It was a game that in many ways lived up to expectations by many as the Brady Bulldogs sought their first victory over Mason in several years. In the first quarter, the Bulldogs and Punchers traded touchdowns but Brady was unable to convert on their extra point try while Mason did giving the Punchers their one and only lead of the night 6-7. Midway through the 2nd quarter, Ashton Taylor would pick up his second touchdown on the night to put the Bulldogs up 12-7 which would be the halftime score. After recovering a Puncher fumble, Brady would pick up another touchdown courtesy of Sean Jacoby to extend the Bulldogs lead to 18-7 which was the score at the end of the third quarter.
Things got more intense for each team in the fourth quarter as Mason picked up their second touchdown and made the two point conversion to narrow Brady’s lead to 18-15 with about 8 minutes to go in the game. The Bulldogs would answer with a 61 yard touchdown run by Sean Jacoby a few minutes later giving Brady a 24-15 lead. Unfortunately, the two point conversion failed. With four minutes left in the game, Sean Jacoby would intercept a Mason pass giving the Bulldogs great field position. On the next play, Mason was able to force a fumble and managed to run it back for a touchdown narrowing the score to 24-22 following the PAT. With less then four minutes to go and a critical run by Demarcus Reed, the Bulldogs were able to hang on for a really gritty win over the Punchers with the final score of 24-22.
Overall, the Bulldogs had a total of 368 yards on offense with 307 yards rushing and 61 yards passing with Ashton Taylor and Sean Jacoby each with two touchdowns. One of the keys of the game was in the turnover department where Brady only had one fumble compared to Mason who had a fumble and two interceptions. Penalties also factored heavily into the game with Brady being assessed 4 penalties for 38 yards while Mason was called for 8 penalties for 96 yards.
The 2-0 Bulldogs will be back at home on Friday (Sept 12) as they will host the 2-0 Ozona Lions at Bulldogs Stadium at 7PM. The Mason Punchers will travel to Coleman on Friday night as they take on the 1-1 Coleman Bluecats.
