Carthage scored the first three touchdowns of the game as the Bulldogs beat the Gilmer Buckeyes 28-7 in a matchup of the top 2 teams in East Texas Friday night in front of a sold-out crowd at Bulldog Stadium in Carthage.
It didn’t take long for Carthage to get on the scoreboard as the Bulldogs went 65-yards on the first drive of the game, resulting in a five-yard touchdown pass from QB Connor Cuff to WR Montrel Hatten.
Hatten was Cuff’s favorite target in the game as he finished with 70-yards receiving on 6 catches, including two for touchdowns.
Cuff finished the game 14-of-22 passing for 165 yards and two touchdowns.
The Bulldogs defense led the way again. They held Gilmer to zero first downs until the final minute of the first half.
Coming into the game, Gilmer averaged 47 points per game on offense, behind the stellar play of UT-San Antonio commit QB Brandon Tennison.
In the first half, Carthage held Tennison to just 34 total yards.
The Bulldogs defense stifled the Buckeyes, forcing four three-and-out situations in the first half.
Carthage led 14-0 at halftime.
Carthage RB Zsema’D Williams finished with a game-high 84 yards on the ground on 14 carries, the highest rushing total of the season for the Bulldogs. RB Kedadrian Bell scored on a 12-yard touchdown run and rushed for 33 yards on five carries for Carthage.
Gilmer finally got on the board when Tennison found WR Rohan Fluellen for an 11-yard touchdown pass to cut the Bulldogs lead to 21-7 about midway through the 4th quarter.
Carthage turned the ball over on the next possession, but the Bulldog’s defense made plays when it needed to. Defensive back Zy’Kerrian Tatum stepped in front of a Tennison pass and returned it 66 yards for a touchdown to increase its lead to 28-7 in the waning moments of the game, and that was the final score.
Tennison finished with 66 yards passing while completing just 8 of his 19 pass attempts to go with the one touchdown and one INT.
Carthage (3-0) finishes up non-league play next Friday as they will host Pleasant Grove. Gilmer falls to 4-1 and has a bye next week.
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