Dallas County wins over Marbury, keeps postseason hopes alive
Published 12:28 am Saturday, October 8, 2016
A Marbury player fumbles the ball during Friday night’s game against Dallas County. Anthonie Rubin, right, tries to pounce on the fumble. He had a fumble recovery in the game and a touchdown run. –Justin Averette
Dallas County picked up a key 48-20 regional win over Marbury in front of the home crowd Friday.
The ball was on the ground a lot in the first quarter as both teams fumbled multiple times in a scoreless first quarter.
“We shot ourselves in the foot in the first half, and we left points out there on the board,” said DCHS head coach Marty Smith. “Give credit to Marbury on that. They were doing some things and stripping the ball and doing a good job fighting and clawing.”
Dallas County started to drive the ball in the second quarter.
However, disaster was avoided when Anthonie Rubin recovered a fumble on the 3-yard line. The next play, Calvin Starks ran the ball in for a 6-yard touchdown to put the Hornets up 6-0.
It didn’t take Marbury long to answer though. Brandon Wilkes ran the ensuing kickoff back 75 yards. A successful PAT put the Bulldogs up 7-6, which would end up being the team’s only lead of the night.
Both teams would score again before halftime. Starks got his second touchdown off a 1-yard run with 1:18 to go before the break. Darrell Moorer ran in the two-point conversion to pad the Hornets lead to seven.
Marbury added a score with nine seconds in the half but couldn’t convert the PAT, which left things at 14-13.
The fireworks would really start for Dallas County in the second half. The team added five touchdowns, including one on defense to put the game away.
Scores included an 11-yard run by Starks, his third score of the game; a fumble in the end zone recovery for Mario Simmons; a 5-yard run by Rubin; and two big runs by Moorer, including a 14-yard run and a 75-yard gash, which would cap DCHS scoring for the night.
Joseph Lowery had an interception in the second half for the Hornets, as did SeVaughn Brown to end the Bulldogs’ last drive.
Dallas County (3-4, 2-2) travels to Jemison next week in another game with playoff implications.
“We still have two region games left. We control out own destiny,” Smith said. “If we win the next two we are in the playoffs. If we don’t then we have a lot of work to do.”
