Live Oak — corey.davis@gaflnews.com



LIVE OAK-The Willie Spears era got off to a bang with a 38-0 win Friday over visiting Chiefland in the Kickoff Classic.

With a handful of starters out due to injuries, Suwannee had to look to other players for help. Among the missing was starting quarterback Jimmie Taylor, who was nursing a pulled groin. Taking his place was senior Jackson Brown.            

Two plays is all it took for Suwannee to grab the lead and the only points the Bulldogs would need.

Senior tailback Greg Swinson (119 yards on 11 carries) took a handoff from Brown and raced 80 yards untouched keyed by a Brown block to give the ‘Dogs an early 7-0 lead on the second play from scrimmage.

Suwannee held Chiefland to a three and out on its first possession and took advantage of a 6-yard punt from Jamantye Thompson, converting a 30-yard field goal to lead 10-0 with 5:06 left in the first quarter.

On its third possession, Suwannee drove 67 yards in 18 plays getting inside the 5-yard line before Swinson was hit at the line of scrimmage on fourth down.

On the ensuing play, Chiefland fullback Josh Berger ran three yards before being stripped of the ball, which was recovered by Derek Smith at the Chiefland 9 yard line.

Jackson appeared to hit Andre Zanders two plays later for an apparent score but Suwannee was flagged for holding. Brown hit Marcus Lane for a 12-yard gain on a screen pass and Brown followed with a 6-yard touchdown run increasing the lead to 17-0 with 5:48 left till half.

Lane picked off a well overthrown Deric Allen pass to set up another Bulldog score before the half. Brown connected with Lane for 10 yards and Zanders (6 catches for 101 yards) for 13 yards to bring the ball to midfield.

Back-to-back passes to Lane (4 catches for 59 yards) for a combined 37 yards brought the Bulldogs inside the 10 yard line. Brown kept it on a option keeper scoring from 10 yards out as the ‘Dogs led 24-0 with 1:19 left till half. Chiefland ran out the clock to head into the locker room down 24-0.

Through the first half, Suwannee accumulated 256 yards of offense, while holding Chiefland to 26 total yards and 13 offensive plays.

Chiefland was stuffed on a fourth and three play on its opening drive of the first half as Berger was met head on by Alex Falleck and Swinson.

Swinson appeared to score again on the next play, taking a handoff 39 yards but it was called back for holding. Under the no huddle offense, Brown got his team up to the line quickly and threw a strike to Zanders for a 12 yard gain. Two plays later, Brown hit tight end Zach Randolph across the middle who walked in the end zone for a 24-yard score increasing the lead to 31-0 with 6:34 left in the third.

With the lead over 30, a running clock was implemented allowing the game to end faster.

Following another three and out series by Chiefland, Suwannee struck again as Brown hit a wide open Zanders for a 46-yard score making it 38-0 with 2:56 left in the third.

Chiefland kept its first team offense in the game despite the score, while Suwannee brought in its second team on defense.

Berger fumbled the ball over to Suwannee on the third play of the series, but got it right back as the second team offense led by quarterback Josh Wright fumbled the ball away. However, Suwannee’s second team defense preserved the shut out.    

“That was very important (the shutout). We work very hard and that gives us a lot of confidence, hopefully we can do the same thing next week,” Suwannee senior lineman Tre Robinson said.   

Spears was happy with the performance but knows his team has a long way to go.

“We got a long way to go, this is just a jamboree, our goal is to get better each week,” Spears said. “This is huge for us, I’m excited but we have to get better. We had a big crowd tonight and I’m looking forward to going up against the legend next week.”

The legend Spears was referring to is former Suwannee coach Mike Pittman, who brings his Hamilton County Trojans into Paul Langford Stadium this Friday.

Dating back to the spring game 21-0 win over University Christian, the Bulldogs have now shut out both of its opponents under Spears.

“We shut out UC in the spring as well, we hope to keep that streak alive each week,” Spears said. “Our goal each week is if they (the opponent) can’t score, they can’t win.”