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LaFAYETTE — The LaFayette Bulldogs blew open what had been a close game with four touchdowns late in the second half to pull away from the Central-Hayneville Lions by a score of 41-14.

The Bulldogs move to 2-0 on the young season with the win and move into Region play next week with another home game versus Ranburne.

For the most part, the game was raggedly played with lots of penalties and turnovers. With it being a hot, humid night there were more than usual heat time outs. That kept the game going on longer than usual.

A win is a win and LaFayette has to feel good about being 2-0 at this point in the season.

On Friday the Bulldogs used a powerful running game to get the best of the visiting Lions. Had it not been for a couple of breakdowns in the kicking game LaFayette would probably have won in a shutout.

The visitors got one of their touchdowns by running back a missed field goal 96 yards for a score and got the second one when the punter shanked a punt, allowing Central Hayneville to run it back to the five-yard line.

After a scoreless first quarter, the Bulldogs were the first to score on a 66-yard run by Zephaniah Phillips. Phillips added the extra point to stake his team to a 7-0 lead with 10:25 left in the second period.

After recovering an onside kick, LaFayette moved the ball inside the Central 10 before settling on a short field goal attempt. The kicker topped the ball, barely getting it over the line before it was spinning to a stop inside the five-yard line. With most of the LaFayette players walking off the field, a Lion player picked up the ball and ran up the far sideline all the way for a score. The ball was still live when he picked it up. If a LaFayette defender had tackled him when he picked the ball up, they would have had them in a deep hole.  Instead, he ran a long way for a score, and no one was able to catch him.

Central-Hayneville’s try for two points failed, leaving the score 7-6 with 5:52 left in the half.

The Bulldogs responded to that with a short scoring drive following a long kickoff return by Jordan Johnson. On fourth and seven from the nine-yard-line, quarterback Kemare Harrington hit Johnson down the middle for the second LaFayette score. The PAT try failed, but with 3:00 left in the half, the Bulldogs were up 13-6.

Miscues and missed opportunities plagued both teams until the Bulldogs started to take charge late in the third period. A muffed punt by the visitors gave LaFayette a golden opportunity to do that late in the third period. The Bulldogs took over on the Central 37 and took it in from there, getting a score on a nine-yard run off right tackle by Phillips with 53.6 seconds left in the period. Phillips added two more points on the conversion to extend the lead to 21-6.

A disastrous punt by the Bulldogs gave new life to the visitors early in the final period. They were kicking the ball away from inside their 40 when the punter got off a kick that didn’t reach the line of scrimmage. With most of the LaFayette defenders downfield anticipating the ball being over their heads, a Lion player was able to run the ball down to the five-yard line before being brought down. From there, they scored their second TD of the game on third-and-goal from the three. The quarterback ran in the two-point try, cutting the Bulldog lead to seven points, 21-14, with 8:07 left in the game.

It was still anybody’s ball game, and the Bulldogs weren’t able to start pulling away until the three-minute mark.

The defense came up with a big play when Jamorrious Broughton sacked the Lion quarterback, forcing a fumble at the Central Hayneville 10.

On fourth and goal from the one, quarterback Kemare Harrington kept the ball around the left end for the score that pretty much iced the game. They added two more points on the conversion to extend the lead to 29-14 with 3:45 left. Julian Robinson scored on a wide play to give LaFayette a 15-point lead.

With the game pretty much decided, the Bulldogs were able to cash in on some turnovers to pad the lead in the late going to send the home folks happy with a 41-14 win.

The LaFayette coaching staff are wearing shirts this season that pay tribute to Coach Corey “Chop” Thornton, who passed away this past April. On the backs of the shirts is the lettering LLCHOP, meaning Long Live Chop’s memory.