The Biloxi High School Indians (2-0) defeated the Fontainebleau Bulldogs (0-1) Friday evening 27-7. The Indians forced four turnovers and left the Bulldogs wondering about their identity on offense. The Biloxi defense was consistently putting pressure on Bulldog junior quarterback, Conner Smith, resulting in three interceptions thrown and a fumble return for a touchdown. The Bulldogs defense kept the score close for a while, but over time fatigue set in resulting in cramps and missed tackles. The Bulldogs battled field position issues all evening spending most of their time starting deep within their own territory.

The game opened up looking promising for FHS when on the third offensive play of the game Bulldog defender Jordan Bourgeois intercepted Indian senior quarterback Hawtin Buchanan and returned the ball 43 yards for a TD. Senior kicker Greg Atkinson added the PAT to give the Bulldogs the 7-0 lead. After Atkinson’s touchback, it didn’t take long for the Indians to drive 80 yards in three plays, highlighted by Buchanan’s 73 yard touchdown connection with Tevaris McCormick with 9:07 left in the first quarter. Kevin Nielsen tacked on the Indian extra point to tie it 7-7.

FHS went three and out on their next drive and gave the ball back, resulting in an eventual Bulldog defensive stand. The Indians’ offense moved the ball down to the Bulldog 35 yard line and after a batted down pass on third down elected to go for it on fourth and four instead of kicking a 52 yard field goal. Fontainebleau’s defense came up big and stopped Indian running back Travoris Robinson dead in his tracks preventing a potential scoring drive. The Bulldogs put together nice back to back runs by Smith and running back Tanner Brignac on the following possession but unfortunately Smith was intercepted one play later by Indian defensive back Kendrick Patterson halting the drive. Biloxi did not take full advantage of this opportunity and were forced to punt the ball away to Fontainebleau. However, the Bulldogs themselves failed to muster anything on offense after a George Budz 27 yard shanked punt and had to boot the ball back to the Indians after three straight unsuccessful runs. The Bulldogs’ defense stepped up again and forced the Indians to go three and out after three consecutive rushing attempts of their own. FHS received their best field position of the evening after another short Budz punt but failed to convert any offensive scoring after another interception by the Indians’ Patterson.

FHS’ Jacob Simpson puts a hit on Biloxi QB Hawtin Buchanon. (Photo by Gwen Ladner)

However, the drive did feature a nice 32 yard pass connection from Smith to receiver James Kinter. The score was untied with 22 seconds remaining before halftime when Buchanan hit Robinson in the flat for a 4-yard TD pass featuring a leap over the goal line. The play wrapped up the 8-play, 52-yard drive. Nielsen knocked through the PAT and the scoreboard displayed a 14-7 FHS deficit at the half.

Fontainebleau opened the second half on their own 17 yard line and went three and out after three straight Ryan Brooks rushing attempts. This was countered by a 9 play 64 yard Indian touchdown march spotlighted by a 48 yard touchdown pass from Buchanan to Scott Austin. Nielsen put the ball through the uprights again making the score 21-7 in favor of the visiting Indians. The Bulldogs went three and out again on their next offensive possession relying now on Atkinson to handle the punting duties for the injured Bourgeois. He stepped in and hit a 38- yard kick back to the opposition. Three plays later Bobby Tyson recovered the D.J. Hogue fumble and things were starting to look up for the Bulldogs. Fontainebleau was starting to move the ball with a combination of runs and passes highlighted by a 20 yard strike from Smith to Chris Fisher. However, two plays later Smith and Fisher were unable to connect on the Bulldogs best offensive scoring chance of the evening. The following play Smith was crushed by the Indians defense and the ball was scooped up off the grass for a 54 yard touchdown return by Cody Brown. Nielsen’s PAT was blocked by Zach Harper but the home team was now facing a 27-7 deficit with 8:36 remaining in the 4th quarter.

The rest of the contest featured a combination of runs to wind down the clock, coverage sacks due to obvious passing situations, and incomplete passes trying to just make something positive happen. The Indians lined up for a 56 yard field goal which ended up falling 10 yards short. It was a frustrating night for Smith, who concluded his evening with his third interception to the Indians’ Orlando Givens with the game clock ticking down. The clock finally hit zero after back to back Indian running plays with the final score remaining 27-7 with the Bulldogs scratching their heads searching for some helpful answers to get them on a winning track.

The Indians finished with 15 first downs, 6 penalties for 65 yards and two turnovers. FHS’ stat line read 8 first downs, 5 penalties for 40 yards, and four turnovers committed on three interceptions and a fumble lost. FHS coach Mike Materne acknowledged that his team definitely has a lot of areas that need to be corrected. “Defensively, we need to get tougher. We have too many missed tackles and blown coverages,” Materne said.

“Offensively, we like to run the ball, but right now we are in limbo. We try to pass, but our offensive line is not doing their job. We are not getting the production we need from our returners and our guys must run harder. We are going to have to play much better next week against Shaw.”