By James Ratliff
GROESBECK — The Dawson Bulldogs six-game winning streak came to an end in the first round of post-season play as they fell victim to the Mart Panthers in a 44-0 rout Friday night at Groesbeck Stadium.
Dawson’s (8-2) usually stingy defense was unable to disrupt the athletic Panther (7-4) offense, allowing 212 rushing yards, and 100 yards through the air.
The game was a tale of momentum. That momentum came early for the Panthers as they took a 14-0 lead just over half-way through the opening period. Mart gained an ultimately insurmountable momentum boost from late in the first quarter to midway through the second, behind its special teams play, as sophomore Leonard Williams returned a pair of punts for touchdowns.
With 2:53 left to play in the opening stanza, Williams darted past Dawson’s punt coverage, sprinting 59 yards to give his Panthers a 21-0 lead.
At the 6:07 mark of the third quarter Williams struck again, squirting past Bulldog defenders for his second full return of the evening.
The Panthers added three more cushion scores, but suffocating defense assured their offense would only need to eat away at the game clock to secure the victory.
“There’s really not much that can be said,” said Dawson head coach Scott Hawkins. “they just got after our tails.”
Dawson’s leading rusher for the game, as well as the season, Alex Shaw totaled 55 yards on 16 carries in the contest.
Junior Nick Renfro led all Dawson receivers in catches with three receptions for 23 yards, while classmate Michael Vaughn led the Bulldogs in receiving yards with 27 on two catches.
“I’m really proud of these kids,” Hawkins boasted. “They accomplished a lot, and I’m really proud of that senior group, who got to go from 0-10 to the kind of season we had this year.”
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Mart 44, Dawson 0
Dawson 0 0 0 0 — 0
Mart 21 16 7 0 — 44
First Quarter
M — Holden Strunck 2 run (Matthew Shaeffer kick), 9:51
M — Johnny Jones 29 run (Shaeffer kick), 4:50
M — Leonard Williams 59 punt return (Shaeffer kick), 2:53
Second Quarter
M — L. Williams 42 punt return (Shaeffer kick), 6:07
M — Zach Matthys 25 pass from Strunck (kick failed), 2:25
M — Shaeffer 30 field goal, :38
Third Quarter
M — Jones 16 run (Shaeffer kick), 2:58
D M
First downs 8 14
Rush-yards 37-20 34-212
Passing yards 52 100
C-A-I 6-11-0 8-13-0
Fumbles-lost 4-1 1-0
Punts-avg. 7-37 2-43
Penalties-yards 5-46 4-30
Individual
Rushing — D: Alex Shaw 16-55, Michael Vaughn 5-16, Justin Oliver 4-7, Nick Warren 1-1, Trey Tennison 10-(-48), team 1-(-11). M: Jakeem Hoffman 8-76, Johnny Jones 4-51, Holden Strunck 8-35, Ethan Deike 5-34, Brandon Williams 3-14, Leonard Williams 2-7, Terrell Pride 1-0, team 3-(-15).
Passing — D: Tennison 5-8-0-43, Steven Travis 1-3-0-9. M: Strunck 8-13-0-100.
Receiving — D: Nick Renfro 3-23, Vaughn 2-27, Oliver 1-2. M: L. Williams 4-40, Hoffman 2-34, Zach Matthys 2-26.
