Sports

BOBCAT SENIOR MACHINE ROLLS TO 41-8 VICTORY OVER HAMBURG LIONS

By Terry Hawkins/SPECIAL TO THE COMMERCIAL
Friday, November 6, 2009 2:18 AM CST

DUMAS — Darion Griswold threw four touchdown passes, three of them to Pierce Lacy, as the Dumas Bobcats rolled to a 41-8 Senior Night victory over the Hamburg Lions at Tidwell Field on Thursday night.

The win gives Dumas an 8-2 record, 5-2 in the 8-4A Conference, entering a home playoff game next Friday against the No. 4 seed from 1-4A. The Lions finish the season at 4-6 overall and 3-4 in league play.

A win would have given Hamburg, a surprise 7-6 winner over Warren last week, the fifth seed from 8-4A.

Griswold threw an interception on his first attempt on the game’s opening possession, then completed five straight, beginning with a 76-yard bomb to Lacy with 7:28 left in the opening period that, with the first of Julio Mondragon’s four PATs, gave the Bobcats a 7-0 lead.

Lacy recovered a Hamburg fumble on the ensuing kickoff and three plays later hauled in a 36-yard touchdown pass from Griswold.

The Lions reached the Dumas 37 before punting on fourth-and-short and Sherodrick Smith took the ball on a bounce inside the five and made it to the 17 to likely keep the ball from rolling dead inside the five.

Fellow senior running back Jamarean Buchannan broke loose to the 40 on first down, then Smith ran to the Lion 47 before his 23-yard carry was nullified by a holding call.

Griswold had four more completions in five tries to move the Bobcats to the 17, and from there he connected with Smith for a touchdown with 11:15 left in the half. The PAT kick try was blocked, leaving Dumas on top 20-0.

A bad snap forced a run out of a punt formation on Hamburg’s next possession and Dumas took over at the Lion 40. A 15-yard bullet from Griswold to senior Wade Williams set up Lacy’s third touchdown catch, a 25-yarder with 6:12 left in the half, then senior Barry Boney, who was moved from end to linebacker two weeks ago after personnel changes were made on the Dumas roster, recovered a fumble at the Hamburg 34 on the following kickoff.

Runs by Smith and Buchannan set up Buchannan’s 9-yard scoring run with 4:28 left and he added the two-pointer to make it 35-0, which set the running clock in motion with the second half kickoff.

The Lions failed on fourth-and-short when Darrin Armstrong and Mantrell Ward dropped Chris Tharpe at the Dumas 45 and the Bobcats added to their lead when Buchannan, on fourth-and-9 from the Hamburg 43, broke out of a crowd, reversed field twice, broke three tackles and split several defenders as he gained blockers to finally cross the goal line with 32.2 seconds remaining in the half.

A bad snap led to an incomplete pass on the PAT as the Bobcats carried a 41-0 lead into the intermission.

The Dumas starters forced a Lion punt to open the third quarter and ran one series before punting, then Hamburg scored against the Bobcat reserves with 6:45 left in the game when junior quarterback Austin Fitts threw for eight yards to James Morton for a touchdown and passed to his senior teammate on the two-point conversion to make it 41-8.

Dumas had one more series before giving up the ball on downs with about 1:15 left and the Lions got off one pass play before time expired.

Griswold was 10-of-18 for 200 yards with four touchdowns and one interception. Buchannan led all rushers with 84 yards on six carries, and Smith added 48 on seven tries as the Bobcats stayed in the air most of the night.

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