9-3-04 By: Brian Vaughn
Greenwood- The countdown finally ended and the much anticipated start to the Rick Jones era of Bulldog football began Friday night in front of an overflow crowd at Smith-Robinson Stadium as Greenwood downed Shiloh Christian 36-0.
As much as the Bulldogs wide open offense had been talked about over the summer, it was the Bulldog defense that dominated the start of the 2004 season.
The Bulldog defense held the normally high powered Saint offense to 101-yards of total offense and never allowed the Saints past midfield into Bulldog territory.
"I was pleased at the way we played defensively," said Bulldog head coach Rick Jones.
The defensive unit held Shiloh to minus 6-yards rushing for the night with 107-yards passing.
All the suspense on who would start at quarterback for the Bulldogs was finally ended as senior Micah Fritsche took the first snap of the ball game.
Junior Daniel Stegall entered the game at quarterback during the second offensive series for the Bulldogs and Coach Jones continued to rotate the two quarterbacks every other series during the ball game.
Lucas Miller started the scoring for the Bulldogs with 4:14 in the first quarter on a 10-yard pass from Daniel Stegall. Mason Knox's PAT was good to give the Bulldogs a 7-0 lead.
The Bulldogs added 6 more points to the scoreboard with 6:43 to go in the half on a 61-yard punt return by Austin Efurd. Mason Knox's PAT went wide to make the score 13-0.
The kicking game was a highlight for the Bulldogs as Knox had a stealer night in the field goal department going 3 for 3 with field goals of 28, 22 and 34-yards.
Daniel Stegall punted twice with an average of 44-yards per punt.
Coach Jones was pleased with the play of his kicking team.
"We spend a lot of time with the kicking game," said Jones. "
I would say we spend more time than almost anybody. We take a lot of pride in it. It's obviously a crucial part of the game and probably turned the game around tonight."
The Bulldog offense struggled during the night, especially in the red zone with both quarterbacks.
"We have some edges to work on the offensive side of the ball," said Jones. "We was really rough in the red zone and I thought we had a better plan than that."
Jones was quick to give Shiloh credit, "Give Shiloh a lot of credit, they never gave up, they fought when they got down there with their backs against the wall."
Despite not firing on all cylinders the first time out the Bulldog offense totaled 393 total yards of offense in the game with Micah Fritsche going 5 for 10 passing for 71-yards with an interception and Daniel Stegall 7 for 11 for 126-yards and an interception.
Stegall also rushed for 77-yards scoring two touchdowns of 2 and 3-yards for the Bulldogs.
Lucas Miller was the go to receiver for the night with six catches for 120-yards.
Miller along with Austin Efurd also both came up with interceptions for the Bulldogs.
"I know the Bulldogs won and that's all that matters," said Jones.
Jones will get his team ready for this Friday as the Bulldogs travel to Poteau, OK for a Border Battle at 7:30.
