The Muldrow Bulldogs won their home opener as they tamed the Waldron (Ark.) Bulldogs 46-22 last Friday night at Marty Rogers Field.
The first and fourth quarters were stellar for Muldrow (2-0).
In the opening period, J’Vion Mays picked off two passes, each of which set up touchdown drives for Muldrow — the first being a 70-yard TD run by DeShawn Willson and a 78-yard TD run by Teaguen Collins. After successful extra points by Wyatt Prewett, Muldrow led 14-0 with 5:42 left in the first quarter.
On the next drive for Waldron (0-3), the Bulldogs forced a punt, which was blocked by DeMonie Brock, who received a nice Sunday hop as the ball went right into his hands and he walked into the end zone for a 5-yard blocked punt return for a touchdown with 3:23 remaining in the period. Prewett’s PAT upped Muldrow’s advantage to 21-0 after a period.
The middle periods were not as stellar for Muldrow, which committed a lot of penalties and saw Waldron outscore Muldrow 22-7 to cut its deficit to 28-22 going into the fourth quarter.
In the final period, Muldrow got back on track.
A fumble recovery by Collins at the Muldrow 23-yard line with 10:27 left to play to thwart Waldron.
Collins capped the ensuing Muldrow drive with his second TD run of the game, a 57-yard run. However, Prewett missed the extra point, keeping Muldrow on top 34-22 with 8:59 remaining in the game.
On the ensuing kickoff, Muldrow kickoff specialist Antonio Fujarte launched a pooch kickoff, which was ran under by Gabe Miller to make it a successful onside kick. Miller’s recovery gave Muldrow the ball at the Waldron 32-yard line.
The Muldrow drive was capped by Collins’ third touchdown run of the game to record a hat trick as the senior quarterback took it in from six yards out. Again, Prewett missed the PAT, keeping Muldrow ahead at 40-22 with 6:35 left in the game.
After stopping Waldron on downs at its own 32-yard line with 4:30 remaining to play, Miller — whose great grandfather Don Laster and great uncle Buck Laster were among the members of the 1955 football team, Muldrow’s first one in school history, was honored at halftime — capped the scoring as he scored on a 3-yard run with 3:45 left to play. Prewett missed the extra point to keep Muldrow leading 46-22.
“The start of the game was very good for us,” Muldrow coach Logan Coatney said. “The end of the game was very good for us. It’s the things that took place in between those two events that we have to clean up. There were a lot of things we did not do well tonight. We’ve got to fix ourselves. We have to look at ourselves and get things squared away.”
Coatney was happy that the 1955 team as well as Military Appreciation Night, in which the Bulldogs entered the field with American flags, got to take place.
“It’s a big deal,” he said. “(In the year) 1955, the Muldrow football program started on a little bitty field across town. We’ve been here at Aubrey J. Henshaw Stadium for like the last 60 years. It was awesome we had that opportunity, and also the willingness of my administration to go forth with Military Appreciation Night. I think that’s a really big deal with the amount of military members we have in the community. I am excited that we had the opportunity to do this.”
