TEACHEY — Visiting East Bladen kept things close into the second quarter on Friday against Wallace-Rose Hill, but the Bulldogs built a 24-14 halftime lead and never looked back en route to a 41-21 Four County Conference win.

The loss drops the Eagles to 4-4 overall and 2-2 in the conference, while Wallace-Rose Hill improved to 8-0 and 4-0.

The Bulldogs got on the board first when they drove to the East Bladen 3. When the drive stalled, Wallace-Rose Hill booted a 20-yard field goal for a 3-0 edge.

The Eagles came right back and punched in a touchdown on a 57-yard pass from quarterback Quinton Bedsole to Eian Hines. The PAT was no good, but East Bladen had taken a 6-3 lead.

It would be their only lead of the game.

The Bulldogs scored 14 unanswered points with early second-quarter touchdowns to open a 17-6 advantage, but the Eagles put something together later in the half, finishing off a drive with a 2-yard touchdown burst by Xavier Wooten — who also powered in the two-point conversion to pull East Bladen to within 17-14.

Wallace-Rose Hill, however, responded right before halftime with a 33-yard touchdown pass and, when the kick was good, took a 10-point lead into halftime.

The Bulldogs then put three straight nails into East Bladen’s coffin — scoring 17 unanswered points to start the second half — first on a long 47-yard field goal, then a39-yard touchdown run and finally a 26-yard scoring run — all of which encompassed the entire third quarter and into the fourth for a 41-14 lead.

The Eagles managed to tack on a late touchdown when Ethan Hines busted into the end zone from 8 yards out. Pierce Melvin booted the extra point to cut the final deficit to 20 points.

Ethan Hines led the East Bladen ground game with 138 yards on 23 carries, while Xavia McDowell had 66 yards on 10 carries and Wooten had 41 yards on 11 carries.

Bedsole was 2-of-6 through the air for 60 yards, and Eian Hines caught the big one for 57 yards.

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W. Curt Vincent

cvincent@civitasmedia.com