Bryan scored on a fourth-and-14 play and stopped the Bulldogs on the final play of the first half inches from the goal line in a 14-3 victory Friday at Waller ISD Stadium.
Lightning delayed the opening kickoff 75 minutes to 8:45 p.m., and the Vikings locked up the victory 40 minutes shy of midnight.
Bryan’s first touchdown was set up by Jack Blackburn, who perfectly timed a blitz and pounced on a poor snap before quarterback Caleb Godfrey could get to the ball. On the next play, Viking quarterback Nico Bulhof lobbed a 26-yard touchdown pass over a couple of defenders to Gary Lynch, who pulled it in at the goal line to give Bryan a 7-3 lead late in the first quarter.
Bryan went ahead 14-3 on a bubble screen pass to Jalen Davis, who skipped past one defender in the middle of the field then cut back behind blocking for a 29-yard touchdown catch. It culminated the Vikings’ best possession of the night, a 12-play, 76-yard drive in the second quarter.
The Viking defense did the rest, starting with a goal-line stand that ended with the Vikings keeping tailback Mason Stewart out of the end zone on fourth-and-1 with 1.8 seconds remaining in the first half. The Vikings sprinted to the locker room at the other end of the field after the play and showed as much energy in the second half when they held the Bulldogs to one first down, which came on a penalty on Waller’s first possession of the third quarter.
Overall, Bryan’s defense forced three turnovers, an interception and two fumble recoveries. Blackburn added a second-half interception of Caleb Godfrey to his fumble recovery. Kenny Collins also recovered a fumble by Godfrey a couple of plays after the Bulldogs got their lone first down of the second half.
The defense wasn’t the only one making plays to keep Waller out of the end zone. Late in the fourth quarter, Waller linebacker Jamari Thompson wrestled the football away from Du’wayne Paulhill while Paulhill was fighting for yardage. Thompson broke free, but Bulhof, the last Viking between Thompson and the goal line, made the tackle at the Bulldog 47-yard line.
Bryan’s defense finished off its strong showing by getting the ball back on downs. Godfrey threw an incompletion. Xavier Johnson then made a big hit on a completion to Jared Hicks, and Bryan forced two incompletions, holding the Bulldogs to 13 yards in the second half.
Davis led the Vikings in rushing with 48 yards and was the lone Viking with two catches for a team-high 30 yards. In all, the Vikings ran for 167 yards on 32 carries, with Ja’lijah Tyler, Bulhof and Davis each having runs of at least 19 yards.
Waller opened the scoring with a 29-yard field goal by Adrian Meza. The Bulldogs drove from their 15 to the Vikings’ 4 but had to settle for the field goal after a personal foul penal... Click here to read full article
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