The Bulldogs allowed a Roland touchdown on the first series of the game, but buckled down after that to hold the Ranger offense in check. A safety accounted for Muldrow's first points and the Bulldogs went on to get five takeaways and limit Roland to 71 yards of total offense.
The game began well for the visitors as Teven Thompson took the opening kickoff and raced 43 yards to the Muldrow 35. Roland took 13 plays and more than seven minutes off the clock before punching the ball into end zone on a six-yard run by Thompson. Drew Roberts made several key plays on the drive, completing passes to Dustin Finney, Cory Freeman and Blake Brunk and also running for a first down on fourth-and-four. Jeff Roberts kicked the extra point and Roland led 7-0 with 4:28 left in the quarter.
Muldrow received the ensuing kickoff and drove into Roland territory as quarterback Trevon Fowler passed 18 yards to Brice Earls and Colter Smith ripped off a 10-yard run. Fowler then found Joe Fate Ransom for another first down before Drew Roberts-a free safety on defense-stopped the drive by picking off a pass at the six-yard line as the first quarter ended.
That set up one of the pivotal moments of the game on the first play of second period. Roberts dropped back to pass in the end zone, was pressured by Muldrow linebacker Shayne Gill and threw the ball as he went down. An intentional grounding call gave Muldrow a safety and also shifted the momentum.
"It took them 13 plays to go 35 yards on that first drive, but we had a couple of breakdowns on the back end and they hit us with a few passes," said Muldrow head coach Kyle Fowler. "The defense stepped up after that and actually kind of got us going with that safety."
Roland head coach Jeff Streun said the safety was the turning point.
"We had a good defensive stop and then we got into that situation down there and gave up two points," said Streun. "It was all down hill after that and we just shot ourselves in the foot too many times."
Muldrow got another big play from its defense when linebacker Dillon Oden intercepted a pass at the Roland 27 later in the second quarter. It took four plays for Muldrow to cover the distance as Trevon Fowler completed a 15-yard pass to Jamey Day, setting up a one-yard touchdown run by Oden. Smith ran for the two-point conversion and Muldrow led 10-7 with 3:10 remaining in the half.
The Bulldogs began to take control in the third quarter after a blocked punt gave them good field position at the Ranger 37. Muldrow scored nine plays later as Fowler scrambled away from the Roland defense and fired a seven-yard touchdown pass to tight end Chris Webber. Tanner Ryan booted the extra point to put the Bulldogs up 17-7 with 4:24 left in the quarter.
Muldrow sealed the win in the fourth period after noseguard Bubba Summers recovered a Roland fumble near midfield. Fowler and Ransom connected twice on the ensuing touchdown drive. The first completion went for 23 yards and the second went for 19 yards as Ransom caught the ball at the 10 and went down the sideline to the end zone. The extra-point kick was no good and Muldrow led 23-7 with 8:28 remaining in the contest.
The Muldrow defense held Roland to 28 yards rushing on 35 attempts and came up with four fumble recoveries as Summers, Gill, Chris Banderas and Tracy Jones all came up with loose balls. Smith and Oden led the Mulldogs with 10 tackles apiece and Ryan made nine stops.
Roland's defense forced four turnovers, including interceptions by Roberts, Freeman and Michael Kightlinger.
Despite the turnovers, Muldrow managed 277 yards of offense and was fairly balanced with 134 of those yards coming on the ground. Smith was the Bulldogs' top rusher with 65 yards on 13 carries. Oden ran six times for 29 yards, Jones 10 for 28, Ransom one for 13, Gill three for 10 and Fowler twice for six yards.
Quarterback Fowler completed 11-of-19 passes for 143 yards. Ransom was the top receiver with four catches for 50 yards. Webber caught four balls for 29 yards, Earls had two receptions for 49 yards and Day had a 15-yard catch.
"We played well in spurts. Got off to a slow start, but we settled in and did what we had to do," said coach Fowler. "We were able to throw it a little and we ran the ball well at times. We had some breakdowns, but played well enough to get the win."
Roland's leading rusher was Thompson, who picked up 46 yards on 22 carries. Drew Roberts completed 6-of-13 passes for 43 yards. Blake Flurry caught two for 10 yards, while Finney, Brunk, Freeman and Luke Roberts all caught one pass each.
The victory was the third in a row for the Bulldogs (1-0) in the annual grudge match against Roland (0-1).
