Bulldog running game dominates in GRC finale at Maysville

The Trenton Bulldogs rallied from a two-point halftime deficit, overtaking the Maysville Wolverines late in the third quarter, and holding on in the fourth for a 42-29 win at the Cemetery Bowl, broadcast Friday night on Hot Country Z 101.7.

The THS running attack, showing vast improvement over the final 5 weeks of the regular season, was on full display on a chilly and calm night, with Jaran Whitney running 14 times for 225 yards while Mark Trump carried 23 times for 127 yards.  Every yard was necessary for Trenton, as the Bulldog defense struggled to slow down a Maysville option attack that racked up 195 yards from JaKob Wade and 115 from quarterback Mallan Cole.

Trenton opened the scoring fest 59 seconds into the game, with Sam Schilling hitting Dalton Burchett on a 76 yard fly pattern up the east sideline, with the Schilling extra point making the score 7-0.  Maysville answered the score, and took an 8-7 lead after the first quarter, on a 19 yard touchdown run by Cole, and a two-point conversion pass to Blayne Kolb, with 53 seconds left in the first.

Trenton, just nine seconds into the second quarter, struck again with the “long ball”, as Schilling connected with Whitney on a 58 yard pass and run, with the extra point sliced outside of the post, leaving Trenton up 13-8.  On the ensuing kickoff, the Wolverines returned the ball to the 20, but two Trenton unsportsmanlike conduct penalties pushed the ball to midfield.  Wade went untouched to the end zone on the next play, with the Sander extra point making it 15-13 Wolverines at the half.

Maysville extended the lead to 22-13 midway through the third quarter, finishing off a 4-plus minute drive with a three-yard scoring run by Cole and the extra point from Sander.  However, Jaran Whitney answered for Trenton, just 39 seconds later, on a 45 yard scoring dash.  Whitney added the two-point run to cut the Wolverines advantage to 22-21.

The game shifting play occurred on Maysville’s next possession, as the Wolverines drive was short-circuited by a fumble, recovered by THS at the 44 yard line.  The ‘Dogs turned the turnover into immediate points, and the lead, as Dalton Burchett caught a pass at the line of scrimmage, and tip-toed up the west sideline for a 35 yard score, with the Schilling PAT making it 28-22 Bulldogs at the end of three.

The see-saw affair continued into the fourth with Trenton’s running game looking unstoppable.  A 25 yard scoring strike from Schilling to Whitney made the score 35-22 just over one minute into the stanza.  A Wade four-yard scamper, combined with the PAT, drew Maysville within 35-29 with 4:51 remaining, but Whitney, on the next play from scrimmage for THS, weaved his way through the Maysville secondary for a 61 yard scoring run, leaving Trenton up 42-29.  A lost fumble by the Wolverines with two minutes remaining ended any hopes of a comeback for the home team.

The win improves Trenton to 2-7 on the season, and 2-5 in the GRC, leaving the Bulldogs as a #7 seed in Class 2, District 8, meaning a road trip on Friday night to play the two-time KCI Conference champion, the unbeaten Lathrop Mules, in a game to be heard on Hot Country Z 101.7.  The loss drops Maysville to 1-8 on the season, and 1-6 in GRC play.

The Grand River Conference’s Eastern Division, by virtue of Friday night’s results, finished in a three-way tie for the championship hardware, as the Princeton Tigers defeated South Harrison 20-14, while the Gallatin Bulldogs shutout the Putnam County Midgets 10-0, leaving South Harrison, Princeton, and Gallatin in a tie for the title.  Milan moved to 4-5 on the season with a 26-0 road win at Polo.  

This week, Gallatin is at Milan to open Class 1, District 8 play, with coverage on Friday night on KTTN FM 92.3.  Other Class 1, District 8 battles will find Schuyler County at Scotland County, Knox County at South Harrison, and Putnam County at Princeton.

Here is the scoreboard for Friday, October 25, 2019:

North Platte 27, Penney 20

Mid-Buchanan 28, Lawson 6

Plattsburg 26, West Platte 8 

Lathrop 56, East Buchanan 12

Chillicothe 42, Benton 7 

Maryville 47, Lafayette 6

Savannah 60, St. Pius X 0 

Cameron 55, St. Joseph Christian 0 

Higginsville 49, Carrollton 6

Knob Noster 33, Holden 14

Richmond 38, Lexington 28

Marceline 35, Harrisburg 8 

Paris 22, Westran 0 

Scotland County 60, Louisiana 6

Salisbury 28, Schuyler County 0 

Fayette 38, Knox County 8

Clark County 39, Brookfield 6

Centralia 21, Macon 7 

Monroe City 40, Palmyra 22

Highland 14, South Shelby 12

Kirksville 26, Marshall 21

Battle 34, Hannibal 28 

Moberly 35, Mexico 23

8-MAN:

Pattonsburg 90, Albany 64 (Pattonsburg wins GRC Western Division title for 1st time in school history) 

North Andrew 66, Braymer 0 

Southwest Livingston 68, King City 14

Worth County 48, Stanberry 28 

South Holt / Nodaway-Holt 69, Northwest Nodaway 24

East Atchison 48, Platte Valley 0 

DeKalb 66, Stewartsville 20 

Mound City 52, Rock Port 0 

Orrick 38, North Shelby 30 

Appleton City 22, Norborne 12