LITTLE ROCK — White Hall battled, but was ultimately overwhelmed Friday at Joe T. Robinson.
The Bulldogs never held a lead, losing to the host Senators 35-6.
Robinson quickly claimed control of this 5A-Central Conference clash.
With their first possession, the Senators (5-1, 2-0 in 5A-Central) grabbed the lead when Tyson Bradden tossed a 29-yard touchdown pass to running back Malachi Muhammad – who got behind the White Hall coverage in the middle of the field.
John Tate then made the first of his four extra point attempts to give the Senators a 7-0 lead.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
The next points of this game were scored as a byproduct of a turnover.
Robinson defensive back Deuce Williams picked off a pass from Bulldog quarterback Wyatt Golden and returned it to the 47-yard line.
The Senators capitalized on the great field position when they got a 19-yard touchdown run from Williams with 10:03 remaining in the first half.
On the play, Williams ran through a crease in the front line of the Bulldog defense. He then broke through a tackle attempt by a White Hall defensive back and sprinted to the end zone. Following the kick, Robinson’s lead swelled to 14-0.
With its next possession, Robinson added some distance between itself and White Hall (1-5, 1-1).
Michael Hayes took a short pass from Bradden and easily outran the White Hall defense on his way to a 72-yard touchdown. With just over 7 minutes remaining in the first half, the Bulldogs now trailed 21-0.
With 3:08 left in the second, defensive back Braedyn Omolo snatched the ball out of the air after Golden attempted to complete a screen pass to a receiver. The ball bounced out of the hands of the receiver, and Omolo caught the deflection, returning it just past midfield.
But to White Hall’s credit, it did not wilt defensively. The Bulldogs forced Robinson to turn the ball over on downs giving the ball back to their offense near midfield with just over 2 minutes left until halftime.
However, in the final minutes of the half, neither offense would score as Robinson led White Hall 21-0 at the intermission.
Robinson — on its first play of the second half — added to its lead, thanks to the legs of Jordan Thomas.
The running back took a handoff, found the edge of the White Hall defense, made a nice move on a defensive back and sprinted to the end zone for a 35-yard touchdown. White Hall now trailed the Senators 28-0.
Facing a big deficit, White Hall finally got on the board.
On a fourth and goal from the Robinson 7, Golden completed a touchdown pass to Chris Joe who caught the pass by using a slate route toward the middle of the field. The Bulldogs then tried a two-point attempt. However, Golden’s pass fell incomplete leaving the score at 28-6 with under 20 seconds left in the quarter.
Early in the final period, the Senators scored once again.
Hayes caught a pass from Bradden near the line of scrimmage, cut back toward the middle of the field, turned up the field and easily scored a touchdown from 49 yards out. The kick by William Tate increased the Robinson lead to 35-6 with 11:50 remaining in the fourth.
That would conclude the scoring in this conference game.
Things didn’t unfold how the Bulldogs wanted. However, White Hall competed against the Senators from start to finish.
White Hall opened the game by surprising Robinson, successfully recovering an on-side kick on the opening play of the contest.
However, the Bulldogs wouldn’t keep the ball for long as they turned it over, botching a handoff on their first play from scrimmage. Robinson immediately hopped on the ball to gain possession near midfield.
The Senators then made their way down the field to score, and they never looked back outlasting White Hall.