It didn’t take long for Pike County to put their stamp on Friday’s night game against the Goshen Eagles. The Bulldogs scored a defensive touchdown on the game’s second play. The never looked back and routed the Eagles 53-0.

“Our guys played really well, even our subs played a little better than I thought they would,” said Bulldogs head coach Fred Holland. “We were able to get better. We will continue to work on things that we need to do. I am proud of the victory and I am glad the guys played so well.”

It didn’t take long for the Pike County defense to make a statement Friday evening. Like last week, the Bulldogs scored on the games first possession. The difference this week was that it was the defense putting points on the board.

Michael Rumph for PIke County stripped the ball away from an Eagle receiver and scampered into the end zone giving the Bulldogs the early lead.

The Bulldogs closed out the lengthy first quarter with another touchdown this time on a 40-yard touchdown by Deshon Cowling.

The Bulldogs attempted to go for a two-point conversion but was denied when the pass was not corralled leaving the score at 13-0 heading into the second quarter

The Bulldogs pressed down on the accelerator in the second quarter.

After both teams held each other down offensively in the first half of the second quarter the Bulldogs scored 20 points in the half’s final four minutes.

After starting a drive on the Eagles 42-yard line, the bulldogs went on a nine play scoring drive ending with a one-yard touchdown run by Cowling to put Pike County up 21-0 after converting the two point conversion.

Cowling was not done with that touchdown, with 2:30 remaining in the first half he returned an Eagle punt from 62-yards out to break open the game putting the Bulldogs up 27-0.

The Bulldogs scored in every possible way Friday night and dominated in every facet of the game.

“It’s always good to be able to score some points. Our guys did it in several different ways. Hopefully we will continue to get better,” Holland said. “Overall I am happy for my guys.”

The Bulldogs held the Eagles down one more time in the first half and retained possession with 1:42 remaining in the second quarter. After starting the game heavy with the running game decided to open things up in their final possession of the first half. Jerrell Lawson connected on three passes including a 13-yard touchdown pass to Kamari Jackson to give the Bulldogs a commanding 33-0 lead at the half.

Although the Bulldog offense stole the show in the opening the defense wasn’t too far behind them.

Pike County’s defense held the Eagles to three and outs in all six of their first half possessions. Overall the Eagles managed only five first downs Friday night.

“We are trying to get better defensively,” Holland said. “We made a few mistakes last week. We are taking a lot of baby steps and hopefully we can watch the film and try to improve.”

Both teams started their second half possessions by punting away the football.

When the Bulldogs touched the ball for the second time they picked up right where they left off in the first half. On third and five from midfield, Lawson rolled out to the right on an option play and pitched the ball to Cowling who scampered for a 50 yard touchdown, his third of the night giving the Bulldogs a 41-0 lead after converting the two point conversion.

The Bulldogs closed out the scoring Friday evening with touchdowns by Jahzarian Lampley and Elijah Lampley.

The Bulldogs dominated in the way of stats Friday night it was reflected in the game’s final score.

The Bulldog’s finished with 450 yards of offense compared to just 47 from Goshen.

Lawson finished the game going nine-20 for 96 yards and one touchdown.

Pike County got big contributions from the running attack finishing with a total of 251 yards led by senior running back Cowling who finished the night with 104 yards and three touchdowns. Jackson and Jahzarian Lampley followed suit finishing the game with 55 and 52 yards respectively.

With the win the Bulldogs start their season 1-0 and look to improve their record next week when they host Abbeville.