Nathan Hobbs came up big for the Male High School football team on Friday night.
Hobbs recovered a fumble for the defense as the Bulldogs trounced Ballard, 31-13. The win was the Bulldogs 23rd consecutive in the regular season and 17th straight win dating back to last season.
“Any time your defense scores twice, that’s a rare event,” Male head coach Chris Wolfe said. “It’s more often than not that you’re going to win (with two defensive touchdowns). We played poorly on special teams, and those two defensive plays saved that.”
Male held Ballard to just 210 yards of total offense, but Hobbs made the two big plays count for the bulldogs. In the first quarter, Hobbs returned an interception 25 yards for a score, and in the third quarter he returned a fumble 85 yards to the house.
“Hobbs had the momentum-changing 85 yard fumble recovery at the end of the third quarter” Wolfe said. “Ballard were down at the 15-yard line, they had momentum and really had a chance to get the game pretty tight.”
Male quarterback Tony Thomas was 9-of-15 for 124 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, while Ballard’s Terrence May was 15-of-33 for 166 yards, a pair of touchdowns and an interception. Robert Sheffield recorded a pick-six for the Bulldogs.
Through two games, Male remains unbeaten, but according to Wolfe, the offense is still getting adjusted to their roles.
“I think the defense has been strong and we need to tackle a little better,” Wolfe said. The offense is still a work in progress. We had an interception this week, so I’m not happy with that, but it’s just a learning process. We’ve got 11 new starters on offense and we’re working towards being ready for the playoffs.
We really haven’t expanded (the offense) any, we probably shrunk it down a little to be honest. We’re trying not to turn the ball over and put our defense in a bad spot. We have nine seniors starting on defense so we feel like that’s our strength.”