On Sept. 17, the Mt Juliet Golden Bears traveled east to take on the White County Warriors in a big region gridiron contest. Mt Juliet came into Warrior Stadium with a 4-0 record and a 1-0 region record.
Mt. Juliet won the toss and elected to go on offense for the first series of the game. The Golden Bears took the ball on their own 38-yard line and began a nine-play drive that moved the ball down to the Warrior four-yard line. The big play of the drive was quarterback Stephen Swoner’s 39-yard run through the Warrior defense that set up the first score of the game. The Warrior defense rose to the occasion and held the Golden Bears to a Mark Shenouda 26-yard field goal to put the visitors up 3-0, with 8:04 to play in the first quarter.
The Warrior offense could not get anything going on their first drive that was influenced by a Warrior holding penalty. The Warrior punt was very short and gave Mt. Juliet great field position to start their second drive of the night. It did not take long for the Golden Bears to strike paydirt as Swoner again kept the ball and scrambled 10 yards into the endzone. The Shenouda kick was good, and, with 3:53 left in the first quarter, the Mt. Juliet Golden Bears took a 10-0 lead in the game.
Once again ,the visiting Golden Bear defense held the Warriors to a three-and-out series, and the Sparta Warriors once again punted the ball back to the Golden Bears. It only took four plays for Mt Juliet to move 30 yards as Griffin Throneberry found his way into the endzone from 10 yards out. The Shenouda kick was good, and, with 26 seconds left in the first quarter, the Golden Bears took a 17-0 lead.
On the first play of the second quarter, the Golden Bear defense forced a turnover and took possession of the ball at the Warrior 26-yard line. The Warrior defense held the visitors out of the endzone and forced a quick-kick punt and gave the ball back to the Warrior offense. Once again the Warrior offense sputtered and could not move the ball, and, with a fourth down and five yards to go, the Warriors punted the ball back to Mt. Juliet. The Golden Bears took possession of the ball at midfield. A six-play drive, with most of the yardage coming from the air, the Mt. Juliet quarterback once again made his way into the endzone for a four-yard touchdown run, and, with the extra point good, the Mt. Juliet Golden Bears took a commanding 24-0 lead, with 7:42 left to play in the first half.
The momentum began to swing in the favor of the Warriors as Malaki Dowell put the icing on the cake after a six-play drive as he outran the Golden Bear defense for an 18-yard much-needed touchdown to put the Warriors on the board. DJ Paul hit the extra point, and, with 5:50 on the clock in the second quarter, the score saw Mt. Juliet leading 24-7.
The Warrior coaching staff then rolled the dice and attempted the onside kick which was successful, and the Warriors took control of the ball at midfield. Jayvn Strode took the handoff on first down and made his way for a 20-yard run down to the Golden Bear 30-yard line. Malaki Dowell then kept the ball and, once again, scrambled his way for 27 yards and another Warrior touchdown. The extra point was no good. However, the Warriors had cut the lead to 24-13.
The Warrior defense then stood firm and forced the Golden Bears to punt the ball back to the Warriors, with 2:07 left to play in the half. Jayvn Strode again broke free on a 55-yard run and put the Warriors deep into Golden Bear country at the 27-yard line. With 18 second left to play in the first half, Tripp Pinion found Maliki Dowell on a 22-yard touchdown pass to close the gap on the score. With the Paul extra point, the Warriors had cut the lead to 24-20 headed into the locker room at the halftime break.
The Warriors would take possession of the ball to open the second half. The Mt. Juliet defense stepped up and stopped the Warrior offense after a five-play drive. The Warriors were forced to punt the ball back to the Golden Bear offense. Swoner broke free for a 62-yard touchdown run that was called back for a block in the back penalty. Swoner then found a receiver open for a 19-yard touchdown pass. The extra point was good. and Mt Juliet extended the lead 31-20, with 5:04 on the clock in the third quarter.
On the next drive, the Warriors’ Jayvn Strode flexed his muscles and carried the ball five times for 58 yards and moved the ball down to the Mt. Juliet four-yard line. Quarterback Tripp Pinion kept the ball and scored the running touchdown. The extra point try for two was stopped short of the goal line, and, with 1:42 to play in the third quarter, the lead by M.t Juliet was 31-26.
Mt. Juliet offense was not to be denied as they took an 11-play drive, and, with 9:28 left to play in the game, Swoner found Walter Bowers over the middle for a 22-yard touchdown pass. The extra point was good, and Mt. Juliet took the extended the lead 37-26.
Lightning struck quick for the Warriors as Dowell broke free and outran the Golden Bear defense for a 69-yard touchdown run. The try for two was once again no good, and the score was 37-32, with nine minutes left to play in the game. The onside kick by the Warriors was no good, and the Golden Bears took over on offense at midfield. The Warrior defense had a chance to stop the offensive charge of Mt. Juliet as they faced a big fourth down and one, with 6:10 left to play in the game. Swoner took the ball and followed his offensive line for a two-yard gain and gave the Mt. Juliet offense a big first down. On second down and 10 from the 29-yard line, Swoner found his receiver open for a 29-yard touchdown strike to put them up 44-32, with 3:40 left to play in the game. Mt. Juliet held the Warriors by forcing a fumble to give them the ball back, with 1:36 left to play. The Golden Bears ran the clock out and took the win over the Warriors by a score of 44- 32.
The Golden Bears saw Jaylen Holmes rush 13 times for 74 yards. Stephen Swoner rushed 10 times for 71 yards. Garrison Lewis rushed six times for 26 yards. Griffin Throneberry rushed five times for 24 yards. Amarion Workings and Walter Bowers carried the ball one time each for minus yards. Swoner was very efficient in the air as he had 20 completions on 25 attempts for 206 yards. Bowers had 91 yards receiving, and Workings had 50 yards in receptions. Total rushing yards for Mt. Juliet was 187 yards on the ground. Passing yardage total was 216 for a combined total offensive output of 403 yard on the night.
For the Warriors on the ground, Malaki Dowell rushed 22 times for 238 yards. Jayvn Strode rushed 13 times for 159 yards. DJ Paul rushed two times for minus 12 yards, and Tripp Pinion rushed five times for minus two yards. Pinion was two for three for 25 yards. Total passing yards was 25 yards. Total yards for the Warriors was 432.
The Warriors moved to 3-2 on the season and 0-2 in the region. Mt. Juliet moves to 5-0 on the season and 2-0 in region play. The Warriors travel to Green Hills, in Wilson County, on Sept. 24, for another big region game. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
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