Wheeler Dominates AtCo
The Wheeler County High School Bulldogs football team rolled over Atkinson County's Rebels last Friday night in Pearson.
Wheeler got on the board first as Justin Culver capped off a drive with a 3-yard run for a touchdown. Alvin Ricks took it in for the two-point conversion to make it an 8-0 lead for the Bulldogs.
Atkinson scored next with just over five minutes to go in the first quarter to close the lead to 8-6, but they failed on their twopoint try as Wheeler held onto the lead.
Culver found the end zone again in the first quarter with 4:32 on the clock on a 56-yard run. The twopoint conversion was no good, but Wheeler was now on top, 14-6.
In the second quarter, the Bulldogs extended their lead with a 6-yard touchdown run from Culver with 10:39 to play. Ricks found Konner Smith in the end zone on the two-point conversion to push the lead to26.
Ricks added a 1-yard touchdown run and the two-point try with 3:47 left in the first half to give Wheeler a 30-6 lead, but Atkinson did manage to score one more time before the end of the first half on a 30-yard run with 1:00 to play. That made the score at halftime, 30-12.
In the third quarter, Ricks scored from 13 yards out with 10 minutes on the clock, and then capped off a drive with a 4-yard touchdown with 5:18 left in the quarter. That gave Wheeler a 44-12 lead over Atkinson.
Atkinson added a touchdown with 1:50 left in the third to make the score 44-20, but Wheeler answered with 13 seconds left in the quarter on a 48-yard run by Culver. That gave the Bulldogs a 50-20 lead heading to the fourth quarter.
Wheeler scored one more time in the game on a 39-yard run by Jahkoryan Dinkins as the Bulldogs held a 56-20 lead.
Atkinson added one more with less than a minute left in the game to make the final score, 56-26.
The ground attack for the Bulldogs amassed 442 yards on the night. They were led by Ricks with 185 yards and Culver with 133.
Wheeler is now 3-1 on the season, and will kick off Region play this week. This week is also Homecoming for the Bulldogs. They will host the Bobcats of Dooly County on Friday night in Alamo with kickoff at 7:30 p.m.
