Jeff Harrison Special to The Enterprise BARNESVILLE -- Call it "D-Day" for Barnesville: Dornon, defense and the Dowler Trophy. The combination of a big night by junior tailback Preston Dornon and a defensive effort that resulted in seven Meadowbrook turnovers enabled the Shamrocks to retain the Bill Dowler Memorial Trophy thanks to a 47-20 conquest of the visiting Colts on Friday. The dynamic Dornon opened and closed the game with a bang, scoring first on a 52-yard punt return for a TD and then capping off a five-touchdown night with a 97-yard interception return for a score. In between, he carried the ball 10 times for 121 yards and three more TDs and he recovered two fumbles on defense. The Barnesville defense, meanwhile, came up with seven takeaways -- four interceptions and three fumble recoveries -- while doing a solid job despite a 47-attempt aerial attack by Meadowbrook. With the win, Barnesville holds on to the coveted Dowler Trophy, named in honor of the late Bill Dowler who was a coach at both schools. The Shamrocks have won 14 of the 20 meetings since the award was established in 1991. Dornon's punt return for a TD got things started at the 7:07 mark of the first quarter, but the PAT kick misfired as Barnesville took a 6-0 lead. A 40-yard pass connection from senior QB Tyler Kurtz to senior Tyler Moore followed with 4:23 remaining in the opening period, leading to a 12-0 advantage when the two-point pass fell incomplete. Meadowbrook got on the scoreboard with 2:24 left in round one on a 35-yard pass from senior QB Jared George to senior Kyle Roberts, with the two-point try failing for a 12-6 lighting in Barnesville's favor. The 'Rocks got their third TD of the quarter when senior Brandyn Shaw ran in from eight yards out, with freshman David Brown adding the placement to increase the lead to 19-6. The Colts cut the gap to 19-13 at the 6:25 mark on a three-yard TD run by freshman Clay Lapp, with senior Daulton Dolan adding the PAT boot, but a pair of late first half turnovers spelled disaster for the visitors. The first miscue -- an interception by BHS senior lineman Jake Kirk -- led to a 35-yard TD jaunt by Dornon with 3:35 remaining in the half and then a "pick" by junior Jesse Stoudt set up a one-yard plunge by Dornon with 1:58 on the clock. Brown kicked the PAT after both scores and the Shamocks' lead had ballooned to 33-13 at the half. A 33-yard TD run by Dornon with 7:12 left in the third quarter pushed the lead to 39-13 before Meadowbrook hit on a 48-yard bomb from George to sophomore Christian Kirkman with 3:24 to play, with Dolan adding the PAT for a 39-20 reading. Dornon's fifth TD -- the 97 yard interception return -- followed by a two-point pass from Kurtz to senior Tyler Burkhart with 1:39 left closed the scoring. With his team now 2-0, Barnesville coach Luke Johnson likes what he's seen so far, particularly of Dornon. "We're fortunate to have good backs," stated Johnson. "We've got quality, not quantity and they came through for us. "He has great vision," Johnson said of Dornon, "and he's got tremendous speed and acceleration. Jesse Stoudt does a nice job opening the holes and our line is really coming together." Johnson also praised his team's defensive work. "Our defense did extremely well," said the BHS coach. "Meadowbrook kept us on our toes. Every game is a learning experience and we got a lot out of tonight's game." On the other side, Meadowbrook dropped to 0-2 and has some work to do. "You can't turn the ball over seven times and expect to win," said first-year Meadowbrook coach Jesse Wells. "We can throw the ball, but you have to establish a running attack to make it effective. "He's a great back," Wells said of Dornon, "but we didn't tackle at all." A positive for the Colts was that the team battled to the last snap despite the lopsided score. "We didn't give up," he said. "We're going to fight to the end every game." Barnesville finished with 221 yards rushing and 93 passing for a total offense of 314. Shaw backed Dornon with 56 yards rushing and Kurtz completed 7-of-12 passes. Meadowbrook managed 316 total yards, including 113 on the ground and 203 through the air. George was 13-of-47 with four interceptions, with Dolan as his primary target with seven catches for 95 yards. Lapp got some late yardage to close with 16 carries for 65 yards and George rushed for 42 on eight attempts. NEXT -- Both teams have home games on Friday at 7:30 p.m. -- Meadowbrook against Shenandoah and Barnesville against Caldwell. BARNESVILLE 47, MEADOWBROOK 20 Meadowbrook 6 7 0 7 9 20 Barnesville 19 14 0 14 9 47 First Quarter B -- Preston Dornon 52 punt return (kick failed), 7:07. B -- Tyler Moore 40 pass from Tyler Kurtz (pass failed), 4:23. M -- Kyle Roberts 35 pass from Jared George (PAT failed), 2:24. B -- Brandyn Shaw 8 run (Davie Brown kick), 1:04. Second Quarter M -- Clay Lapp 3 run (Daulton Dolan kick), 6:25. B -- Dornon 35 run (Brown kick), 3:35. B -- Dornon 1 run (Brown kick), 1:58. Fourth Quarter B -- Dornon 33 run (kick failed), 7:12. M -- Christian Kirkman 48 pass from George (Dolan kick), 3:24. B -- Dornon 97 interception return (Tyler Burkhart pass from Kurtz), 1:39. 9 9 9 9 9 M B First Downs 18 11 Rushes-yards 27-113 38-221 Passing yards 203 93 Comp-Att-Int 13-47-4 7-12-0 Fumbles-lost 4-3 5-3 Penalties-yds 5-45 6-52 Punts-avg. 6-30.2 4-42.0 9 9 9 9 9 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING -- Meadowbrook, Lapp 16-65, Gerge 8-42, Tervor Mourer 1-8, Chase Chrisley 1-5. Barnesville, Dornon 10-121, Shaw 14-56, Kurtz 8-22, Jesse Stoudt 5-25. PASSING -- Meadowbrook, George 13-47-4-203. Barnesville, Kurtz 7-12-0-93. RECEIVING -- Meadowbrook, Dolan 7-95, Kirkman 1-48, Roberts 1-35, Chevie Oliver 1-18, Cody Johnston 1-6, Lapp 1-6, Heath Shriver 1-5. Barnesville, Stoudt 3-27, Tyler Burkhart 2-20, Moore 1-40, Kyle McIntire 1-6. INTERCEPTIONS -- Meadowbrook, none. Barnesville, Jake Kirk, Stoudt, McIntire, Dornon. FUMBLE RECOVERIES -- Meadowbrook, Dolan, Matt Smith, Troy Blair. Barnesville, Dornon 2, Luke Hunkler. KICKOFF RETURNS -- Meadowbrook, Jimmy Runyon 3-61, Dolan 2-27, Matt Smith 1-28. Barnesville, Dornon 1-32, Shaw 1-12, Burkhart 1-12, McIntire 1-0. PUNT RETURNS -- Meadowbrook, Dolan 1-18. Barnesville, Dornon 2-64.
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