by RON WEATHERFORD
ECI hosted Jenkins Co. from across the river Friday in the annual neighborhood bash between the two region teams.
The Eagles spoiled the Bulldogs’ homecoming defeating the Bulldogs for the first time in 19 years by a score of 25-8 giving Jenkins their third win of the season.
The Bulldog offensive backs couldn’t find much running room against the larger Eagle defensive front. ECI had two backs gain over 100 yards in last week’s game against Claxton. The Eagles limited the Bulldogs to just 75 yards rushing.
The Bulldogs didn’t find the endzone until midway through the fourth quarter on a 23 yard Chase Whitehead to Bryce Kearson touchdown pass.
Jenkins put the first points on the board on a 21 yard touchdown run in the first quarter to take an 8-0 lead. The Eagles added 7 more in the second quarter on a one yard quarterback sneak to take a 15-0 lead into the locker room.
Jenkins added 3 more in the third on a 35 yard field goal to lead 18-0.
Unable to move the ball on the ground, the Bulldogs took to the air on their second drive of the fourth quarter. Whitehead hit Reggie Blocket for 10 yards, Kearson for 10 more and then ended the drive when Kearson caught Whitehead’s throw across the middle for a 24 yard scoring pass. Two point conversion was good with the home team trailing 18-8 with just over 6 minutes left in the game.
The Eagles put the nail in the coffin when their shifty running back outran the Bulldogs on the sidelines on a 34 yard run to make the final score 25-8.
DJ Jones led on the ground for ECI rushing for 61 of the 75 yards.
Whitehead was 17 for 26 for 160 yards with one touchdown spreading the ball around to 7 different receivers.
Kearson caught five for 60 yards and a touchdown, Blockett, Kobe Allen and Trey Hughes grabbed 3 balls each with Cordarius Lee and Jerimiah Mack snagged the other three.
The Bulldogs travel to Pembroke to take on Bryan Co. for the first time since the two were in the same region in 2008. The Indians dropped back down to Class A in 2020.
