Duo leads Bulldogs to victory
Eagle Correspondent
Published October 29, 2005 2:34 AM CDT

DORA -- It wasn't the Dora Bulldogs' duo of 1,000-yard running backs that proved to be the downfall of the Mortimer Jordan Blue Devils Friday night.

Two sophomores stepped up to lead Dora to a 52-23 victory.

Quarterback Whit Wright and wingback Lavertis Townes had the biggest games of their young careers to pace Dora. Townes scored five touchdowns (two rushing, two receiving and one interception return) in the game. He had 157 yards on his two touchdown receptions. Wright throw for 279 yards and two scores on 6-of-11 passing. He also ran for 40 yards and a touchdown.

"Those two sophomores really played big tonight," Dora head coach

Johnny Wright said. "Lavertis scored almost every way you can possibly score and Whit played a heck of a game. They gave us a shot in the arm that we really needed after losing two straight games. This is big for us with the playoffs starting next week."

Dora (7-3) will travel to Alexandria for the opening round of the Class 4A playoffs next week, while Mortimer Jordan (7-3) makes the short trip to Pinson Valley in the first round of the Class 5A playoffs.

The Bulldogs' 1,000-yard backs, Marquis Chapel and Eric Woods, did combine for just over 200 yards in the win.

"This was a good effort by everyone on our team," Wright said. "Our guys that we always count on were there for us. Some of our young guys played big. That's what we've got to have if we are going to do something in the playoffs."

Dora opened the game's scoring with a 9-yard run by Townes with 10:12 left in the first quarter.

Mortimer Jordan managed to cut into that lead at the 7:48 mark of the first quarter after a 57-yard run by Josh Scotland set up a 26-yard field goal by Patrick Bailey.

The Blue Devils took at 10-7 lead to end the first quarter after Chase Mullinax scooped up a Dora fumble and returned it 56 yards for a score.

The Bulldogs followed with two straight scores. The first was a 10-yard run by Chapel. It was followed by a 61-yard scoring strike from Wright to Townes to give Dora a 21-16 lead.

Mortimer Jordan cut the deficit to 21-16 after Cody Chapple hit Alex Streetman for a 19-yard touchdown pass.

Dora missed two opportunities to increase its lead before the half when a sure touchdown pass was dropped in the end zone and the Blue Devils stopped them at the 1-inch mark just before the half.

The Bulldogs did increase their lead early in the third quarter when Townes returned an interception 35 yards for a score to give Dora a 29-16 lead with 9:12 left in the third quarter. The Bulldogs picked off three of Chapple's passes on the night. Justin Bussey had the other two interceptions for Dora.

Mortimer Jordan bounced back quickly on its next possession with a touchdown by Darnell Blankenship. That score cut the Dora lead to 29-23.

The Blue Devils looked to be gaining momentum after that score.

Mortimer Jordan's defense shut down the Dora offense for a series and then after pinning the Bulldogs deep in their own territory with a punt had them third-and-14 from the Dora 4-yard line. Wright then hit Townes, who juggled the ball for a moment, on a 95-yard touchdown connection.

From that point, it was all Dora. The Bulldogs added two more scores on runs by Wright and Townes to capture the 52-23 win.

Dora will travel for its first-round playoff game for the first time since Wright has been at Dora.

The Bulldogs have hosted home games each of the last three seasons.

They lost at home to Hamilton in the first round last year.

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