CARL JUNCTION, Mo. — Six different Carl Junction Bulldogs found the end zone and their defense and special teams completed a shutout during their 42-0 turbo clock win Friday night against Central Ozark Conference foe Willard at Bulldog Stadium.
The Bulldogs set the tone early when they stopped Willard for no gain on fourth down at the 3-yard line after the Tigers put together a promising opening drive and then Carl Junction put together a 97-yard scoring drive on eight plays in 2 minutes, 43 seconds.
On the Bulldogs’ second play from scrimmage, junior quarterback Dexter Merrell hit a wide-open senior Ayden Bard in the flat and Bard worked a 41-yard gain out to near-midfield. Carl Junction converted a third-and-long with a 21-yard pass play and junior running back Johnny Starks opened the scoring with a 16-yard touchdown run.
“I tell you what, Willard had a great first drive of the night there,” Carl Junction coach Doug Buckmaster said. “Had some chunk yardage plays, three or four of them right in a row, and it didn’t look good for the Bulldogs right there for a little bit. We had a great stop there and followed it up with a 97-yard scoring drive.
“Real proud of our kids. They kept competing and didn’t give up any points, then went and scored points. They played hard, and they played great.”
Carl Junction took a 21-0 halftime lead with a 16-yard TD pass from Merrell to senior Malakhi Moore and a Merrell 11-yard scoring run accounting for the Bulldogs’ points in the second.
Junior running back Tony Stewart broke loose for a 57-yard touchdown run on the fourth play after halftime and Merrell and Bard connected on a 77-yard touchdown pass late in the third for a 35-0 lead after three quarters.
Fan favorite freshman running back Marcus Lopez-Durman closed out the scoring at 4:51 remaining with a 5-yard touchdown run.
The Bulldogs’ scoring drives amounted to 97, 60, 78, 71, 77, and 57 yards, producing 440 yards of total offense alone from those six drives.
“It was a great night,” Buckmaster said. “We had well over 500 yards of total offense. We did some good things tonight. I think we rushed tonight for 233 and threw for 288. Something like that, so good balance with our offense and our kids played well.”
The Bulldogs achieved their first shutout of the season, as the Tigers finished with four punts, a pair of turnover on downs, and one pass intercepted by Tony Stewart.
“I was really concerned that we would struggle with their passing game coming in,” Buckmaster said. “Our kids did a great job playing within schemes and they didn’t get the ball thrown over their head. As the game progressed, we were able to get a little more pressure on them. It was a great night for our defense, and proud of those kids. Coach (Steve) Patterson had a good gameplan, and we played well.”
The Bulldogs honored all their seniors before the game.
“It was Senior Night tonight and I’m just really pleased those kids could get a win and a shutout,” Buckmaster said. “We’ve got a tough one next week.”
Carl Junction, 3-5 overall and COC, finishes out the regular season next week against 5-3 Republic, who just handed the Nixa Eagles their first loss of the season with a 36-35 overtime victory Friday night.
“We look forward to going to Republic,” Buckmaster said. “They’re a fine football team and we’ll have to step our game up, for sure.”
