Early in Thursday’s game, Martin Middle School wasn’t winning the battle at the line of scrimmage. Jemison was pushing the Bulldogs around and moving the ball with a power run game. 

The Bulldogs quickly put a stop to that.

After surrendering a 73-yard touchdown drive in the first quarter, the Bulldogs held Jemison to -4 yards the rest of the game. Joshua Brown ran for two touchdowns and passed for another to lead Martin to a 28-14 win.

“The defensive line played way better than the first half. We got drove back in the first half but in the second half we didn’t,” said Martin coach Jeremy White. “Our defensive tackles and nose guard stepped up. They were a lot better in the second half.”

The Bulldogs recovered a Jemison fumble on the first possession of the game and took over possession at the Martin 22-yard line. After gaining only two yards in three plays, the Bulldogs went to the air on fourth down.

Brown threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Marquavious Pullom, who juggled the ball but managed to bring it down in the end zone.

Jemison answered with its best run of the night. The Panthers drove the ball methodically down the field and tied the game on the first play of the second quarter.

Martin’s next possession ended with an incompletion on fourth down at the Jemison 30, but the Panthers fumbled the ball on the next play. Three plays later, Brown ran around right end for a 16-yard score to put the Bulldogs up 12-6.

The Bulldogs nearly scored again too. Jemison went three-and-out and then had a bad snap on a punt. The Panthers fell on the ball at their own 5-yard line, giving Martin great field position. After three unsuccessful attempts to find the end zone, the Bulldogs lined up for a fourth-and-goal at the 1-yard line. A bad snap bounced off Brown’s hands and rolled into the end zone, where Jemison fell on it for a touchback with just seconds left in the first half.

It looked as if neither team would score in the second half, but Martin finally broke through. The Bulldogs drove the ball 30 yards to set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Amari Thomas.

A two-point conversion by Brown put the Bulldogs up 22-6 with 2:37 left.

Jemison returned the ensuing kickoff 83 yards for a touchdown and added a two-point conversion to pull back within eight.

The Panthers tried an onside kick, but the Bulldogs fell on it.

On the third play of the next drive, Brown ran 40 yards around left end for a touchdown to put the game away.  The win puts Martin at 3-0 on the season, but White said their biggest two games of the year are next. Martin had 201 total yards in the game.

“We’ve got Maplesville and Clanton, so we are going to have to come play better than this when we play them,” White said.