Bulldawgs to take on Bryan at home

By SEAN HANEY

Cove Leader-Press

District games are now on, and tonight, the 2-2 Copperas Cove Bulldawgs host the 3-2 Vikings from Bryan High School.

The Vikings are coming off a huge loss (53-19) to Temple High School, while the Dawgs are coming off a huge homecoming win (51-18) against University Waco.

Last year the Vikings were 4-7 (4-3 in district) and were the division 2 bi-district finalists.

Some Viking key players to watch are WR Tyson Turner, QB Malcom Gooden, LB Tate Allen, OL Isac Gonzalez, WR/RB Tate Schneringer, OL/DL Nathan Murphy, RB Isaiah Nutall and WR Terrence Lewis.

On the season, the Vikings have thrown the ball 98 times only completing 54 times (54-98) for 944 yards, having 12 touchdowns and four interceptions.

While the Vikings have thrown the ball a decent amount, they have also run the ball a fair amount as well with 158 carries for 1,089 yards with 12 rushing touchdowns. They average 217.8 yards per game this season so far.

QB Gooden is returning for his senior season at the reins of this team. Last year Gooden had 1,019 yards and eight TDs before going down in beginning of the year.

This year Gooden is 45-80 for 827-yards with 11 touchdowns and just three interceptions. The Vikings have multiple options at running the ball but stat-wise it seems like their favorite go-to backs are Schneringer who has 59 carries for 372-yards and two touchdowns and Wade who has 43 carries with 352-yards and three touchdowns. WR Turner seems to be their top receiving threat with 15 receptions and 340 yards tallying up six touchdowns. Last year DB Matthew Cooks led the team with 48 tackles and two interceptions.

The Dawgs are coming off the first season with two wins since 2019 and they aren’t looking at slowing down anytime soon.

On the season QB Rodriguez has thrown the ball 76 yards and completed it 34 times (37-87) for 425 yards with six touchdowns and a sole interception. Now, Rodriguez takes the ball and runs with it when necessary, with 40 yards rushing and three touchdowns.

While we are talking about running the ball, RB Craig Brown has 554 yards rushing with six touchdowns, 78 yards receiving with just one touchdown.

For receivers the Dawgs have two top receivers, WR#2 Trishstin Glass who has 11 receptions for 194 yards and three touchdowns and WR#1 Demetrius Pearce who has 10 receptions for 109 yards and two touchdowns.

Besides the offense, the Dawgs have a great defense as well. Their defense is led by LB#24 Kevin Pontious who has tallied up 29 total tackles in the first four games of the season. Non-tackle related DB#9 Anthony Jackson leads the team in interceptions with two on the season followed by DB#20 Jayden Tripplett, RB/DB#34 Malik Cuthbert and DB#6 Malik Davis, all with one interception bringing the team total to five interceptions on the season.

Kickoff is at 7:30 at Bulldawg Stadium.