The latest installment of the Highway 61 rivalry on Friday night between the Simmons Blue Devils (4-0) and South Delta Bulldogs (3-2) "gave what it was supposed to give," as the new age saying goes.
Having accumulated three shutouts in a row prior to Friday night, the Simmons Blue
Devils managed to squeeze out a win of 14 -8 over the Bulldogs in their first district matchup of the season.
What made the tension in the air even thicker was Simmons’ head coach Derrick Hooker facing off against the team he was leading just last season.
Couple that with already historically heated contention and it makes for the kind of game in which players are clawing their way past the line of scrimmage.
The Blue Devils head to work tirelessly for every inch gained and for every stop made on a critical down. The same was true for the Bulldogs.
Both teams, in their respective opening drives, had little success converting third downs.
Nearly eight minutes had elapsed in the first quarter before Simmons’ senior quarterback, Devontae Rush, jetted down the field for a 57 yard touchdown followed by a successful two point conversion run in the first play of that particular possession.
In their ensuing possession, the Bulldogs got hit with a personal foul trying to convert a 1st & 5 and then a tackle for no gain by senior defensive end Antoine Washington, bringing up 4th and long.
The Bulldogs’ luck quickly changed, however, after recovering a fumble by running back Prentavis Madison at the Blue Devil 25 yard line near the end of the first quarter.
After an incomplete pass and a pick up of only 8 yards on two downs, a South Delta running back’s Forward progress to convert a 4th & 2 was stopped by Washington, forcing the bulldogs a turnover on downs to end the first quarter.
The Blue Devils would follow suit in the opening minutes of the second quarter as Rush attempted to complete a pass to junior wide receiver Chartavian Bethany on 4th & 7.
In the third play of the Bulldogs’ ensuing position, senior defensive back Charles Mallard III intercepted a pass intended for a South Delta receiver and the second quarter remained scoreless.
Rush opened up the second half with a 45 yard run which was capped off with A 3 yard touchdown run by sophomore running back Eddie George, who was ejected in the third quarter of the game after committing two personal fouls.
The Bulldogs quickly answered converting a 3rd & 11 to a 52-yard touchdown followed by a successful two-point conversion, making the score 14–8.
In the final minutes of the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs were a mere down away from tying the game after forcing Simmons to turn the ball over on downs on 4th & 20.
A tackle for loss by junior defensive lineman Alex Swanagan and another by Washington on 4th & 3 with less than a minute left pulled the plug on the Bulldogs offense.
Hooker was asked what was one major distinction between South Delta and the other teams Simmons has played so far this season.
“They were well coached and they played hard, so that’s the biggest thing and they played harder than we expected them to play tonight,” he pointed out.
It’s been more than 15 years since Hooker had an experience in which his former team became his rival team the following year.
“I knew coming into the game it was going to be a hard fought game and that we were going to have to play our best game, play mistake free and do some of the things we know we needed to do in order to win the game. We didn’t win it like we wanted to, but we won it, so we’ll take that,” he said.
