Linna Jones
Dumas Clarion
The Dumas Bobcats and Star City Bulldogs faced off in the Battle of the Bayou with the Bobcats ending their losing streak 38-21 Friday, October 13, 2023.
The Bobcats and Bulldogs both fought hard with back to back touchdowns throughout the game. Coach Antonio Lovelady said he was pleased with the results of the game.
“I thought it was a good team win. We played well in all phases of the game where offense, defense and special teams played well. Everybody did their job for the most part. We had our moments where we were able to get some things going but we battled through those moments and continued to play well and come out with a win,” Lovelady said. “Offensively, I was pleased we put up 38 points. It was impressive. It was good and we took advantage of our opportunity. I talked to the kids all the time about opportunities making the most of it and we were finally able to make the most of our opportunities. The defense put us in good condition sometimes with turnovers here and there and then just not just shooting ourselves in the foot so to say by making penalties or missing assignments. We played good clean football and were able to put up points.”
Quarterback Joseph Jones made a big difference on offense. He played a great game. He completed 21-29 passes for 301 yards, threw four touchdown passes and ran one in. He accounted for five touchdowns. He made some great throws,but none of that would have been possible without the offensive line. They played great; they gave him time to complete those passes. The receivers made good plays and were able to catch those balls consistently to get good yardage and score.
He described the Star City offense as a challenge. The game was a back and forth, the Bobcats made some mistakes early on defense. Lovelady said they were not reading our keys and it showed. The Bulldogs were able to go up and down the field and score, just like the Bobcats were on offense. Back and forth it was kind of uneasy at first. The Bobcat coaches were able to redirect their players to get them on the right track and it made the difference.
The Bobcats were able to start making some stops again and they were able to take advantage on offense when they were able to get those stops and score.
“When you are playing a team that runs the ball like they do, but not really a passing team. If you can get ahead of them and make them have to try to pass you are in a good position to make them do something they are not accustomed to doing. It was a little uneasy at first, but it got easier as we went on,” Lovelady said.
Lovelady described next week's game as going to be a tough one against a rival team. The Bobcats will need to stay focused, play physical and take advantage of our opportunities if they come.
“It's going to be a tough one. We have to go on the road. It's a rival team. We hadn't won in a little while, but we are more than capable. We just have to stay focused, play physical and take advantage of our opportunities if they come. Then we'll be ok,” He said.
Lovelady said he respects the McGehee Owl Program with longtime Coach Haddock. He has always done a great job. He has won state championships, played state championships. I can't say enough about his program. Lovelady is working to get the Bobcats going in the same direction. Next week will be a big challenge, but he is going to go and give it his best shot.
The crowd wore their pink in support of Breast Cancer Awareness. They recognized Breast Cancer Survivors. The Battle of the Bayou is a collaboration of the Dumas and Star city Chamber of Commerce, Dumas School District, Star City School District and Farm Bureau for Desha and Lincoln Counties.
They created this event as a kind of rivalry between the two towns. The game was played several times at Star City and it finally returned to Dumas.
