The Bowman Academy Bulldogs were not only trying to win against SCISA 8-man playoff opponent Wardlaw Academy Sunday and punch their ticket to the championship game next week against Andrew Jackson but erase the memory of a 34-0 early season loss to the Patriots.

Although Bowman gave a valiant effort, the Bulldogs still came out on the short end of a 28-8 final score. Bowman Academy head coach Raysor Griffith said the defensive effort on the part of his team was exemplary but the Patriots were just too big for the Bulldogs.

“They have seven guys on their team that are 200 pounds and above and I only had one,” said Griffith. “We held them to a scoreless tie until seven minutes to go in the second quarter but they scored on that drive and the next one to go up 14-0 at the half.”

The Bulldogs scored their first touchdown of the game with four minutes remaining in the second quarter -- a 70-yard zig-zag run by Jordan Gunnells -- but it was called back on an illegal procedure penalty.

“They were really just too big for us so we tried to spread the field and throw passes one-on-one against them,” said Griffith. “We were just trying to get to the corners and beat them with speed because we couldn’t run up the middle on them. In the end they just had the ball a whole lot longer than we did.”

The lone Bulldog score came on a 5-yard run by Gunnells with seven minutes remaining in the game. Gunnells also ran in the ensuing 2-point conversion to make it 22-8 in favor of Wardlaw Academy. The Patriots came back for one final touchdown to ice the victory.

“We played as well as we could and needed every break we could get in order to have a chance to win,” said Griffith. “We wore them down in the last quarter and that’s how we were able to get into the end zone.”

Bowman Academy ends the season with a 7-6 overall mark. Wardlaw Academy will take on Andrew Jackson Academy next week in the 8-man championship game to be played at a site to be determined this week.

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