The Wartburg Bulldogs are Back!

By Terry Futrell – September 28, 2018

The Wartburg Bulldogs made history tonight! After years of struggling to field a competitive football team, the Bulldogs proved they are back and they are for real! For the third week in a row, the Bulldogs put together four quarters of solid football, and this time it was 2A Region 2 opponent Cumberland Gap. The Bulldogs whipped the Panthers 40-8, winning their first game against a region opponent since squeaking by Jellico 8-6 in 2014. The victory was the third for the Bulldogs this season – the first time since 2012 that Wartburg has won three games.

The explosive offense of the Bulldogs used a balanced rushing and passing attack that bewildered the Panthers. The Bulldogs had scoring drives of 67, 69, 76, 59, and 37 yards in the first half, leading 32-0 at intermission. Whereas the Bulldogs faltered in the second half early in the season, they came out of the locker room for the second half firing on all cylinders, putting together another scoring drive of 57 yards in the third quarter to make it 40-0. At this point, it was all over and Coach Kevin Human spread the joy around by freely substituting throughout the fourth quarter.

Wartburg fans were treated to one big play after another, compliments of the Bulldogs. Josh Moore had runs of 17, 18, 10, 17, and 10 yards, rushing 10 times for 66 yards and two touchdowns. Moore also completed 11 of 19 passes for 216 yards and three touchdowns.

Saylor Jones had rushing gains of 24, 11, and 14 yards, rushing a total of 10 times for 67 yards and one touchdown. He also ran for a 2-point conversion and caught a 6-yard pass for a TD.

Colby Justes had another night of big-play pass receptions, racking up gains of 40, 35, and 13 yards, with 5 total receptions for 88 yards and one touchdown.

Caleb McCarty made his presence known also, making three big-time catches of 28, 43, and 44 yards – a total of three receptions for 115 yards and one touchdown.

Wartburg’s defense also played their part well, racking up three sacks of the Panthers quarterback and limiting the Panthers to drives of 4, 4, 46, -21, 2, 17, -5, 70, and 3 yards. The Bulldog defense held the Panthers to 120 yards total offense.

There is a poem that says “there is no joy in Mudville” – well, it was getting pretty muddy on the sidelines, but there was plenty of joy all around as the Bulldogs celebrated a major accomplishment not experienced by Wartburg players since some of them were in the third grade.