Bullpups try to stay perfect in Cottondale

Marianna Middle School’s Alex Edwards (right) goes up for a pass during a game against Chipley earlier this season. The Bullpups will travel to Cottondale on Thursday night to take on the Hornets at 6 p.m.

By: Dustin Kent | Jackson County Floridan
Published: October 04, 2011

The Marianna Middle School Bullpups will look to stay unbeaten Thursday night when they travel to Cottondale to take on the Hornets at 6 p.m.

Marianna (5-0) is coming off of perhaps its biggest win of the season, a 42-12 triumph over Wewahitchka on Sept. 29.

In that game, the Bullpups rushed for 411 yards, with Herman Williams leading the way with 179 yards and two touchdowns on eight carries, and Quattre Coach with 155 yards and four touchdowns on 10 tries.

Alex Edwards also contributed 85 rushing yards to the Bullpups’ cause.

Cottondale (1-1) is playing in just its third game of the season due to two earlier cancellations, and will wrap up its season Thursday.

The Hornets won their first game 28-0 over Graceville on Sept 13, but lost their home debut last week to Emerald Coast 31-28.

Chris Hall led Cottondale with 225 rushing yards and four touchdowns on just nine carries in the loss, and Bullpups coach Hunter Nolen said keeping the Hornet running back in check was priority No. 1.

“He’s a pretty good running back, so we’ll try to key on him and stop him,” the coach said. “He’s a big-time player, so we need to key on him. Cottondale runs a Wing-T kind of offense, so our defense should be familiar with it. We’re looking forward to it. We’ll try to bring a big crowd over there. They’re right down the road, so it should be a good time.”

On the heels of their biggest win of the season, and with perhaps their stiffest challenge of the season still to come on Oct. 13 at Jefferson County, Nolen said it’s important for his Bullpups not to overlook Thursday’s game.

“We don’t need to have a letdown after the Wewa game,” the coach said. “We’ve got to keep the intensity up and try to have a good game. That was a really good team we beat (Wewa), and I was proud of them. But we don’t want to have a letdown here. I know Cottondale is hungry and they want to beat us, so we want to be ready.”

While Nolen said he didn’t want to look too far ahead, the Bullpups are two wins away from posting another undefeated season after losing two games in 2010.

“That’s something we talked about at the beginning of the year,” the coach said. “Every team here that goes undefeated gets a banner and a trophy in the trophy case. The guys are definitely focusing on it. We don’t have a bowl game, so the undefeated record is what we’re gearing towards right now.”