The Paul Bryant High Stampede  (1-4, 0-3) got the first win of the season tonight against the Holt Ironmen (1-4, 0-3) and gave themselves a chance for the playoffs.

The night did get off a to an odd start. The game was delayed by over an hour and a half due to missing referees. As both teams tried to stay warm and intense through the awkward wait, the anticipation for football grew by the minute until kickoff.

The Stampede picked up an early stop on the first possession of the game, setting up the offense with great field position after putting a stop to a 4th down conversion attempt by the Ironman. A combination of quick passes and chunk plays on the ground were successful as the Stampede rushed for a touchdown with 4:33 left to go in the first quarter.

On the first play of the second possession Holt turned the ball over on an arrant snap forcing the defense to get back on the field from their own 30-yard line after the previous 10-play touchdown drive. Five plays later Bryant pushed their lead to 14-0 with a 10-yard run.

After the ensuing kickoff Holt gained possession. Another 3-and-out handed the ball right back to Bryant at the beginning of the 2nd quarter. With the ground game being established the Stampede mixed in the play action pass which earned them 37 yards and a touchdown through the air. Leaving the score at 20-0 after Holt blocked an extra point.

With 4:17 to go in the half the Ironmen gained momentum and woke up a dormant crowd with back to back twenty yard runs to set themselves up for a field goal to end the half. With time expiring the kick went wide left and the teams went into the locker room with the score being 20-0.

This story repeated itself throughout the third as Bryant would dominate the time of possession after stopping Holt. But an explosive 44-yard run would serve as the dagger with 9:21 to go in the 3rd quarter. Holt would continue to fight and drive the ball down the field but couldn’t convert on 3rd and 4th downs, giving Bryant more time to kill clock.

The 4th quarter would finalize Holt’s fate as a 15-yard scramble would create an insurmountable deficit at 34-0 with 11:32 to go. Bryant continued to dominate on the defensive end and didn’t let up. Holding Holt scoreless the entire game.

Holt will look to bounce back against American Christian Academy (4-0, 2-0) next week as Bryant looks to build a win streak against Central (2-2, 1-1).

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