4-TD performance by Trenden Collins helps Muldrow take down previously undefeated Stigler, 41-33
By Buck Ringgold | Photos by Karen Schwartz
STIGLER - Coming into Thursday’s District 3A-3 showdown with Muldrow, Stigler’s defense gave up just eight points a game.
However, Trenden Collins, the Bulldogs’ senior backfield standout, helped his team find a way to solve the Panthers’ impactful defense.
Collins scored touchdowns the first two times he got his hands on the ball, first-quarter runs covering 63 and 60 yards. He ended up scoring four TDs and had nearly 300 yards as Muldrow handed Stigler its first loss, 41-33, at Panther Stadium.
“This win really turned some heads,” said Collins, who played tailback and lined up at quarterback in the Wildcat formation for several snaps. “People are now probably looking our way, thinking we’re a top 10 competitor and that is great.”
Collins finished the night with 279 yards on 23 carries and four touchdowns. His last two TDs came in the fourth quarter that capped a run of 27 straight points for the Bulldogs (7-1, 3-1) after trailing, 25-14, midway through the third quarter.
With 5:25 left, Collins scored his fourth and final TD from 43 yards out; then added a two-point conversion run to extend the lead to 41-25.
Stigler (6-1, 2-1) made one final push, getting within one possession as quarterback McKade Peery took in a keeper from 9 yards out; followed by a two-point pitch run by Martin Hare with 1:10 left.
The Panthers then attempted an onside kick, but it didn’t travel 10 yards. With Stigler out of time outs, that allowed the Bulldogs to take a knee for the final two snaps.
“We challenged them,” Bulldog coach Brandon Ellis said. “Nobody gave us a chance, and that’s the way we like it; that’s the way we like it. We’re just old-school football right now.”
Muldrow’s defense also came up big after allowing touchdown drives on Stigler’s first two possessions. The Bulldogs forced four turnovers, one an interception from Collins.
But it was another interception that gave Muldrow the lead to stay.
On the second play of the fourth quarter, with Stigler holding on to a 25-21 lead but pinned deep in its own territory, the Panthers attempted a pass.
The ball went in and out of the hands of a Stigler receiver, but right in the hands of Muldrow junior linebacker Cody Gibbs. He found a clear path to the end zone from 11 yards out as the Bulldogs took a 27-25 lead after the subsequent PAT kick was blocked.
“I went out there and I saw (the receiver) start bobbling the ball and I was thinking to myself, ‘I can either grab it or hit him,’” Gibbs said. “And so I grabbed the ball and I looked over to my left and I saw all of them coming.
“I ran through the end zone and I looked back and I saw the whole team just sitting there, jumping up and down, screaming. It was an awesome sight.”
Ellis remarked, without a doubt, Gibbs’ pick-six was a game-changer.
“He’s a little dynamite, but my God, he makes plays,” Ellis said. “Yes, (that pick-six) was huge and the momentum shifted in our favor. … It was big, it was big.”
Muldrow’s defense then forced a three-and-out after Gibbs’ pick-six. Six plays later, Collins scored from 15 yards out, but the PAT was blocked again, keeping Muldrow’s lead at eight, 33-25, with 6:39 left.
Faced with a fourth-and-long at its own 43 on the next series, Stigler went for it. But a pass fell incomplete, and on the very next play, Collins had his fourth TD run.
“The last touchdown really put the topping on the cake,” Collins said. “They came back and ran some pass plays that got to us, but we finished.
“Being able to score is definitely a big part of the game, but playing defense was where we had to really step up and make plays.”
Collins scored touchdowns on his first two carries, a 63-yard run on the opening play of Muldrow’s second possession; then a 60-yard run after taking a direct snap in the Wildcat.
That took place with more than five minutes left in the first quarter, and David Frias’ PAT gave the Bulldogs a 14-12 advantage.
It was a score that stood until halftime, as Muldrow’s defense forced three punts and recovered a fumble in the closing seconds.
But Stigler got hot to start the second half, scoring in five plays after taking the second-half kickoff. Peery connected with receiver Will Rose on a 14-yard TD as Stigler regained the lead, 18-14.
On Stigler’s next series, the Panthers made it 25-14 when Perry ran it in from 3 yards out, completing an eight-play, 63-yard drive.
Muldrow, however, responded, going on a seven-play, 67-yard march. It ended when senior quarterback Camden Matthews took a keeper from 9 yards out, and Frias’ PAT made it 25-21, which stood until Gibbs’ pick-six.
“Things happen, and adversity happens and we responded,” Ellis said. “It tells true colors of what our kids are made about, and they believe in the system, they believe in what we’re trying to do there.
“We’re trying to change the culture, and it’s paying off, and it’s fun to watch these kids.”
Collins accounted for 303 of Muldrow’s 308 yards of total offense. He also completed two pass attempts for 24 yards, including a 30-yarder to receiver Bobby Plank.
Stigler finished with 205 yards rushing and 154 yards passing.
Peery was 13-of-27 passing for 154 yards, and also added 18 carries for 130 yards and two TDs. Rose had six catches for 104 yards.
The Bulldogs - who won a combined nine games over the previous four seasons - now control their own destiny in the 3A-3 race.
They end the regular season with a game Oct. 21 at Locust Grove; then return home the following week against highly ranked Lincoln Christian, which now leads 3A-3 after a 49-0 win Thursday against Seminole.
Stigler goes to Lincoln Christian next week.
