By Rob Tate
SportCast Media
It was fall break for the Magnolia football team, so the Bulldogs enjoyed a little respite from the classroom.
This past Thursday night – after a huge start to a 45-14 victory at Klein Forest — the Magnolia starters got a little break from the field in the second half.
The Bulldogs built a 31-0 lead at halftime, which gave head coach Craig Martin, and his staff, an opportunity midway through the season to give the starters a little rest while rewarding the reserves with some playing time under the bright lights.
With some fresh legs on the field, Magnolia scored twice, a turnover resulted in Klein Forest breaking the shutout and the second-unit defense allowed just one touchdown while up against the Golden Eagles’ starters for a positive evaluation period over the final 24 minutes of action.
Magnolia (4-2, 3-1) surpassed the midway mark of the regular season and before a big matchup this Friday with Klein Collins (3-4, 3-2) at Bulldog Stadium (7 p.m.), were able to get some kids a little fresher.
“Aside from resting your starters, I think it’s big when you’re able to play your reserves a little bit,” Martin said Thursday night. “It’s just going to increase your depth.”
Reserves have been sprinkled in here and there throughout the season for Magnolia as there has already been a couple lopsided games. But an extended look in a district contest on the road could prove to be beneficial for the future of the program.
“Those guys are going to make some inexperienced mistakes and the only way to get live reps is to get live reps,” Martin said. “It’s big for those guys to out and play well in some aspects and make some mistakes in some aspects so that we can coach it on film and get better.”
There were definitely standouts.
Running back Abraham Ervin, for one, had a breakout night. The junior got to hear his name over the public address system numerous times, including after touchdown runs of 1 and 22 yards, respectively.
“(He’s) a great kid who works extremely hard,” Martin said of Ervin. “And, you know, he’s a heckuva third running back. He’d be a starter for a lot of people and he’s done a great job of just being patient and waiting his turn.”
Ervin finished with 16 carries for 61 yards, second on the team behind senior Colin Leahey’s 121 yards and two scores.
“He’s going to be a guy in the future that will get a lot of carries for us,” Martin said of Ervin.
Four different Bulldogs attempted passes at quarterback.
You had sophomore starter Chase Lowery (4-for-10 for 33 yards) and sophomore athlete Cash Ferrell (2-for-2 for 16 yards and a touchdown pass to Carson Smith).
Building off a start three weeks ago for the injured Lowery, junior Teague Clements saw action again Thursday night in the third quarter while senior Aiden Barsh wrapped things up. Barsh had an impressive scramble in the fourth quarter for a pick up of 40 yards.
“Our two backup quarterbacks – they both have their own strengths,” Martin said. “Getting those guys some more playing time is great because I feel comfortable with one of those guys operating out there.”
Fifteen different Bulldogs had at least one tackle on defense, including a variety of names that guy in with the first unit taking the game in from the sideline.
“I felt our linebackers played decently well,” Martin said. “I thought the D-line that rolled out there did a great job and were in the positions they were supposed to be in. We’ve got some things to clean up for sure, but again, I think it’s important that they were able to get those game reps.”
The defense allowed just 197 yards on the night with four passes broken up.
