The Pike County Bulldogs extended their shutout streak to three games Friday night in a 59-0 win over the Dale County Warriors.

After taking care of their first two opponents, Bulldogs head coach Fred Holland wanted to make sure his team was prepared to play against the Warriors. The players didn’t let him down.

“We played really good tonight after a good week of practice,” Holland said. “They did everything that we asked them to do.”

The player and story of the night was running back Deshon Cowling, who rushed for 110 yards during the game and scored six touchdowns including a 95-yard fumble recovery to start the second half.

“Deshon is a great leader and motivator to the players. He really knows how to get them going,” Holland said. “He does everything the coaches ask him to do. He has great talent all the way around. We are proud of the way he works.

The Bulldogs scored on their opening possession, a move which has become a trend this season. Quarterback Jerrell Lawson connected with Cory Batie on a screen pass, and Batie ran the ball in from 42 yards out.

On the first play of the next drive for the Warriors the Bulldog defense caused a fumble and a turnover setting them up in prime position.

It didn’t take long for Pike County to take advantage. Cowling ran the ball all five plays of the drive, ending with a 1-yard touchdown to push the Bulldogs lead to 13-0 early.

After the Warriors had their longest drive of the quarter a drive that lasted 7 plays, Michael Rumph scored from 57 yards out on the drive’s second play to give Pike County a comfortable 20-0 lead.

Cowling continued his powerful running game on the first play of the second quarter including a 40-yard touchdown run.

Midway through the second quarter the Bulldogs let the passing game take control. Lawson connected with Kamari Jackson for a 44-yard pass to set up a 13-yard TD run from Cowling, giving the Bulldogs a 34-0 lead.

Holland and the Bulldogs offense continued to dial up passing plays on their next drive. Lawson again connected with Jackson this time 42 yards out, setting up Cowling’s fourth rushing touchdown of the first half.

Perhaps the most intriguing moment of the first half came in the final minute as the Warriors had the opportunity to break the Bulldogs shutout streak. With the Warriors threating on the 5-yard line, the Bulldogs forced a fumble that was picked up by Cowling, who 95 yards for another touchdown.

That was the closest the Warriors came to breaking the Bulldogs streak. The Bulldogs have now shut their last three opponents while out scoring them 169-0.

“I talk about execution with them that’s the big thing. We don’t have any let downs and that carries over to the next game,” Holland said.

The second half began the same way the first half ended, with a Cowling touchdown. On fourth and long play the Bulldogs attempted a fake punt. Lawson took the snap and rolled out and connected with Cowling on 65-yard touchdown pass to extend the Bulldogs lead to 53-0.

With that final score the Bulldogs emptied their bench. They did however get another touchdown by Jahzarian Lampley.

With the win the Bulldogs improve their record to 3-0. After a bye week next Friday, Pike County will hit the road to play Luverne for their first road contest of the season on Sept. 25.