Queen City Bulldogs top New Diana 20-3

Queen City hosted New Diana last Friday night for its second district game of the season.

The Bulldogs finished its non-district slate 3-0 before losing to Elysian Fields in the district opener.

Queen City erased a 29-game district losing streak by beating New Diana 20-3.

First Quarter

New Diana began the contest at its own 34 and had trouble moving the ball past midfield due mainly to penalties and hard-wrought tackles led by Kieran Droddy.

The Eagles did execute a big play to get within six yards of the endzone, but a stout stand by the Bulldog defense shut down any scoring attempt on fourth down.

Queen City’s first drive started out with a 9-yard outburst from Droddy and was followed up with a 10-yard pass from quarterback Alex Shelton to Droddy.

Shelton racked up 23 yards on the next three carries and Manasseh Drayton got into the act with a 3-yard gain.

Shelton did hit Drayton for five yards on third down and ran for 10 on fourthand-long but could not get enough for a new set of downs.

New Diana took over again with 2:51 left in the first quarter.

The Eagles’ next drive ended abruptly after a three-and-out as Kentrel Andrews devastated the New Diana ball carriers with hard tackles.

Queen City took over at midfield and after a couple of runs by Andrews the opening frame came to an end.

Second Quarter

The second stanza began with QC failing to pick up enough yardage for a first down and New Diana took over at the 44.

A big run put the Eagles at the QC 32 but penalties and a big hit by Justin Lance forced the Eagles to punt four plays later.

Drayton fielded the punt at the 10- yard line and galloped 90 yards for the first score of the night for either team.

Connor Alexander nailed the point after, and QC was up 7-0 with 8:27 left in the first half.

New Diana didn’t fare any better on its next drive as big stops by Josh Davis and Andrews forced the Eagles to punt after three plays.

Queen City’s next drive displayed nice runs by Shelton and Jeremiah Drayton, but an incomplete pass and a penalty set QC into punt formation with 4:27 left on the clock.

The punt was blocked and New Diana had great field position at the QC 39.

Queen City’s defense rose to the occasion on the drive. Big tackles by Andrews, Droddy, Lance, Noah Perkins and Spencer Warren kept the Eagles out of the endzone yet again.

New Diana did hit a 31-yard field goal, but the Bulldogs still led 7-3 with 25 seconds left in the first half.

The first half ended with Shelton connecting with receiver Damir Rascoe for six yards.

Third Quarter

QC received the ball to begin the second half of play.

Shelton took the initial snap, tucked it in and picked up nine yards but a penalty negated the nice pickup.

Shelton connected with Andrews on a 19-yard pass play and followed that up with a 12-yard connection on fourth down.

Andrews bowled his way to the 21 after a nice 7-yard run but a QC fumble on the next play ended the drive.

QC’s defense forced a quick threeand-out and forced the Eagles to punt the ball away.

The Bulldogs’ next set of downs was a solid 8-play, 64-yard drive which ended with a touchdown.

The drive began with a 6-yard run by Droddy. That was followed by Jeremiah Drayton picking up 26 yards and 12 yards respectively on two carries.

Shelton picked up 12 yards on the next play which set the ball at the Eagles’ n8- yard line.

Three short runs forced the Bulldogs into a fourth down just a few plays later, but Shelton finished the drive by hitting Rascoe inn the endzone for a 5-yard TD.

Alexander hit the PAT and the Bulldogs were up 14-3 with 3:11 left in the third quarter.

New Diana’s offense found its way to the sideline after a quick three-and-out and punted the ball away.

On the punt play the punter kicked the ball into the back of his own player who was pushed backwards by a Bulldog.

This set up QC in good field position at the New Diana 34.

Nice runs by Shelton and Manasseh Drayton moved the ball for the Bulldogs but a penalty killed the drive as the quarter ended.

Fourth Quarter

New Diana took over just before the third quarter ended but a penalty and a stout stand by the QC defense forced the Eagles to punt the ball away just four plays into the final frame.

The first two plays on the Bulldogs’ next drive resulted in no yards but on third down Shelton hit Manasseh Drayton for a 62-yard score.

The PAT was no good but QC extended its lead to 20-3 with 10:04 left in the game.

The two teams traded possessions for the remainder of the contest.

QC ended the game with the ball and saw nice runs by freshman running back Delvon Fedrick (nine yards and 18 yards) and Shelton.

A kneel in victory formation ended the game.

Queen City (4-1,1-1) travels to Ore City this Friday night with kickoff slated for 7:30 p.m.