Saturday, September 12, 2009

Hickory Ridge Ragin Bulls vs. East Rowan Mustangs

It was another exciting and hard fought game for the Hickory Ridge Ragin Bulls.  But in the end, it was the turnovers and penalities that would make the difference.  In the fourth quarter the Ragin Bulls threw three passes for interceptions.  On the ground, they lost three fumbles during the course of the game.  This gave the Ragin Bulls six total turnovers.  In addition to turnovers, the Ragin Bulls were penalized seven times for 50 yards.  The end result was a Mustangs victory over the Ragin Bulls.  The final score was 28 to 22.

A fumble by the Ragin Bulls on their first possession would allow the Mustangs to get off to a kicking start .  They would go ahead early in the first quarter 14-0.  Preston Troutman of the Mustangs would make two long receptions for touchdowns.  Thrown by Quentin Sifford, the first touchdown reception was for 53 yards and was the Mustangs first offensive play of the game.  The second touchdown reception was thrown by Jamey Blalock and was for 55 yards.

The Ragin Bulls would not give up!  They scored three touchdowns in the second quarter!  Cody Cothren would score first with a hard fought run for 19 yards.  Next up, it would be Cody Cothren again, with a 9 yard touchdown reception from senior quarterback Nick Moelle.  Now it would be quarterback Blake Sides turn, with a 24 yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver John Martinez.  The Ragin Bulls were ahead at halftime 20-14.

The second half was all East Rowan.  The Mustangs scored two touchdowns in the second half and shut down the Ragin Bull offense.  In the third quarter, Quentin Sifford would score with a 56 yard run.  In the fourth quarter the Mustangs would score another touchdown with a 5 yard run from the redzone.  As the clock wound down, the Mustangs punter delibertely ran the ball into the endzone for the safety.  This gave the Ragin Bulls their only score of the second half.  The final score was East Rowan 28, Ragin Bulls 22.

It was more of a passing game for the Ragin Bulls.  They threw the ball 18 times for 10 receptions and 165 yards. They rushed the ball for 153 yards, compared to the Mustangs 245 yards.  Even though the Mustangs threw the ball ony 9 times for the 3 receptions, 2 of those receptions were for touchdowns.  The Mustangs had no interceptions and two fumbles, compared to the Ragin Bulls three interceptions and three fumbles.  The turnover ratio was three to one in favor of the Mustangs.  In the end, it was these turnovers that plagued the Ragin Bulls and was the real story of the game.

Ragin Bull running back Brian Baltimore had an excellent game again with 23 carries for 138 yards averaging 6 yards/carry.  Cody Cothren also had a great game.  In only 2 quarters of play, Cody had 68 yards of total offense and 2 touchdowns that brought the Ragin Bulls from behind to tie the game.  Luke Robinson threw a 43 yard pass to John Martinez in a nice trick play called by the Ragin Bulls coaching staff.  John Martinez had 5 receptions in the game for 102 yards averaging 20.4 yards/reception.

On the defense, Ragin Bull lineman Cole Lilly had exceptional play making more than 10 tackles.  Other linemen Dillon Burdette and Eugene Antwi had good games as well, trying to contain the Mustangs option.   In the skilled positions, Ryan McGill and Nathan Furr stoodout, making several tackles in the Ragin Bulls secondary.

Next up is Porter Ridge away.  The game is next Friday, 9/18/09.  Kickoff time is 7:30pm.  Everybody please show up to support our Ragin Bulls football team in this all important non-conference matchup.  See you at the game and Go Bulls!

P.S.-Voting for the "Play of the Week" for the East Rowan game will start this coming Monday afternoon.  So please make sure to cast your vote.  Also, please continue to vote on this website for the "Play of the Week" for the Central Cabarrus game.  Voting for the Central Cabarrus game will end this coming Monday at noon.  To vote just go to the "Play of the Week" sidebar on the right bottom of this website.  And if you can, go to the Carolina Panthers home game tomorrow against Philadelphia and check out the Ragin Bulls winning "Play of the Week" video highlight on the Jumbotron of the Bank of America Stadium.  Thanks for your continued support!

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