Rabbits fall to Daingerfield Tigers in season opener

Atlanta opened its season last Friday night against state-ranked Daingerfield.

The Rabbits battled but had no answer for the Tigers as Daingerfield posted a 48-7 win.

First Quarter

With senior leader Keith Kinney out at running back sophomore stud La’Randion Dowden took a brunt of the carries throughout the game.

Both Dowden and Kameron Dickerson picked up four yards apiece on the opening drive but the Rabbs ended up punting th ball away with 10:30 left in the first quarter.

The Tigers turned in some big plays but stout Rabbit standups on defense included solid tackles by Ty Graf, Xavier Nash and Brendan Clayton.

An interception by Isaiah Chandler at the eight minute mark ended a promising drive by the Tigers.

On the next drive Dowden accumulated 21 rushing yards and eight receiving yards and quarterback Jack Plunk connected with Cooper McClure for a nice gain, but a pick-6 by Daingerfield changed the scoreboard tie if 0-0.

The 2-point play was no good but the Tigers were up 6-0 with 4:59 left in the quarter.

Atlanta punted on its next possession but Daingerfield scored on its net set of downs with two seconds left in the first frame.

The 2-point play was successful and the Tigers were up 14-0.

Second Quarter

Atlanta’s next drive got off to a rocky start but Plunk connected with McClure again, this time for 12 yards and the Rabbs were in business.

After two short runs by Dowden a Tiger defender wrapped up Plunk on a sack and the sophomore field general suffered an injury.

With that sack on a third down the Rabbits had to punt the ball away.

McClure trapped the Tigers back at the 3-yard line with a solid punt, but in two plays Daingerfield was back in the endzone.

The PAT was no good and Daingerfield was up 20-0 with 8:35 left in the first half.

Senior signal caller Justin “Catfish” Pierce came in at QB for the rest of the game and would share that spot with Dickerson and McClure depending on the plays called.

On the second play of the drive Dowden bolted for 13 yards and Dickerson followed that up with an 18- yard run.

Dowden posted 26 yards in two plays which put the ball at the 1-yard line.

From there Dickerson scored Atlanta’s only touchdown of the night.

Daniel Hernandez split the uprights and the Rab were on the board with the score showing 20-7 with 5:35 left in the half.

The Tigers scored two more times and took a commanding 34-7 lead into halftime.

Third Quarter

Daingerfield scored on its first possession of the second half and had a 40-7 lead with 7:47 to go in the third frame.

Atlanta’s next drive started out with three consecutive runs by Dowden who gained 15 yards, and a follow-up run by Hernandez.

Pierce connected with Dickerson for 19 yards two plays later and then hit Ashton Harper for 17 yards.

Hernandez turned in a 4-yard run before Daingerfield picked off a pass with 2:45 left in the quarter.

The two teams traded punts and the Tigers had control of the ball as the quarter ended.

Fourth Quarter

The Tigers scored again with a little over nine minutes left on the clock.

The PAT was good and the score read 48-7.

Hernandez took a brunt of the carries on the last series for the Rabbs and Pierce made a nice pass to Zakyus Jackson for 16 yards on the final drive but the Rabbs were not able to produce any points.

Plunk was 4-of-8 for 21 yards passing and Pierce was 3-of-4 for 45 yards passing.

Dickerson had five rushing yards with a touchdown and added 15 yards receiving, Daniel Hernandez had 24 rushing yards and Dowden posted 92 yards on the ground.

Harper, Dowden and Jackson had receiving yards also.

Justin Burns had 90 yards of kickoff/punt returns, Jackson added 40, Dowden 25 and Adrian Kennington ninie.

Defensively, Nash led the way with 14 tackles, Dimoree Limbrick and Graf had nine each, Kennington had eight, Mike Banks added seven, Chandler had six and both Hernandez and Harper had five tackles apiece.

The Rabbs host Paul Pewitt this Friday night with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m.

If you would like football photos check out Kenisha Webster’s website at www.kenishawebster.com.