Inside Sacred Heart’s stadium, the phrase, ‘Junkyard Dawgs’ constantly echoed during the Crusaders’ 18-14 victory against East Marion.
The ‘Junkyard Dawgs’ is a reference to Sacred Heart’s defense, which has lived up to the nickname given how the Crusaders have now held teams to an average of 7.3 points per game this season.
Sure enough, the Junkyard Dawgs came up with the game-winning play against East Marion. With less than 20 seconds, the Eagles had the ball on the Crusaders’ 15-yard line, but a bad snap allowed defensive end Carter Moore to fall on the ball and come up with a game-winning fumble. It was the fourth turnover of the night forced by the Dawgs.
“I didn’t really know what was going on,” said Moore, who reentered the game after suffering an arm injury earlier in the game. “I remember they slapped my head down. I looked down, and I see the ball roll under my feet. I just fell. I thought, ‘Oh my God, that’s ball game.’”
“Coach Ed (Smith) has always said that the hungriest dog is going to run the fastest. I feel like we played like the hungriest dog tonight.”
As for the nickname, Sacred Heart coach Ed Smith originally dubbed the Crusaders’ junior and senior classes the Junkyard Dawgs during their junior varsity days when those players were in eighth and ninth grade. It was a reference to the Georgia Bulldogs’ ‘Junkyard Dawgs’ of the 1970s and 1980s.
“We stole it from Georgia Bulldog defense,” Smith said. “I don’t remember how it started with that eighth-grade team. I think I told them that they were playing like a bunch of Junkyard Dawgs, and they started calling themselves that. They brought it out of storage this summer. I told them that if they are going to do that, then you have to back it up on the field. I’d say they have in six games.”
The term Junkyard Dawgs is written about in a chapter in the American Football Coaches Association’s Defensive Football Strategies and is described as: “A dog completely dedicated to his task, that of defending his goal line. Further, he is very often a reject (from the offense) or the runt of the litter. Nobody wants him, and he is hungry...In short, a Junkyard Dog is one who must stretch and strain all of his potential just to survive. Then he can think about being good.”
To add to Sacred Heart’s identity of the Junkyard Dawgs, the Crusaders, who have spent the last two years as an independent after years of struggling, are now off to the program’s first-ever 6-0 start and begin region play 1-0.
Coincidentally, Sacred Heart’s Junkyard Dawgs fit the description almost perfectly against East Marion. The Crusader offense also turned the ball over four times, three of which occurred in the first half. As a result, Sacred Heart’s defense endured 63 snaps and yet held the Eagles to just 255 yards of total offense.
Sacred Heart’s first drive of the night ended by turning the ball over on downs at East Marion’s 27-yard line. From there, Sacred Heart turned the ball over three straight times after coughing up two fumbles and throwing an interception. East Marion capitalized on one of the turnovers with a 26-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter to take an 8-0 lead at the half.
In the third quarter, Sacred Heart’s defense gave the team life after George Underwood intercepted quarterback Tyler Varnado for a 50-yard pick-six and tied the game at 8-8 after a successful two-point conversion.
“I saw the bubble,” Underwood said. “It took the quarterback a long time to get it, and I just jumped it. After that, it was gone.
“We have been working all summer. We play like dogs. We don’t give up.”
Late in the third quarter, East Marion fumbled the ball on a punt, which helped set up a 25-yard field goal by Austin Ngyun, giving the Crusaders an 11-8 lead.
East Marion responded with an 11-play, 56-yard drive that ended with a 9-yard touchdown reception. But on Sacred Heart’s first play of the ensuing drive, quarterback Kyron Murphy found a wide-open Gary Duckworth for a 73-yard touchdown, which allowed the Crusaders to retake the lead at 18-14. Murphy finished the game 7 of 16, throwing for 160 yards, a touchdown and an interception.
“It feels good to get to the end of that game,” Smith said. “We made a lot of mistakes. We are very fortunate to come out with a win. We played hard and with effort, and that helped us at the end.
“East Marion’s defense is good. They did what we thought they were going to do with taking away the big play. We turned the ball over four times. If you are going to compete for a region championship, those are the things you can’t do.”
East Marion looked to put the game away with a game-winning drive, but Sacred Heart’s Eli Bullock forced out a fumble, with Gabriel Pipkins recovering it. But the Crusader offense fumbled the ball away, giving East Marion life, which set up Moore’s game-winning fumble recovery.
“We were just mean, ugly and rough,” said Moore on his defense’s nickname. “We just play with that edge.
“We love the competition. We’re going to keep working. It doesn’t matter if the target is on your back.”
Sacred Heart will continue region play next week as the Crusaders host Salem.
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