Cass's miscues and Cedartown's rushing attack lead to a one-sided Bulldog win

September 21, 2024 Charles Wilson / BartowSportsZone.com

Jeremiah Deroche and the Cass defense had its back to the wall much of the night in a loss at Cedartown.

The Cedartown Bulldogs utilized a powerful wing-T rushing attack and took advantage of three special teams miscues in the first half to defeat visiting Cass, 36-0, on Friday night.

Running backs Sam Smith, Juelz Davis, and Michael Gibbons had touchdown runs for the Bulldogs in the first half. Kicker Edgar Bermudez kicked a pair of short field goals, and UCF-commit defensive back Demarcus Gardner returned one of his two interceptions for a 95-yard pick-six for most of the Cedartown scoring. They also added a safety late in the third quarter after the Cass defense stopped a potential touchdown drive on downs at the 1-yard line.

Three bad punt snaps by Cass set up a field goal and two touchdowns for Cedartown in the first half. The Bulldogs started scoring drives at the Cass 15-yard line, 28-yard line, and 20-yard line.

The Cass defense stiffened following the first miscue and held the Bulldogs to a 26-yard field goal by Bermudez. The kick gave Cedartown a 3-0 lead with 7:15 remaining in the first quarter.

Two possessions later, the Bulldogs put together their only sustained drive of the first half.

A 30-yard run by Clemson commit Tae Harris keyed the drive, and Sam Smith finished it with a 20-yard run around the right end. Bermudez added the first of his four PAT kicks to give Cedartown a 10-0 lead with 6:06 left in the half.

Cass's second bad punt snap set up a second short field at the 28-yard line. Four plays later, Juelz Davis scored on a 5-yard run to give the Bulldogs a 17-0 advantage with 3:36 left in the second quarter.

The Cass offense's three-and-out was followed by another poor snap, which was punted under pressure but only got back to the line of scrimmage.  

Starting at the Cass 20-yard line, Cedartown needed only three plays to punch in a 7-yard run by fullback Michael Gibbons with 1:20 remaining before the intermission.

The Bulldogs carried a 24-0 advantage to the locker room.

On the second half's opening drive, Cedartown methodically drove to the Cass 1-yard line before turning the ball over on downs. The drive took 7:47 off the clock and led to a safety when Cass quarterback Elijah Slocum was tackled in the end zone on the ensuing play. This gave the Bulldogs a 26-0 lead with 4:07 remaining in the third quarter.

Cedartown returned the Cass free kick after the safety to their 36-yard line and put together another lengthy drive with their running game and the aid of two 15-yard penalties on the Colonels.

Bermudez kicked a 22-yard field goal to culminate the Bulldogs’ 13-play, 55-yard drive and gave Cedartown a 29-0 lead with 9:31 remaining in the game.

The Colonels marched their next possession into Cedartown territory, reaching the Bulldogs’ 39-yard line. However, a pass by Slocum was picked off at the 5-yard line by Gardner and returned 95 yards for the final Cedartown points and a 36-0 lead with 6:00 remaining.

Cass drove into Cedartown territory again, but Gardner picked off another pass to halt any late scoring ideas the Colonels fancied.

Tae Harris rushed for 81 yards on ten carries for the Bulldogs.

Braylon Hill carried 14 times for 75 yards for Cass. Slocum rushed for 35 yards on nine attempts and was 6-for-13 passing for 39 yards. He threw two interceptions. Jachai Delgado rushed 14 times for 35 yards for the Colonels.

Eighth-ranked Cedartown improved to 6-0 overall and 2-0 in Region 7-AAAA.

Cass (3-3, 0-2) has now dropped three straight after a 3-0 start. The Colonels will look to bounce back on Friday when they host Woodland in a 7:30 p.m. kickoff.