By Nick Nunn
Staff Writer

The Morgan County JV Football team beat the Monticello Hurricanes in Monticello last Thursday 34-12, their first win of the season.
The Bulldogs received the ball to start the game and went ahead early.
Really early.
Within the first 23 seconds of the game, Trey Chapman returned the ball 75 yards on the kickoff for the first touchdown of the game. The extra point attempt wasn’t successful, so the score before the first Monticello possession was 6-0.
“This boy already took the ball to the house. God A’mighty,” said one Monticello fan after watching the Bulldogs’ first possession.
Monticello wasn’t able to advance far on their first drive, and they had to punt to Morgan County without being able to earn a first down.
The first play of this drive was a 17-yard run by Chapman, which left the Bulldogs on the Hurricanes’ 43-yard line. Morgan County approached slowly, until a big 35-yard run by Dee Hubbard gave the Bulldogs their second touchdown of the night.
The extra point was good, leaving the score 13-0 with a little under half of the first quarter to go.
The Hurricanes next drive was a long one, but it was ultimately unsuccessful. Monticello punted from the Dogs’ 49-yard line, and Sam Couch was in place to return the punt. However, Couch dropped the ball after making contact with it, and the Hurricanes recovered the ball on the Morgan County 22-yard line.
Because of the field advantage, Monticello was able to score a few plays later, but it would be only one of the two times the Hurricanes would score. They attempted a 2-point conversion after the touchdown but couldn’t pull it off. The score early in the second quarter was 13-6.
After the kickoff by the Hurricanes, Couch was able to bring the ball to the Bulldogs’ 42-yard line, and they were brought into their opponents’ territory by Alex Dickson, when he caught a 32-yard pass from Brantley Frost early in the drive. The Bulldogs had a slow-but-steady march downfield, culminating in a 2-yard drive into the endzone by Chapman. Andrew Bishop kicked his second successful extra point for the night, making the score 20-6.
The Hurricanes were able to score in the remaining 3 minutes of the game, and the score at halftime was 20-12.
Monticello got the ball to start the second half of gameplay, but they fumbled the ball on the first play of the drive, and Stephen Ervin recovered the ball for Morgan County.
Despite the good field advantage, the Bulldogs only advanced to the 16-yard line. They attempted a field goal, but the ball didn’t make it through the uprights this time, and the Hurricanes got the ball at the 20-yard line.
Neither team scored again until the fourth quarter, when Morgan County brought the ball into the endzone for their fourth touchdown of the game. The extra point was good, bringing the score to 27-12.
Monticello returned the ball to their own 25-yard line after the next kick-off, but, on the first play of the drive, the Hurricanes fumbled the ball. Eric Bell recovered the ball for Morgan County and returned the ball for a touchdown. This touchdown was the last of the night. The score was 34-12 with 8 minutes and 30 seconds left in the game.
In the final minutes, there were two fumbles, one by each team, and, as the buzzer rang, Morgan County intercepted the ball from the Hurricanes.
The final score of the game was 34-12.
Today, the JV team is taking on the Oconee County Warriors, one day before the Varsity team meets up here in Morgan County with the Warriors, their region opener for the season.

Printed in the September 27, 2012 edition