Bobcats advance to championship game
Triumph came before heartache.
The Clear Creek Bobcats hosted the opening round of the Mountain Athletic Conference’s football playoffs last Tuesday. The seventh graders squared off against Dawson County and delivered a sound 35-7 defeat to the Tigers.
The eighth-grade matchup featured CCMS versus Union County, and the Panthers proved to be too much to handle on the ground and through the air. Turnovers and special teams blunders plagued the Bobcats, whose season ended with a 35-6 loss.
Seventh grade
Head coach Willie Dodaro assessed the Bobcats’ win, noting, “We played well and attacked the line of scrimmage. Dawson has a really good running back and we were able to contain him. It was really good to keep him out of the end zone.
“There were a lot of positives in the seventh-grade game. The offense, defense and special teams all did well. Any time you play someone twice it’s nerve-wracking. We’re real pleased with their success this year.”
The seventh grade Bobcats started their game off with a bang.
They depended on halfbacks Ryan Rellinger and McCoy Sutton, fullback Madden Hopkins and quarterback A.J. Callihan. They ran behind an offensive line that opened up holes and paved the way all evening.
On the game’s first play, Rellinger took the hand-off 69 yards for a touchdown. He made his way to the right side of the line before cutting through it and across the field for six points.
Dawson answered with their best drive of the night. The three-play 58-yard series concluded with a 49-yard draw for a touchdown.
The Bobcats’ second touchdown drive spanned 50 yards on nine plays, and ended when Rellinger took a jet sweep to the left for a 4-yard touchdown.
The Tigers turned the ball over on downs before Clear Creek fumbled. However, after Dawson’s offense returned to the field, a first down pass was tipped and intercepted by Callihan.
The Bobcats took over at the Tigers’ 39, and eight plays later they were in the end zone again when Callihan scored from a yard away.
The Tigers punted to begin the second half, and Clear Creek turned it over on downs. Dawson’s second interception came at the hands of Rellinger, who returned it for a 69-yard touchdown.
After a Tigers’ punt, the Bobcats strung together a final six-play, 37-yard drive. Hopkins was the recipient of a 26-yard pass from Callihan for the final touchdown of the game.
The win improved the Bobcats’ record to 6-0, and they faced Lumpkin County in the championship at press deadline.
“It’s going to be a great game,” Dodaro said. “We’re going to have to play really good football. If we can have some good positive practice, then we’ll have a chance. Like I said, playing someone twice is no easy task.
CCMS defeated Lumpkin 2-0 in their regular season meeting.
Eighth grade
It was a rough day for the eighth-grade Bobcats in all phases of the game. CCMS fumbled on its first two possessions. Later in the half they failed to recover an onside kick, as well as normal kickoff. The Bobcats also muffed a punt return in the second half.
The Panthers scored on four straight first half possessions and only once needed more than two plays. UCMS reached pay dirt on a 35-yard run and touchdowns passes of 17, 60 and 48 yards.
Trailing 28-0, CCMS fullback Peyton Chancey took the opening hand-off of the second half 68 yards for the Bobcats’ lone score of the game.
Union turned the ball over on downs and punted on its next possessions. When CCMS was unable to field the punt cleanly, the Panthers took over on Clear Creek’s 10. UCMS scored four plays later on a 10-yard pass for a 35-6 lead and the final points of the game.
The loss dropped the Bobcats’ final record to 6-2 and brought an end to their middle school careers.
“Union came to play and went right at us, and we weren’t really able to establish anything,” Dodaro said. “We put them in really good situations with really bad turnovers. We were never able to get going.
“It hurt bad and we felt bad for the boys. They only lost two games through little league until they got here to middle school. They were undefeated last year and this year stumbled a couple times. I couldn’t ask for a better group of kids. They put their heart and soul into games. Sometimes people catch up with you.”