Cass's miscues and Cedartown's rushing attack lead to a one-sided Bulldog win
September 21, 2024 Charles Wilson / BartowSportsZone.com
The Cedartown Bulldogs utilized a powerful wing-T rushing attack and took advantage of three special teams miscues in the first half to defeat visiting Cass, 36-0, on Friday night.
Running backs Sam Smith, Juelz Davis, and Michael Gibbons had touchdown runs for the Bulldogs in the first half. Kicker Edgar Bermudez kicked a pair of short field goals, and UCF-commit defensive back Demarcus Gardner returned one of his two interceptions for a 95-yard pick-six for most of the Cedartown scoring. They also added a safety late in the third quarter after the Cass defense stopped a potential touchdown drive on downs at the 1-yard line.
Three bad punt snaps by Cass set up a field goal and two touchdowns for Cedartown in the first half. The Bulldogs started scoring drives at the Cass 15-yard line, 28-yard line, and 20-yard line.
The Cass defense stiffened following the first miscue and held the Bulldogs to a 26-yard field goal by Bermudez. The kick gave Cedartown a 3-0 lead with 7:15 remaining in the first quarter.
Two possessions later, the Bulldogs put together their only sustained drive of the first half.
A 30-yard run by Clemson commit Tae Harris keyed the drive, and Sam Smith finished it with a 20-yard run around the right end. Bermudez added the first of his four PAT kicks to give Cedartown a 10-0 lead with 6:06 left in the half.
Cass's second bad punt snap set up a second short field at the 28-yard line. Four plays later, Juelz Davis scored on a 5-yard run to give the Bulldogs a 17-0 advantage with 3:36 left in the second quarter.
The Cass offense's three-and-out was followed by another poor snap, which was punted under pressure but only got back to the line of scrimmage.
Starting at the Cass 20-yard line, Cedartown needed only three plays to punch in a 7-yard run by fullback Michael Gibbons with 1:20 remaining before the intermission.
The Bulldogs carried a 24-0 advantage to the locker room.
On the second half's opening drive, Cedartown methodically drove to the Cass 1-yard line before turning the ball over on downs. The drive took 7:47 off the clock and led to a safety when Cass quarterback Elijah Slocum was tackled in the end zone on the ensuing play. This gave the Bulldogs a 26-0 lead with 4:07 remaining in the third quarter.
Cedartown returned the Cass free kick after the safety to their 36-yard line and put together another lengthy drive with their running game and the aid of two 15-yard penalties on the Colonels.
Bermudez kicked a 22-yard field goal to culminate the Bulldogs’ 13-play, 55-yard drive and gave Cedartown a 29-0 lead with 9:31 remaining in the game.
The Colonels marched their next possession into Cedartown territory, reaching the Bulldogs’ 39-yard line. However, a pass by Slocum was picked off at the 5-yard line by Gardner and returned 95 yards for the final Cedartown points and a 36-0 lead with 6:00 remaining.
Cass drove into Cedartown territory again, but Gardner picked off another pass to halt any late scoring ideas the Colonels fancied.
8th-ranked Cedartown improved to 6-0 overall and 2-0 in Region 7-AAAA.
Cass (3-3, 0-2) has now dropped three straight after a 3-0 start. The Colonels will look to bounce back on Friday when they host Woodland in a 7:30 p.m. kickoff.
