went on a 14-play drive that ended near the Pike County Bulldog goal line. Washington County attempted to run the ball in, but the ball was stripped by Pike County and recovered by Cory Batie.

After Batie returned the football 53 yards, Pike County was able to sustain a successful drive. Featuring a heavy run game by senior quarterback Jerrell Lawson, the Bulldogs were able to finish off the final 47-yards when Deshon Cowling capped off the drive by running in for the score from 12-yards out to give Pike County the lead early in the second quarter.

After the touchdown, Pike County’s defense came to life, specifically Lampley. With the ball positioned near midfield, Washington County attempted a jump pass that was picked off with ease by Lampley.

In their next drive, Washington County drove the ball all the way down to the Pike County 24-yard line when Lampley once again picked off the pass to end the threat.

“Coach Doug Holland has done such a great job working with some of those young guys,” Holland said. “We have learned a lot since last week and we will continue to work on what will make us successful.”

Pike County who has relied on Cowling all season long to help drive the offense down the field, was mostly silent in the first half.

Cowling ran the ball for 29 yards on just five carries and didn’t touch the ball until the second quarter

Lawson and Jackson picked up the slack in the first half with 14 and 21 yards respectively.

Pike County didn’t waste any time coming out in the second half. After Lawson and Cowling began the drive with two runs for 12 yards, Lawson hit Cowling on a laser of pass that Cowling ran in for a 57-yard touchdown to extend the lead for Pike County.

The defense continued to role and stuffed Washington County on a fourth and one to take over possession at their own 41-yard line.

As the game turned over into the fourth quarter, the Bulldog defense stepped up and turned the ball over for the fourth time when Lawson made a play on the ball and picked off the pass.

After a three and out by the Bulldogs, the defense picked up their fifth turnover when Jackson Kamari Jackson recovered the fumble.

Lampley closed out his interception streak when he picked off the Bulldogs for the third and final time of the ball game. This time Pike County capitalized when Cowling ran right up the middle for an 80-yard touchdown run to put the Bulldogs up 21-0.

The defense wasn’t done, though. Michael Rumph hauled in the seventh turnover of the game when he picked off another Washington County pass. Jackson made it worthwhile when he hammered in a one-yard touchdown run to give Pike County the 28-0 lead.

Pike County closed out he turnover fest and the scoring when Batie picked off a pass and returned it for yet another touchdown.

Cowling, much like his teammates, had a better second half. The senior closed the night rushing for 184 yards to lead the team in rushing once again.

The Bulldogs finish the year with a 9-1 record and will begin play in the Class 3A state playoffs next week when they host the Aliceville Yellow Jackets at Bulldogs Stadium.

“We will enjoy this win tonight and come back in this weekend and start looking at some stuff on Aliceville,” Holland said. “We will start getting ready for them.”

 

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