Published: September 03, 2008 10:40 am         

McAdams falls to Noxapater

NOXAPATER — The good news is McAdams didn't have to punt a single time in it's season-opening football game at Noxapater on Friday night.

The bad news is that the Bulldogs fumbled the ball away six times and were held on downs there others in a 16-0 defeat.

But despite the loss, second-year McAdams head coach Ras Bayles was proud of his team's effort and the way the Bulldogs stayed in the game until the very end.

In fact, until Noxapater connected on a 39-yard scoring pass with just two minutes left in the contest, the game was very much in doubt.

"We played so hard, so very hard," Bayles said following the game. "Up until the end when they hit us for the touchdown, we still had our chances."

After taking over on downs near midfield, the homestanding Tigers moved the ball down to the McAdams 39-yard line where they faced a third-and-12.

Bayles knew his Bulldogs, who were trailing 8-0 at the time, needed a big play so he told his defenders to go for the interception.

"That play hurt us," Bayles said. "I told them to jump the curl and they called a gook and go and it got our guys."

Freshman quarterback Ethan Hamilton hit a wide-open Gregory McBeath around the 25-yard line and he took it the rest of the way for the score with 2:08 left to play in the game.

Despite being held scoreless, McAdams had it's chances. In fact several wide-open passes were dropped including a couple that have could have very well resulted in scores. Then there were the six fumbles that the Bulldogs lost, with more than half of them putting an end to strong McAdams drives.

"You can say turnovers are luck, but someone has to be there to make the play and somebody has to be there to make the recovery," said Noxapater head coach Bobby Bowman. "It's a hustle play and we were hustling and came up with the ball."

Noxapater scored the second time it had the ball, with Desmond Coleman catching a pass in the right flat from Hamilton and then turning it into a 30-yard touchdown with his outstanding speed.

Josh Drury then scored on a trick play for the two-point conversion to put Noxapater up 8-0 with 2:12 left in the first quarter.

McAdams responded with a 12-play drive that ended on a fourth-and-goal at the 3-yard line when the quarterback was dropped for a one-yard loss.

Although both teams moved the ball at times, neither team really threatened for the rest of the half, leaving the Tigers with an 8-0 advantage at the intermission.

McAdams moved the ball down to the 21 on its first possession of the second quarter, but the Bulldogs fumbled the ball away with Hamilton making the recovery for the Tigers.

Two possessions later the visiting Bulldogs completed their only pass of the night and moved the ball 36 yards down the field only to fumble the ball away at the end of the play, giving Noxapater the ball at its own 18-yard line.

Noxapater finally sealed the win with 2:08 left in the game when Hamilton hit McBeath with the scoring pass. Drury again scored on the two-point conversion to make it 16-0.

The Tigers finished the night with 175 yards of total offense, with Coleman leading the way with 70 rushing yards on 14 carries. Hamilton hit on eight-of-15 passes for 86 yards, with McBeath making three catches for 48 yards and Coleman having two catches for 27 yards.

Junior quarterback Malcolm Fisher led the McAdams rushing attack with 95 yards on 15 carries, while freshman quarterback Shaquale Miller completed a pass to John Allen for 36 yards.

Tevin Hill and Camnrod Nelson had seven tackles each to lead McAdams, while Rodney Carter and Brandon Kitchens had five each.

Next up for the Bulldogs is a home game with South Leake Friday at 7:30 p.m.