Brandywine grounds Bridgman
Published 12:44 am Saturday, September 10, 2011
Courtlan Gordon picked up right where he left off in Week No. 2 Friday night as he scored three more touchdowns to help the Brandywine Bobcats improve to 3-0 for the second consecutive season.
Gordon rushed for 143 yards on 21 carries and scored on runs of 4, 1 and 37 yards to lead Brandywine to a 28-0 victory over Bridgman in a non-conference clash.
The victory sets up a showdown with undefeated Berrien Springs in the Lakeland Conference opener for both teams next week. The Shamrocks were 36-6 winners over White Pigeon Friday night.
Gordon scored the Bobcats first three touchdowns as Brandywine built up a 16-0 lead at halftime after a scoreless first quarter. The junior running back’s third score of the night increased the Bobcats’ lead to 22-0 heading into the fourth quarter.
Freshman quarterback Andrew Duckett, who was 4-for-4 for 84 yards, capped the scoring with a 5-yard run in the fourth quarter.
While the Brandywine offense was running on all of its cylinders, Bobcats’ coach Mike Nate was also impressed with his defense.
“It was a total team effort tonight,” he said. “The defense came up big all night. Anytime you get a shutout the defense deserves a lot of credit. Overall, I thought we moved the ball pretty good. We had a couple nice drives there and I’m sure Gordon was over 100 yards.
“We are right where we to be. We are 3-0 and our goal is to make the playoffs. I know it’s only Week 3 and it’s a little early to talk about playoffs, but we are halfway there.”
The Bobcats took advantage of some great field position in the second quarter to pick up a pair of touchdowns. Poor punting on behalf of the Bees allowed Brandywine to set up shop twice in Bridgman territory and both times the Bobcats came away with points.
Gordon capped off a 49-yard drive early in the second quarter following a poor punt. He covered the final four yards around the left end and then added the 2-point conversion to make it 8-0.
Following a 10-yard punt by Bridgman’s Cooper Mojsiejenko, Gordon scored from a yard out and Duckett scored the 2-point conversion to increase the Bobcats’ lead to 16-0.
Gordon’s final touchdown was the dagger in the heart of the Bees. He sliced through the middle of the Bridgman defense from 37-yards out to make it a 22-0 game heading into the final quarter.
Duckett called his own number to start the final quarter, scoring from 5-yards out.
The lone down side of the second half for the Bobcats was that they missed both conversion attempts.
Brandywine finished with 337 yards in total offense, including 253 on the ground. Duckett was perfect on all four of his attempts for 84 yards.
“He’s coming a long nice,” Nate said of his freshman quarterback. “He’s learning how to manage the game. Andrew has progressed and he showed today he can manage the game. He worked the clock, he came up with some big third down passes and he ran the ball a couple of times including for a touchdown. He had a solid all-around ballgame.
The Bobcats’ defense limited the Bees to only 99 yards of total offense. Jay Lowery had 29 yards on 12 carries, while the Bridgman quarterbacks were a combined 4-of-22 for 30 yards and interception by Brandywine’s Michael Shelton, who played his first game since returning from injury.
Bridgman 0 0 0 0 – 0
Brandywine 0 16 6 6 – 28
BW – Courtlan Gordon 4 run (Courtlan run)
BW – Gordon 1 run (Andrew Duckett run)
BW – Gordon 37 run (pass fails)
BW – Duckett 5 run (pass fails)