Bobcats blank Oxford, 6-0

B-G 6, Oxford 0

BAINBRIDGE – Bainbridge-Guilford was eliminated from a Class D playoff spot on Saturday, but did its part to keep slim playoff hopes alive shutting out Oxford Friday night.

Chris McGinnis threw a 34-yard TD pass to Dustin Rutz in the first quarter for the game’s only score. The contest was hampered by numerous mistakes on both sides of the ball. For Oxford it was five costly turnovers, while the Bobcats were maligned by 10 penalties for 80 yards. “What a slugfest...it was ugly,” said B-G head coach Tim Mattingly, whose team clinched a second straight winning season under his leadership. “This was a tough game to coach – and stressful. Either team could have pulled it out, and our defense was outstanding.”

It was the defense that capitalized on an early Oxford turnover that led to only score. B-G recovered a fumble and quickly went for the home run getting the TD hookup on the very next play. “We like to do that (go for the big play) after a turnover, but a lot depends on field position,” Mattingly said. “Being in their territory, we wanted to go for it right away. It was a perfect throw by Chris and an unbelievable catch by Dustin.”

Oxford had some success moving the ball finishing with 191 yards on the ground led by a 16-carry, 84-yard day by senior Scott Shackelton. It was, however, Oxford’s second shutout defeat this season. “We knew we had to contain the Shackelton kid and force them into some third-and-longs,” Mattingly said. “We were able to do that quite a bit, and their turnovers helped quite a bit. They had some success at times, but we really made some huge plays on defense.”

Dustin Ross rushed for 119 yards on 22 carries to lead B-G’s offense.

Score by quarters

Oxf. 0 0 0 0–0

B-G 6 0 0 0–6

Scoring Summary

B-G: Dustin Rutz 34 pass from Chris McGinnis (kick failed), 5:08.

Team Summary

O B-G

First downs 11 10

Rushes-yds 41-191 36-134

Passing yds 36 57

Comp-att-int 2-11-2 4-10-2

Punts-avg 3-33 4-25

Fumbles-lost 5-3 0-0

Penalties-yds 3-15 10-80

Individual statistics

Rushing: (O) Dustin Christopherson, 8-43, Scott Shackelton, 16-84, Travis Frank, 14-58, Jo. Witchella, 5-6. (BG) Dustin Ross, 22-119, Brad Hurlburt, 7-19, Chri. McGinnis, 5-15, Dustin Rutz, 2-1.