The Herald-Tribune
— The East Central High School football team celebrated homecoming night with a 42-7 victory over the Batesville Bulldogs.
The game quickly spiraled downward for the Bulldogs and they were not able to recover.
Forced to punt on their first possession, The Bulldogs pushed the Trojans back to their own 34 yard line.
On their first play from scrimmage, East Central’s Tyler Douthit took the hand off and rushed 64 yards for a touchdown. Nate Volz added the extra point to make it 7-0 with 7:44 to play in the first quarter.
A penalty and bad snap resulted in minus 20 yards and eventually a punt for the Bulldogs.
The Trojans added a second score – a 6-yard pass from Tommy Schroer to Evan Fette – led to a 14 point margin at the 1:13.
On their next play, the Bulldogs coughed up the ball, which East Central’s Payton Stonefield picked out of the air and ran back to the end zone.
Over the course of 30 seconds, a seven point Trojan lead turned into 21 points.
It did not get any better for the Bulldogs as the second quarter progressed.
The Trojans needed only two plays on their next possession before Douthit scored from five yards out.
After a couple three-and-outs, East Central needed only four plays to cover 46 yards for a touchdown. Douthit capped the scoring drive with a 17-yard run at the 2:01 mark.
The first half ended with the Trojans in front by a score of 35-0.
The Bulldogs appeared better defensively in the second half.
The two teams went scoreless in the third quarter and it was not until later in the fourth before points were put up on the scoreboard.
The Trojans scored on a 3-yard run by Lucas Frick with just under four minutes to play and the Bulldogs got their lone score shortly after on a 79-yard run by Dylan Cook.
Cook’s long run went along way to help the Bulldogs gain much of anything on offense.
For the game, the Bulldogs were held to 101 yards rushing and 15 passing. They also managed only three first downs against the talented Trojan defense.
Defensively, it was also a tough night for the Bulldogs. Colin Brown led the way with 18 tackle points, which included seven solo and four assists.
The Bulldogs fall to 3-2 on the season, while the Trojans move to 4-1.
