The Bulldog Football Report

Volume 1, Issue 9
November 4, 2015

In this edition of The Bulldog Football Report we will:

Break down the Village game with Coach Stephen Cochran and look ahead to the 2015 playoffs.
Take a look at how other Big East Conference teams fared last week and preview this week’s playoff schedule.

Village Game Review

Coming off a convincing win against cross town rival North Raleigh, the Bulldogs welcomed Village Christian to Bulldog Field for Senior Night. At stake was a proper send off for the Senior class and a favorable playoff seed in the upcoming NCISAA playoffs.

The Bulldogs set the tempo in the win over North Raleigh from the start and this week’s game showed some similarities with WCA scoring twice in the first quarter. First on a 6-yard TD run by Nathaniel Williams that was set up by a forced turnover and Adam Jones fumble recovery. On the drive the Bulldogs covered the short 14-yard journey to the end zone in four plays. The second score in the first half came on a Matthew Buffaloe 26-yard field goal.

The Village offense showed some signs of life late in the first, but these advances were limited by the Bulldogs D. After turning the Knights back on a fourth down attempt, the WCA offense sputtered. A huge Connor Collins run into the red zone was called back due to a holding penalty and after a large loss on third down, the Bulldogs punted it away to end the quarter. At the end of one, the Bulldogs led 9-0.

Village started firing on all cylinders before the end of the first quarter. QB Caleb Russell found Dorian Knight for a large gain through the air and as the teams returned to the field for the second quarter, Village put together a nice drive that ended in D.J. Whitfield 11-yard TD run. After the Dawson Hinkamp PAT, the Knights had cut the WCA lead to 9-7, the closest the score would be for the remainder of the game.

Whatever was said to the Bulldogs between the first and second quarter seemed to light a fire under the team, as the offense put together sustained drives that ate up yardage and clock while the defense helped the cause by forcing turnovers.

Trevin Muse scored on a 30 yard TD run midway through the second quarter and Matthew Buffaloe’s PAT made it a 16-7 WCA lead. Later in the quarter Greyson Williams fell on a Village fumble, which ultimately led to a 16-yard TD run by Aaron McLamb and a 22-7 WCA advantage. The Bulldogs found the end zone once more in the second quarter on a 53-yard TD pass from Nathaniel Williams to Connor Collins, extending the lead to 29-7 after the Matthew Buffaloe PAT. The Knights responded with some great work in the hurry up offense before the end of the first half, only to be shut down by the Bulldogs D in the red zone. The teams went into the break with the Bulldogs enjoying a 29-7 lead.

The Bulldogs received the kick to start the second half and immediately found themselves in great field position after Connor Collins returned the ball to midfield, which set up runs by Adam Jones and Seth Bunn to put the Bulldogs in the red zone. Despite a couple of flags, the Bulldogs were able to put it in the end zone again on a 30-yard TD run by Connor Collins. Matthew Buffaloe added a PAT for a 36-7 Bulldogs advantage.

The Bulldogs showed some promise on the offensive side of the ball during the remainder of the third quarter, but it was the Bulldogs D who would be heard from next courtesy of a 46-yard pick 6 by Trevin Muse that pushed the score to WCA 42 – Village 7 as the third quarter came to an end.

Village began the fourth quarter in impressive fashion. After Dorian Clark scored on a 1-yard TD run and Dawson Himkamp added a PAT to make it a 42-14 score, Tyler Eddy picked off a WCA pass to give the Knights great field position at the WCA 35, but Village couldn’t capitalize and after a great defensive stand by the Bulldog D, the Knights turned it over on downs.

The WCA offense would then put together a couple of long drives, marked by good runs made possible by great work from the offensive line. After a Connor Collins TD run was called back by a holding penalty, Cody Carpenter hit John Kirkpatrick with a 42-yard TD pass. Matthew Buffaloe tacked on the PAT for a 49-14 lead.

What followed was a great display of athleticism on both sides of the ball by T.J. Lowell and Aaron McLamb. After Lowell sacked Village QB Caleb Russell for a huge loss, McLamb had an interception to stop a Village drive and then contributed a long run to take the ball to midfield. Lowell helped the Bulldogs advance the ball into Village territory and later scored on a 1-yard TD run that was setup by a long Cody Carpenter run. Lowell added the PAT to make it a 56-14 game. At that point the score reflected a 42 point advantage for the Bulldogs and per state rules the game was played under a running clock.

Final score: WCA 56 – Village 14.

Quick notes…

Robert Roe led the Bulldogs with 14 tackles and a forced fumble…Connor Collins had 8 tackles and a forced fumble…Adam Jones had 3 sacks…Aaron McLamb and Trevin Muse each had an interception…Matthew Buffaloe and Greyson Williams each recovered a fumble…T.J. Lowell had a sack…The WCA defense forced 4 turnovers.
The Bulldogs generated 471 yards of total offense…Nathaniel Williams and Cody Carpenter each had a touchdown pass…Adam Jones led the rushing attack with 83 yards…Trevin Muse added 55 yards rushing and a touchdown…Grayson Williams had 49 yards rushing…Aaron McLamb, T.J. Lowell, Connor Collins, and Nathaniel Williams also had rushing touchdowns.
With the win WCA finishes the 2015 campaign with an impressive 7-3 record and a 2 seed in the NCISAA Division III state playoffs this weekend…with the loss Village finishes their season at 4-5, losing three of their last four games.

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 Village game.
CC: I loved our physicality and I think that has been a trend over the last half of the season. We are playing with a lot of passion and enthusiasm.

TBFR: As you prepare for the same Village team on Friday with substantially higher stakes, what are some of the things the Bulldogs should continue to do?
CC: We executed well on offense and on the defensive side of the ball we stuck to our assignments well. If we continue to play with passion and execute, I think we will like the outcome of the game when it is over.

TBFR: Looking at things to avoid, are there things the Bulldogs simply can’t do and be successful Friday night?
CC: We need to be aware of penalties and keep those to a minimum. The offensive line will have to play the way it did last week or that could affect the outcome negatively. We know this game has high stakes and with that is the potential for some extracurricular activity that we need to avoid.

TBRF: Do you prepare any differently when facing a team two weeks in a row?
CC: The biggest thing we have talked about is the concept of going 1 and 0 this week. We aren’t playing Village for the second week in a row. They are a different team and we are too. We don’t really try to prepare any differently, but I do think we really work on our focus.

If you’re going to the game:
Kickoff is at 7:00.

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 Scores – October 30, 2015

WCA 56 Village 14
Ravenscroft 44 Harrells 0
(With the win, Ravenscroft wins the 2015 Big East Conference.)
High Point 41 North Raleigh 2

Big East Playoff Games – November 6, 2015

Division III
Village at WCA

Division II
Hickory Grove at Harrells
North Raleigh at Cannon School
(Ravenscroft has a first round bye.)