Marshall Duncan
Despite just one offensive touchdown in the first half by the GMC Bulldogs Saturday, a defensive shutout that included 5 interceptions and one that was returned for six lead the team past Erie CC 40-0.
On the Kats opening drive, Olajuwan Paige picked off a pass and returned it for the Bulldogs first score of the game.
The Bulldogs next score would come on a Tobias Palmer run which saw the GMC tailback run to the left sideline before cutting back into the middle of the field and run it in for the score.
“He’s kind of stepping forward and becoming more a part of the offense. He’s a very talented young man. He’s finally starting to feel comfortable with what we’re doing and understand where we’re trying to get to and still he makes some mental busts like a lot of the freshmen do. He is really coming along and has some speed and some evasivness,” said GMC head coach Bert Williams.
Palmer finished the day with 112 yards on 7 carries and the TD.
A failed two point conversion kept the Bulldogs at 12-0 despite three chances in the redzone that failed to produce points.
Quarterbacks Joei Fiegler and Dallas Walker split time under center with both having their ups and downs with protections and dropped passes.
“We just did not have all 11 on the same page in the first half. We had some problems with both quarterbacks setting protections and we got a little frustrated,” said Williams.
“But we were running the ball really well for the most part. We made some mistakes in the passing game that were our own doing. It wasn’t anything that Erie put us into, it was just a poor executing that part of the game. we had a few drops that would have been scores. We were a bit disjointed the first half and couldn’t string together enough plays to drive down or finish off the drive.”
However a 28-point explosion in the second half compensated for the first half struggles.
Fiegler would finish the day with 9 for 16 with 150 yards and 2 touchdowns while Walker was 7 for 14 with 139 yards and a TD strike.
Tailback Steven Robinson added 89 yards and a score on the ground.
Brandon Nolley led all receivers with 8 catches for 91 yards and two TDs. Chleb Ravenell had 4 catches for 108 yards and a score.
While the offensive numbers are impressive in its own right, the defense is to thank for much of that as four second half interceptions aided the attack including picks by Calvin West, Alonza Poe, Ja’Quayvin Smalls and Carlton Johnson.
“The shutout really felt like our dogs and linebacking bunch did a great job on the day. They tried to spread us out and do the bubble screens and you’ve got to have good coverage from your dogs and linebackers to beat that from those undeneath people and I felt like our guys did a great job on that in addition to shutting down the running game.”
Wins by all of the teams ahead of GMC in the NJCAA polls will likely mean that GMC will remain No. 4 when the latest polls are released today.
However, with one game to go against Lackawanna next week, the Bulldogs will have one last chance to advance in the polls before the bowl games in the first week of December.
The Bulldogs are not guaranteed a spot in one of the six bowls, but have a strong chance if they can win this next week in Scranton, Pa.
“Lackawanna is a very good team. They’re 7-2. They lost a close one to Dean who’s undefeated. They’re big, they’ll try to pound you off the ball on offense and they’ve got a lot of guys returning,” Williams said.
Lackawanna will attempt to run the ball on a Bulldogs defense which has been stingy to the running game all season.
“They’re going to try and do something no one else has done to us which is run the ball effectively. We’ve got to play well on defense and make sure we can play 2 halves of really good football.”
The Falcons are undefeated this season at home and another long road trip for the Bulldogs will be another test.
“We’ll have a long trip up to Pennsylvania. We’ve handled our trips pretty well with the exception of the Navarro trip.”
