With his team already trailing 14-3 in the first quarter of Friday night’s season opener against visiting Greensville, Bruton football coach Tracy Harrod said the panic meter was rising quickly.
“We have four seniors on this team and only two that were playing, so we were a little worried how they would respond to that early deficit,” Harrod said after his team outscored the Eagles 40-6 during the final three quarters en route to a 43-20 victory. “There were some nerves, a lot of the guys we had out there were fresh out of Queens Lake and had never seen a game situation under the lights before.
“But everybody eventually just settled down and played football, and when we did that, our potential showed.”
On consecutive drives in the opening quarter, Greensville scored on plays of over 60 yards – the first a 67-yard reception by Kaleel Crawley who followed that up with a 63-yard touchdown scamper – to give the Eagles an early 14-3 advantage.
After Bruton (1-0) answered with a seven-play drive capped off by Kapri Doucet’s one-yard touchdown plunge to start the second quarter, the Panthers’ Richard Taylor stepped in front of a pass on Greensville’s first play from scrimmage and returned the interception 55 yards – one of two interception returns for touchdowns by the junior corner back – to put Bruton back on top, 16-14.
With just over three minutes left in the half, Dondre Mason returned the ensuing kickoff 65 yards to the house giving Greensville a 20-16 lead, but that was the time the Eagles’ offense would cross midfield.
With 40 seconds left in the opening half and the score still 20-16, Doucet scooped up a Greensville punt at the Panthers’ own 30 on the left sideline, cut all the way back to the right, shook off one tackle and didn’t stop until he crossed the goal line 65 yards later to give Bruton a 22-20 lead heading into halftime.
“That was the big momentum changer,” Harrod said of Doucet’s nifty punt return. “I think some of our older guys decided they were going to lead by example, and that got everybody else going.”
The second half was an entirely different story for the Panthers on both sides of the ball.
The offense put together three quality scoring drives in the fourth quarter behind the powerful running of Doucet and Kajoun Johnson (14 carries, 94 yards) to put the game away.
Meanwhile, the Panthers’ defensive unit, which had all sorts of trouble stopping the big play in the first half, held Greensville to just 33 yards of total offense during the final two quarters.
In six second-half drives, the Eagles punted twice, threw two interceptions and turned the ball over twice more.
“When you look back and notice we were down 14-3 and the final score was 43-20, you have to take some good out of that,” Harrod said. “We know we have to tackle better and be better on special teams, but winning the first game of the season is always huge, so it feels good to set a tone.”
Doucet Does It All
In the words of his coach, Tracy Harrod, “everyone knows Kapri [Doucet] is an all-state cornerback.”
Doucet showed Friday night that he can be dangerous in multiple facets of the game outside of his typical role as a shutdown defensive back, and the numbers speak for themselves.
Doucet carried the ball 13 times for 117 yards and two touchdowns and added another score off a punt return (His punt-return average for the game was 42 yards on two attempts).
Defensively, in the first half alone, he recorded five tackles with three going for loss of yards. He never had a chance at an interception because Greensville’s offense never even looked his way.
“He came to us after basketball season last winter and said he wants to play down in the box,” Harrod said of his standout junior. “When he’s committed, he can do it all, and we saw that tonight.”
Uvodich Bursts on to the Scene
While inexperience is the underlying concern defensively for coach Harrod, the veteran coach spoke nothing but praise for sophomore defensive back Zach Uvodich.
Uvodich had a breakout day in the Panthers’ season opener. He recovered a fumble after his teammate blocked a Greensville punt in the first half before hauling in an acrobatic interception in the second half that killed one of the Eagles’ more promising drives.
“We expect big things from him this year and he’s off to a great start,” Harrod said. “He had a heck of a summer, especially 7-on-7 drills. He’s a little undersized, but he’s consistent and an intelligent football player.
Bruton- 3 19 0 21 – 43
Greensville- 14 6 0 0 – 20
First Quarter
Bruton- McReynolds 23-yard FG
G’ville- Crawley 67-yard catch from Turner (Butler kick)
G’ville- Crawley 63-yard run (Butler kick)
Second Quarter
Bruton- Doucet 1-yard run (XP no good)
Bruton- R. Taylor 55-yard INT return (XP no good)
G’ville- Mason 65-yard kickoff return (XP no good)
Bruton- Doucet 45-yard punt return (XP no good)
Fourth Quarter
Bruton- R. Taylor 20-yard INT return (McReynolds kick)
Bruton- Doucet 25-yard run (McReynolds kick)
Bruton- Rice 20-yard run (McReynolds kick)
Bruton;G’ville
First Downs: 12;5
Rushes-yards: 40-247;22-153
passing yards: 16;82
Penalties-yards: 7-45; 14-165
Fumbles-lost: 1-0; 2-1
