Belgreen Bulldogs earn 20-6 win in football program debut

The first Friday night under the lights at Sparks Stadium, Belgreen High School’s brand new football stadium, was a special one, indeed, for the community and all those associated with the Bulldogs. 

Belgreen (1-0), playing in its first varsity football game in living memory, did not disappoint the large home crowd in blue that came out to support the fledgling program, defeating Shoals Christian (0-1) 20-6 after scoring 18 unanswered points in the second half. 

“They had a chance to do something that had never been done and they can say now that they’re the first team to win a game on this field,” Belgreen head coach Jonathan Raper said. “I told them that’s something big. Ten years from now, five years from now, they can say, ‘I was one of the first ones to run out on that field.’

“I think it made us a little nervous at first, but I think they took pride in it,” he added. “First game we play on our field at home and win, that’s something you can tell your grandkids. It’s special.”

From pre-game to kickoff and all the way to the final whistle, Raper said the Bulldog faithful pushed the team forward and kept them energized.

“The atmosphere was amazing,” Raper said. “The crowd was into it and excited, and when we got more going they really got it loud.

“I think our kids, at first, we were awed because there were so many people there. I think it caught them a little bit by surprise,” he added. “It was a great atmosphere for our kids to be in and play in, and I think they fed off the crowd a little bit.”

The first points of the game—and this will be a nice trivia question in 10 years—were scored by Belgreen, but not the Bulldog offense. It was a safety that put the first two points up on the board and gave Belgreen a small but early lead in the first quarter.

Shoals Christian responded with a nine-yard touchdown run later in the opening quarter to make it 6-2, and the score would remain the same at the halftime intermission.

Raper said if the Bulldogs could stay within striking distance, he felt his team would have a chance to make things happen in the second half.

“The longer the game went the more I thought (Shoals Christian) would get tired and we’d have the chance to play more people and have a chance in the third and fourth quarter and make a mark,” he said. “The longer the game went the more I felt we could outlast them.”

Despite being down at the break and having missed a couple of opportunities to score in the first half, Raper said his team never considered throwing in the towel.

“I think it’s the thing I’m most proud of these kids for. We were up 2-0 and then down 6-2 and it stayed that way for the rest of the first half, but we never did quit,” he said. “We came out to score in the third and fourth quarter and that really helped us, but they never did quit.

“We dropped those touchdown passes (in the first half), but it wasn’t the end of the world. They knew we were going to figure out a way to get it done and they did. That’s what I think is the biggest thing with these young men is they didn’t panic, they didn’t worry; they just kept fighting.” 

Coming out of halftime, the Bulldogs established a running game and started to see success.

“I think we probably abandoned the running game a little too early in the first half,” Raper said. “At halftime we talked about our tailbacks looking for the cutback. That’s what ended up being the difference in our running game.”

The first evidence of this was a 67-yard touchdown scamper by Skyler Vickry, who, after cutting inside after the handoff, juked a defender at midfield and wasn’t going to be caught after that. Vickry’s third-quarter score made it 8-6, Belgreen, and the Bulldogs never surrendered that lead.

Vickry would add a second touchdown later in the fourth quarter on a 10-yard dash to the endzone to make it 20-6, effectively putting the game on ice.

“In the second half we started to (hit the cutback) and you could see that in the two touchdown runs,” Raper said. “We were just playing better and I think (Vickry’s) vision was better in the second half, too.”

Belgreen’s second touchdown earlier in the fourth was a nine-yard pass from senior quarterback Landon Cox to Lucas Chandless.

While the Bulldog offense put points on the board in the second half, Raper praised his defense for shutting the Flame down throughout the night.

“They got that one run, but I think we played good defense all night long. They played consistently good all night and kept us in the game and gave us a chance to win in the second half,” Raper said. 

The Bulldogs, with their first win and first-game jitters out of the way, can move forward with some added confidence, but Raper said his squad can’t rest of the laurels of their first victory. There’s still more work to be done.

“We’re trying to build a program and it’s a lot of baby steps right now, but that win was a big step for us,” he said. “That win’s out of the way now and we can build on it and use the momentum from it, but we still have a long way to go. That’s what I told the boys is we still have a long way to go to get to where we want to be and where I think we have a chance to be.”

Belgreen will travel to Sumiton Christian for its next game on Friday, August 30th.