Dora Corner

The Bulldogs Chow Down on the Jackets
The Bulldogs played everybody but the waterboys on Friday night in a romp over the rival Corner Yellow Jackets. What follows is the story by James Phillips.
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The No. 7-ranked Dora Bulldogs proved to be too much for the Corner Yellow Jackets Friday night as they bullied their way to a 59-7 win at Horace Roberts Field.
Dora (4-0, 3-0 in Class 4A, Region 5) racked up 413 total yards on the night including 340 rushing yards on only 31 carries. Marquis Chapel led the ground attack with 75 yards and two touchdowns on three carries. The junior standout also returned a punt 62 yards for a score in the win. Senior tailback Eric Woods finished with 54 yards and two touchdowns on four carries. Sophomore Lavertis Townes also made the most of his playing time by running 65 yards for a score on the only carry of his career. Townes also intercepted a Corner pass.
“This was a win over one of our rivals,” Dora coach Johnny Wright said. “Our guys came out and played the way I thought they would. We fed off our defense tonight. Our defense made big plays that set our offense up with good opportunities to score. The offense capitalized and then it began to snowball. None of our starters played in the second half, so it was good to get those young guys some carries. Everyone stepped up and played well tonight.”
Corner (0-4, 0-3) only managed 144 total yards. Dora held the Yellow Jackets to only 30 yards and one first down in the first half en route to a 46-0 halftime lead. The Bulldogs led 52-0 before Corner finally got on the board late in the third quarter.
“I think the fans are getting used to winning,” Wright said. “We’ve had so many games like this that they are starting to clap like they are at the opera or something when we score a touchdown. The fans have got to remember how far this program has come in the past few years. We can’t have them losing their fire. Our fans are like another player on the field and we need them at their best.”
Dora shut Corner down on their first drive by intercepting a Yellow Jacket pass attempt. The Bulldogs then stalled on their ensuing drive. The Bulldogs defense continued to stop Corner on its second drive and forced a punt. Dora’s offense sputtered on first down and lost five yards. Wright called a timeout. After the timeout, Chapel responded with a 64-yard touchdown run. Anthony Valdez connected on the extra point attempt to give Dora a 7-0 lead.
“We started out very sloppy on offense,” Wright said. “I had a quick word with the guys and they responded. We never looked back after that.”
Eric Woods added a 1-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter to increase Dora’s lead to 14-0.
Whit Wright connected with Justin Bussey on a 9-yard score for Dora’s next touchdown. Bussey finished the game with two receptions for 48 yards and a score. Wright was 3-of-6 passing for 73 yards in the game.
Justin Woods and Eric Woods added touchdown runs in the second quarter, while Chapel scored on a 9-yard run and a 62-yard punt return to give Dora its 46-0 lead at the half.
Townes scored from 63 yards out to increase the lead to 52-0 after only 17 seconds had expired in the third quarter.
Seth Franks scored the lone touchdown for Corner with 4:32 remaining in the the third quarter.
Dora’s final score came in the fourth quarter on a 16-yard run by Terrance McDavid.
The Bulldogs will now look to their annual showdown with the Walker Vikings next week.
“Now we can focus on Walker,” Wright said. “That is a huge game for us. It doesn’t matter in the region standings, but it matters to this community. I know Walker will be up for the game and I know our guys will be working hard in practice this week to get ready for the game.”
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