By Lonnie Turner

The Dillon Wildcats and Marlboro County Bulldogs met at Memorial Stadium in front of the second overflow crowd of the 2013 season and for the first 24 minutes, the two defenses played outstanding football. But turnovers by the Dillon offense and a relentless defensive effort by the Bulldogs proved to be the key to the 27-6 Marlboro County victory.

“Our defense was really the key,” explained head coach Dean Boyd, “and London Johnson was very impressive running and throwing the football. Our kids just played their hearts out.”

The Dillon defense was tested on the second series of the game by the Bulldogs when Johnson and wide receiver Raheem Ward connected for the first time for a 23-yard first down completion to the Dillon 13. Johnson, as he did all night when his receivers were covered, ran the football to within six inches of the goal line for another first down, but the Wildcats stopped Daryus Gillespie on successive runs for no gain and pushed tailback Rickie Whitner back to the two-yard down on third down. Johnson attempted a sweep around the left side, but was stopped in the backfield to turn the ball over to complete the most impressive goal line stand of the season by the Cats.

After intercepting Johnson twice in the first fifteen minutes and not being able to take advantage of the turnovers, Damu Ford stopped another potential scoring drive when he picked up a Johnson fumble at the Dillon 20-yard line and outran the Bulldog secondary for an 80-yard touchdown to take a 6-0 lead. Tara Grimsley’s first PAT try in two weeks was low and off the mark for only the second time in 15 chances.

The Bulldogs kept the Wildcat offense in check, allowing only 25 yards in total offense and only two rushing first downs in the first half, while Marlboro County piled up 58 yards on the ground and Johnson completed half of his passes for another 181 during the same period.

Marlboro took the lead with less than a minute left in the first half on a 72-yard, 9-play drive, that culminated with Johnson slashing his way into the end zone from five yards out. Place kicker Hunter Stubbs was perfect through the uprights to take a 7-6 lead into the intermission. The Bulldogs ran off 43 plays from scrimmage compared to 20 for the Cats in the first half, playing most of the half in Dillon territory.

The teams exchanged punts to start the third quarter, but a fumble by Dillon quarterback Malique Gregory at the Wildcat 27-yard line was recovered by the Bulldogs and on the first play after the recovery, Johnson found Ward for a 20-yard completion to the seven. Johnson slashed his way to the two, where he lost the football, but the Bulldogs’ 255-pound center, Jesse Lockey, picked up the fumble and ran the ball into the end zone for the first touchdown of his career and a 13-6 lead.

After Dillon went three and out on their following series, Johnson hit receiver after receiver on five out of six passes to go 64 yards to the Dillon two where tailback Fred David bolted through the line for a 21-6 lead.

The Wildcats mounted a drive that started at their own 35-yard line after the ensuing kick off, with passes by Gregory for two first downs. On third and three from the Bulldog 37-yard line, Gregory threw an off-balance pass down field where Deon Murray intercepted at the 11 and went untouched 89 yards for the final score of the evening. Stubbs missed on the extra point, but the damage was already done.

Raheem Ward, who also played an outstanding defensive game at corner back, intercepted Gregory at midfield to set up a 13-play drive that was used to run out most of the time remaining in the fourth quarter. On fourth and six, the Wildcats stopped Johnson at the Dillon 19, but with only 1:41 remaining in the game, the Wildcats ran only two plays before the clock ran out.

The Wildcats could only muster 39 net yards on the ground against the Marlboro County front four and Gregory was 7-for-17 through the air for 63 yards, while Johnson completed 16 of 26 attempts and 8-of-9 in the second half for 226 yards. Even though his numbers were impressive through the air, Johnson failed to complete a pass for a touchdown. He rushed 18 times for a team leading 63 yards and one touchdown.

The Wildcats managed only 102 yards in total offense, with tailback Anthony Blue registering only 32 yards on ten rushes.

For the third straight game, the Wildcats were without the services of starting quarterback Avery McCall, who was injured just before the clock ran out against Mallard Creek, NC.

On defense, corner back Eri’Reon Hayes had nine solo and two assisted tackles, plus an interception; linebacker Joe Blue had eight solos and two assists, plus a quarterback sack; and defensive end Ja’Monte McGill made seven solo tackles and added three assists. Randall Davis and Damu Ford wound up with eight and seven total tackles respectively.

The Wildcats, 3-2 for the season, will re-group to prepare to take on the Aynor Blue Jackets in region play for both teams at Dillon this coming Friday while the Bulldogs will get ready for conference foe Hartsville, the number one team in the Pee Dee, at Kellytown Stadium.

Dillon’s loss dropped the Wildcats to fourth place in the current Morning News rankings, behind Hartsville, South Florence and Marlboro County.

With the fans being checked at the stadium gates this year by Dillon County Sheriff deputies with metal detectors, it might be a pretty good idea to get an early start for the stadium since there should be a decent crowd in attendance.

Photos by Craig Brown. Click the images below to view at full size!