The Male High School football team is headed to the state championship game.
The Bulldogs wasted no time taking it to host Central Hardin Friday night on their way to a 50-0 victory. Male (14-0) led the Bruins (10-4) 36-0 at halftime, earning a running clock with 4:58 left in the second quarter.
“I think getting out ahead was certainly something important,” said Male head coach Chris Wolfe. “It was also important for us to play well on offense. We didn’t have a great offensive performance last week against Trinity. We threw the ball well (tonight). We ran the ball well. Defense played great. Just a great all-around performance.”
Male set the tone on its first play from scrimmage with a 44-yard completion from Hayden Shelton to Keion Wakefield that put it on the Central Hardin 20-yard line. Three plays later Marcus Clark scored from five yards out on a screen pass from Shelton and it was 7-0 just one minute into the game.
GALLERY | Bulldogs trounce Central Hardin
The Bulldogs held the Bruins to the first of five three-and-outs in the half, and when they got the ball back they scored quickly again. Shelton hit Clark on another screen pass for a score, this time from 28 yards out.
Two possessions later, Male made it 21-0 when Dayveon Higgs scored on a nine-yard run just 24 seconds into the second quarter. The Bulldogs made it 28-0 with a four-yard Higgs run and the only question remaining at that point was if and when the visitors would achieve a running clock.
The answer came on a 65-yard punt-return touchdown by Wakefield, followed by a two-point conversion pass from Shelton to Zachary Hall. The Bulldogs had another long punt-return touchdown called back earlier in the first half on a block in the back penalty. At halftime, Male had outgained Central Hardin 239 yards to 19.
In the second half Male scored two more touchdowns, one in each quarter. T’Omar Stallworth scored on a five-yard run to make it 43-0 with just 22 seconds left in the third quarter, then Henry Vestal scored on a one-yard run with 1:20 remaining in the game to finish off the scoring.
Wolfe said the team has one game left to achieve its goal set last summer, when it won the seven-on-seven national championship.
“It’s been our goal since the end of last season,” he said. “Our theme all year has been to finish. We’ve got our shot.”