Bulldawgs pound Knights 41-7

By TJ MAXWELL

Cove Leader-Press

Defense ruled the night for the Bulldawgs as they held Troy Smith and the Harker Heights offense to just 92 yards of offense in the first half on their way to a 41-7 win over the Knights on Friday in their final home game of the year.

The Bulldawgs dominated the trenches on both sides of the ball which allowed the playmakers on offense and defense to shine.

“That's what we had to do,” said Copperas Cove head coach Jack Welch. “We knew that in this ball game, the difference was going to be up front. I though defensively and offensively we controlled the line of scrimmage and that was the difference.”

The defense dominated quarterback Troy Smith and the Knights' offense. The Knights were held to just 213 yards of total offense on 61 plays in the loss, led by seniors Jaylen Waters (6.5 tackles, one sack, one tackle for loss), Jace Leimbach (6.5 tackles, two TFL), Tyrell Thompson (5.5, .5 TFL) and junior speedster D'Mani Peapealalo (5.5 tackles, one TFL).

“It was part of our game plan to stop the run,” said senior linebacker Jace Leimbach. “We knew (Troy Smith) was a great part of their offense. If we stop him, we stop the offense.”

Leimbach was in on many plays that stalled the Knights offense and nearly prevented the Knights' only score when he stayed disciplined and didn't allow the Smith to get outside of him on consecutive plays.

“We were looking for the shutout,” said Leimbach. “If they're on my side, I'm going to do everything imaginable I can to stop them. Of course, I have to give all the credit to the defensive line. They keep the (offensive) line off me and allow me to do anything. I don't have to worry about the pass because or DBs do a lot of man coverage.”

The win was the Bulldawgs' 11th-consecutive over the Knights, spanning back to 2004, and sent 40 seniors off the Bulldawg Stadium field with a victorious farewell to fans in their final game of their careers at Bulldawg Stadium.

“It's a bittersweet feeling knowing this is your last game to ever play in Bulldawg Stadium and to know how fast it went was a bittersweet moment,” said senior quarterback Manny Harris who finished with 16-for-22 passing for 179 yards and two touchdowns and two interceptions in his final home game as a senior.

All three Division I football commits on the squad – Harris (UTSA), Tyrell Thompson (Houston) and Jaylen Waters (Minnesota) - notched touchdowns for the Bulldawgs in the first half.

Waters, normally an inside linebacker, had two touchdowns runs in the first quarter on one- and two-yard dives.

“It feels good having them two studs back there on offense,” Harris said about have his two best defenders in on offense. “It's comforting having them two big bodies back there. Every time I give him the ball, I'm pretty confident we're going to get in the end zone.”

Thompson, a defensive end, scored the first offensive touchdown of his career in the last game of his career on a three-yard touchdown pass from Harris that gave the Dawgs a comfortable lead 28-0 with almost 35 minutes left to play.

“All year, I've been wanting a touchdown and I've been getting in there and blocking for Jaylen,” said Thompson. “Coach said this is your week. When he called the play, my heart started beating real fast. I was nervous and I thought something was going to go wrong, but I arced out and got wide open. I feel really good about that touchdown. There's no better way to go out than having my first touchdown on my first (catch).

Senior running back Trent Canion pounded out 103 yards on 15 carries to pace the Dawgs in the half and finished with 207 yards and a score on 22 carries to lead the Dawgs offense.

“It felt great,” said Canion about the team's farewell performance. “We had to put on a show for the home crowd. Coach wanted us to get really fast so we hit them hard with speed.

Tre Powell had four catches for 65 yards and a touchdown grab from quarterback Manny Harris to cap a 21-point first quarter for the Dawgs.

Defensive end Tyrell Thompson got in on the offensive action with a three-yard touchdown pass from Harris that gave the Bulldawgs a 28-0 advantage with 10:52 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Harris was 12-for-14 for 144 yards and two touchdowns in the first half and threw one of his two interceptions on the night.

The Bulldawgs scored on a 12-play drive that began at their own 27 on a one-yard plunge by Jaylen Waters to begin the Cove scoring.

Shamad Lomax made a big defensive play on 4th-and-8 to halt the Knight's drive at the Cove 37-yard line and set up another scoring drive.

The Bulldawgs took advantage of the defensive stand and quickly scored on a six-play, 53-yard drive that resulted in Waters' second touchdown of the quarter from two yards out.

Cove third scoring drive was an 82-yard, 10-play drive that was capped by a 30-yard touchdown pass from Harris to Powell to make it 21-0 with 49 seconds left in the first quarter.

Another huge defensive stop set the Bulldawgs up in Heights territory and two plays later, Harris connected with Tyrell Thompson on the three-yard touchdown strike.

“Our main goal was tempo this game,” said Harris. “We just had to get them out of their comfort zone. We were going too fast for them. They didn't even line up a few times. We just came out prepared and ready to play because we had a taste of defeat last week.”

The win puts Cove in the playoffs with just one game remaining against the Shoemaker Grey Wolves Leo Buckley Stadium on Thursday. The Bulldawgs hold all the possible tiebreak advantages and get a bye in the final week as the rest of 12-6A jockeys for playoff positioning.

The loss all but knocked Heights out of the playoff chance and aided the Belton Tigers, who moved into that fourth spot behind Midway, Copperas Cove and Shoemaker.