Bulldogs to host Baird

By Sam Waller

The Moran Bulldogs football team took its lumps against top-ranked Benjamin in its season opener Friday, Aug., 26, falling 78-6.

Tyler Waddell caught a 17-yard touchdown pass from Ellis Hise in the second quarter for Moran’s score.

The Bulldogs host Baird at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 2 at Bulldog Field for their home opener.

At Benjamin, Moran fell behind 56-0 in the first quarter.

“I thought we could play with Benjamin if we just did our jobs, but they were a lot faster than we expected,” Bulldog coach John Hughes said. “They’re very good, that’s for sure. I very seriously doubt we’ll see anybody like that again this year.”

Hughes said the best part was the way his players reacted to the loss.

“They were upset that we didn’t play better and upset that we lost,” he said. “Last year, a loss like that wouldn’t have been as big a deal, but this group wasn’t happy about it. That’s a foundation to start building on right there.”

Moran totaled 41 yards in a game that ended after two quarters. Hise was 8 of 14 passing for 34 yards with no interceptions. Waddell finished with two catches for 29 yards. Connor Hail rushed for 17 yards, but the Bulldogs finished with just seven net yards as a team.

Caleb York had four receptions, while Hail and Cotten Campbell each caught a pass.

Hail led Moran with two tackles and added 27 yards on kickoff returns. Hise and Ethan Boykin were each credited with an assisted tackle.

Hughes said that for the most part, Moran was able to avoid mistakes that led to cheap scores.

“We lost one fumble that they picked up and walked into the end zone with,” he said. “We gave up a couple of safeties, so that was four free points they got from us, but other than that it was just that they were fast.”

Hughes said Moran had better results in the second quarter as Benjamin, ranked No. 1 in Class 1A Division II by sixmanfootball.com and Dave Campbell’s Texas Football, began emptying the bench.

“After we scored, we got the ball back and were driving with about a minute left and turned it over on downs,” he said.

Facing Baird

After facing the best in Division II, the Bulldogs take on Division I member Baird in their second outing.

“Baird is going to be a lot like us, but they’re younger than we are,” Hughes said. “Pretty much all of my guys have varsity experience, where Baird has a bunch of freshmen. Last week was their first live taste of varsity football.”

Baird lost 46-0 to Meadow in its opener.

Hughes said the Bears run a “pretty basic” offense.

“They’ll run some tight stuff and try to spread it out,” he said. “I think we’ll be able to handle it.”

The main thing, Hughes said, is that the Bulldogs show improvement from their first game.

“We want to get better, just get better as the year progresses,” he said. “If we get better every week, hopefully by the time we get to district play, we’ll be clicking on all cylinders.”