When all was said and done Friday night, Winder-Barrow High School football players and coaches were left with a “what might have been” frame of mind.
The Bulldoggs dropped a 21-0 Region 8-AAAA contest to Habersham Central. The loss drops WBHS to 0-5 as it prepares for a road trip to Heritage this Friday.
“We didn’t finish drives,” Bulldogg head coach David Wagner said. “We outgained them by close to 100 yards. Defensively, we were able to close them down for most of the night.”
WBHS had chances early in the contest. Brandon Deaton recovered a fumble giving the Bulldoggs possession at the Raider 30-yard line. The scoring opportunity ended, however, after an unsuccessful fourth and four from the Habersham 24-yard line.
After forcing a three-and-out, WBHS was back in business moving from its own 33 to inside the Raider 25-yard line. A fourth and one attempt was converted by Casey Burnett keeping the drive alive. However, a chop block penalty later caused Wagner’s team to be pushed outside of field goal range and forced the Bulldoggs to punt.
Habersham Central broke the scoreless tie on a 66-yard run by quarterback Jimmy Fordyce with 3:50 left in the first half. The game swung on the following kickoff when the Raiders recovered a fumble. Andre Barrs would cap the short drive with a 1-yard run.
“We’ve been preaching about allowing the big play,” Wagner said. “They doom you. I hate it but we just have to keep finding ways to compete. We are a good team who is not finishing games.”
Throughout the season Wagner has expressed a desire to see his team play with a lead. However, that did not happen again Friday night.
Another big play sealed the win for Habersham Central. On a fourth and one play, the Raiders recovered a fumble and Clint Coker raced 55 yards for the touchdown which closed the door on WBHS.
Overall, it was another strong effort by the Bulldogg defense, which limited the Raiders to 136 total yards and no first downs in the first half and four for the entire contest.
One of the bright spots offensively for WBHS was Atrez Gladmon, which finished with 91 yards on 16 attempts. The coaching staff has liked the progress shown by Gladmon in recent outings.
It was the second consecutive win this fall for Habersham, who is now 2-4 overall and in region play.
