Ailing Bulldogs crumpled by Creekside

Published 10:13 pm Thursday, September 12, 2024

MCDONOUGH – It was another tough week for the GMC Prep football team.

The Bulldogs (0-5) went on the road Thursday and lost to Creekside Christian Academy (2-3), 43-7.

Originally scheduled for Friday, the non-region bout was moved up to Thursday due to inclement weather concerns and questions of how well Creekside’s field would hold up to three consecutive days of rain.

It’s pretty common in Georgia for games to move to Thursday when weather becomes an issue. This week’s matchups between Thomson and Swainsboro as well as Lincoln County and Elbert County were among a few others in the state to see their kickoff dates altered.

Not much went right Thursday for GMC Prep, who is still operating at well below 100% with multiple players missing in action due to injury. Only two regular starters were able to play along the offensive line, among other ongoing maladies. Turnovers hurt as well, keeping what could have been a winnable game out of reach.

Trailing 20-0 late in the second quarter, any hopes of the Bulldogs rallying at the break were pretty well squashed in the half’s closing seconds. Creekside kicked the football off with 11 ticks remaining, but the Bulldogs fumbled it away. The opportunistic Cougars scooped the ball up and ran it in for a TD to go up four scores at halftime.

“It was about as bad of a night of football we could’ve had,” first-year GMC Prep head coach Gavin Tierce said in a postgame phone interview. “We had three special teams turnovers yet again, two of which ended up in scores. Offensively we would move the ball pretty well, but then our lack of depth caught up to us. Creekside was more physical than us tonight. I think that kind of decided the game.”

Next up is what will surely be a welcomed bye week for a GMC squad still searching for its first win. It’s a good segue to the back half of the schedule, which is made up entirely of region opponents. Even after suffering five losses, the Bulldogs have the opportunity to put all that behind them and try to clinch a playoff berth over these next five games.

“Our kids need the bye week,” said Tierce. “I need it and our coaching staff needs it. But it’s no excuse. We’ve still got to continue to get better. Going into region play we’re hoping to get some more guys back. I think we’ll get better.”

GMC Prep takes the field again Friday, Sept. 27 at Twiggs County to open region play.