SUMRALL – An ugly win is better than no win.
That was Sumrall coach Shannon White's initial thought after the Bobcats held on for a 15-9 defensive battle win over West Marion.
The Bobcat defense turned away the Trojans three times inside their 10-yard line, but Sumrall's offense fumbled the ball away four times and failed to eclipse 200 yards of total offense.
"Ugly wins are wins," White said. "Defensively, it was an outstanding night. Offensively, it was not a good night. Pretty simple."
Part of the issue for Sumrall (3-1) was that the Bobcats were without starting running back Trevor Daniels, who was out due to a knee injury. As a result, Sumrall mustered just 48 rushing yards.
"We knew we were without (Daniels) since the third play of last week," White said. "We'll get him back some point in time. There are no excuses. The passing game is not good right now. The running game is not as good without Trevor. We better figure out some things out quick because things get tough in a hurry."
Despite the lackluster performance from Sumrall's offense, its defense was the difference in the night as it held the Trojans to 14 rushing yards, which kept West Marion's offense one-dimensional. West Marion (0-4) was held to negative two rushing yards in the first half.
"That's the defense we had been seeing and kind of expected," White said. "Last week it was bad, but our defense showed back up tonight in the way they normally play and the way we expect them to play."
Sumrall got off to an ugly start as the Bobcats turned the ball over on downs after reaching West Marion's 11-yard line. After the Bobcat defense forced a three-and-out, Sumrall's punt returner fumbled the ball away. West Marion's quarterback, Braxton Albritton, completed a 77-yard pass, but the Sumrall defense stopped the Trojans on the 5-yard line.
Sumrall's lone offensive touchdown of the night came at the start of the second quarter as Sumrall pulled together a 67-yard drive, which was aided by a pair of penalties, and set up quarterback Landon Hawkins connecting with Jonathan Nelson for a 20-yard touchdown. After a successful 2-point conversion, the Bobcats took an 8-0 lead. Hawkins finished the game, 8 of 24, throwing for 88 yards.
Yet Nelson continued to be a spark for the Bobcats in the second quarter as he returned a punt return for a 50-yard touchdown and extended Sumrall's lead to 15-0. Nelson's heroics didn't stop there. Just before the half, West Marion looked to put together a scoring drive, but he came up with an interception inside Sumrall's 20-yard line as time expired.
"He's a real explosive player," White said. "He's a great open-field runner. He has great vision and great speed. We have been trying to tell him to field the punt and make things happen. He usually does. He is a scary guy back there."
Sumrall's opening drive in the second half ended in fumbling the ball away, and again West Marion drove inside the Bobcat's 10-yard line. However, the Trojans got on the board off a Sumrall mistake with Nelson being tackled inside the endzone on a punt return, resulting in a safety, narrowing the score 15-2.
On the next drive, West Marion drove to Sumrall's 1-yard line, but again, the Bobcat defense stood with Owen Hatten recovering a fumble and preserving Sumrall's two-score lead.
West Marion's final touchdown came in the final two minutes of the game after Sumrall fumbled the ball away trying to milk the count. Albritton, who was 20 of 44 throwing for 235 yards, capitalized with a 4-yard touchdown, but the effort was too little too late as Sumrall recovered the ensuing onside kick to finish the game.
"We have to keep working and keep getting better at what we do," White said. "There is nothing wrong with what we are doing. We are just not doing it at a high level."
Sumrall will go on the road to face Hattiesburg next week.
