After trailing in the third quarter, the Anton Bulldogs win the close battle against Petersburg 50-45, remaining undefeated at 5-0.
“A big step” for the program, said Anton’s Head Coach, Tell Rutledge, as he was proud of his team for overcoming adversity, something they struggled with in the past.
“I wasn’t here last year, but some of the things that I’d heard about this group is when things kind of started going down, they didn’t really fight back, but our kids competed well,” Rutledge said. “We were down a couple of scores in the third quarter and just to see our kids battle back, that was good to see.”
Anton’s quarterback, Shooter Campos, threw for 210 yards and two touchdowns, in part for his team to come back in the second half to win.
Eclipsing his highest passing total this season, the passing game came with patience as the Campos and staff were trying to diagnose the coverages by Petersburg, but once they figured it out, they “were able to take advantage of it,” Rutledge said.
“Shooter made some good throws; we had some good blocks up front and receivers made big plays when we needed them,” Rutledge said. “They played a couple of different kinds of zones. They played man, and so we were trying to just figure out how they were covering and then once we figured out what their coverage was, it was easy to take advantage of.”
The passing game was coupled with 141 yards of rushing, led by Isaiah Alafa scoring four touchdowns, and 115 yards of his own.
“Staying healthy” is the key for Coach Rutledge and his Bulldogs to end up on top of their district, as their next game is against their district opponent, Amherst, after Anton’s bye week.
Coach Rutledge has been creative all season in keeping his guys healthy, as he’s aware of how injuries plagued team success in the past.
“The main thing is staying healthy. That’s the thing that bit them in the past,” Rutledge said. “In practice, keeping things live, keeping things fast, we try to keep practices short but intense, and I think that kind of keeps us more in game shape.”