The Bulldog Football Report

The Bulldog Football Report
Volume 1, Issue 11
November 19, 2015

In this week’s edition of The Bulldog Football Report, we will:

• Break down the Concord First Assembly Academy game with Coach Stephen Cochran and look ahead to this week’s state championship.
• Take a look at how other Big East Conference teams fared last week and preview this week’s playoff schedule.

Concord First Assembly Academy Game Review

In the time Coach Stephen Cochran has been head coach of the WCA football team, big games have come and gone, but maybe none of them have been any bigger than last week’s match up with Concord First Assembly Academy in the semifinals of the NCISAA Division III football bracket. At stake was a place in the championship game, the first for WCA in 11 man football since 1985,  against High Point Christian or Rabun Gap-Nacoochee.

How would the Bulldogs respond? For starters, they responded exactly how anyone who has been following this year’s team would expect – with a smothering defense. WCA held CFAA to just 106 yards total offense. In addition, the WCA offensive line came up big, giving the offense the boost it needed to score on the ground and in the air. Despite a second half hiccup, the Bulldogs controlled the game start to finish as they rolled to a 29-14 win and a place in the state championship game at High Point.

The Bulldogs opened the scoring on a 27 yard field goal by Matthew Buffaloe midway through the first quarter. We mentioned defense and it was on display early, as Greyson Williams picked off a CFAA pass before the end of the first quarter to stall the Eagles offense.

Early in the second quarter, Andrew Spain jumped on a fumble to give WCA great field position in the CFAA red zone. Trevin Muse turned that field position into a 13-yard TD run and after the Matthew Buffaloe PAT, the Bulldogs enjoyed a 10-0 lead. That score was followed by a 55-yard TD hookup from Nathaniel Williams to Connor Collins, pushing the lead to 16-0 midway through the second quarter. CFAA put together a nice drive toward the end of the second quarter, only to see the drive thwarted by a John Toler interception, preserving a 16-0 WCA lead as the teams headed to the break.

Out of the halftime break, the Bulldog D stopped CFAA’s first drive of the second half and a long punt return by Adam Jones gave WCA great field position which they turned into points by way of a 25-yard TD pass from Nathaniel Williams to Trevin Muse. Matthew Buffaloe added a PAT to make it a 23-0 WCA lead midway through the third quarter. The Bulldogs would score again on a 3-yard TD run to push the lead to 29-0, where it would stay until CFAA put together two scoring drives, ultimately pulling the score back to a 29-14 advantage, where it would stay.

Final score: WCA 29 Concord First Assembly 14

With the win the Bulldogs move to 9-3 on the season and move to the state final game of the NCISAA Division III bracket at High Point Christian. With the loss, Concord First Assembly finishes the season at an impressive 7-5, which included a playoff win over previously unbeaten Metrolina Christian.

Quick notes…

The 9 wins this season is the most by a WCA team since the 11 put up by the 2000 State Champion team…this year’s trip to the championship game is the first for a WCA team since the Bulldogs 2003 8-Man state championship…With a win over High Point, the Bulldogs will secure their 11th state football title.

Will Cruikshank led the Bulldog D with 8 tackles…Greyson Williams and John Toler each had an interception…Camden Woods and Andrew Spain each has a fumble recovery…Woods also had 1 1/2 sacks…Greyson Williams and Connor Collins each had a sack…The Bulldog D limited Concord First Assembly to just 106 yards of total offense.

Adam Jones led the WCA ground attack with 55 yards rushing…Trevin Muse added 36 yards and had rushing and receiving TDs…Seth Bunn also had a rushing TD…Connor Collins led the WCA receivers with 61 yards and a TD…Adam Jones had 30 yards receiving and John Kirkpatrick 28…Cody Carpenter had 100 yards passing and 1 TD pass…Nathaniel Williams had 54 yards passing and 1 TD pass…The Bulldogs ran 53 plays for 287 yards of total offense.

The Post-game with Coach Cochran

The Bulldog Football Report spoke to Coach Cochran after the Village game and he offered the following analysis:

TBFR: Coach Cochran give us your overall thoughts on the Concord First Assembly game?
CC: Overall it was a very physical game. They were very well coached and did a great job, as we expected. We knew they had no quit, so it was no surprise they made a little run late in the game. They are a class act top to bottom.

TBFR: As you prepare for High Point on Friday night, what are some of the things the Bulldogs should continue to do?
CC: We have to continue to play good defense, swarm to the ball. We played well on third down against Concord First Assembly. Our offense line played also well and we will want to continue to execute.

TBFR:  Looking at things to avoid, are there things the team simply can’t do and expect success against High Point?
CC: We need to finish. We knew they weren’t going to lay down. I saw that on film and respected them for that. I thought when we pushed the lead to 29-0 we might have started thinking about the next game and not about finishing the game we were in and we saw that with their long punt return for a touchdown.

TBFR: How is our team different from the team that played High Point earlier in the season?
CC: We are more unified and have really come together as a team. I feel like we really transitioned into the team concept during the second half of the Ravenscroft game. Win or lose this weekend, that will always be a defining moment for this year’s team.

TBFR: Clearly High Point is a different team as well. Do you use anything from that game in preparation or is it more or less history?
CC: We are approaching this week as another football game and thinking in terms of going 1-0. As we prepare the focus is on everyone doing his job.

If you’re going to the game…
Kickoff is at 7:00PM at High Point Athletic Complex, located at 2920 School Park Road in High Point.

Be sure to check the WCA Twitter page every Friday for the “Friday Twitter Roll” where TBFR will preview the week’s opponent.

Big East Conference Playoff Scores – November 13, 2015

Division III
WCA 29 Concord First Assembly Academy 14

Division III Ravenscroft  38 Cannon School 7 Christ School 44 Harrells 43

Big East Conference Playoff Games – November 20, 2015

Division III Championship
WCA at High Point 7:00PM

Division III Championship
Christ School at Ravenscroft 7:00PM