UTICA – The No. 1-ranked Bogue Chitto Bobcats (9-0, 8-0) shaved the Bulldogs of Hinds AHS 9-0 Friday night in Region 4-1A Region football action with some powerful defensive play.

The Bulldogs (6-4, 4-3) won the coin toss but deferred for the second half. BC received the ball to start the game, and Hinds AHS defense came up with a big stop at the 9:13 mark to force the Bobcats with a turnover-on-downs. This put the Bulldogs in good field position.

At the 9:04 mark, the Bobcats’ defense came up big like they have all year when Eli Holmes came up with an interception for the Bobcats. The Bulldogs held the Bobcats to a punting situation at the 8:06 mark of the first quarter of the ballgame.

Now it was time for the Bobcats’ defense to hold their ground against the Bulldogs. And that is just what they did; Hinds had to punt the football deep in their own territory.

The Hinds punter was able to get the ball off after a snap sailed over his head. The Bobcats offense also made their first mistake when they fumbled the ball, and the Bulldogs recovered it at the 4:04 mark of the first quarter.

It is a regular routine for BC’s defense to show up and make huge stops. The Bobcats defense held the Bulldogs into a punting situation, and at the 2:47 mark, the Bobcats got the first points on the board when the Hinds snapper popped the ball over the punter’s head and the punter recovered the ball in the end zone to give the Bobcats a safety. At the end of the first quarter, the Bobcats led 2-0 over the Bulldogs.

In the second quarter, Bogue Chitto finally managed to put together a good drive against the Hinds AHS defense. The drive ended at the 11:58 mark of the second quarter when Brock Roberts connected with Dennis Rogers on a 23-yard reception for a touchdown. Cameron Price’s extra point kick was good.

It was the battle of the defenses throughout the rest of the second quarter. The Bulldogs of Hinds came up with a big fourth down conversion to keep their drive going, but later the Bobcats’ defense forced the Bulldogs to turn the ball over on downs.

Hinds AHS defense stood strong and made the Bobcats punt the ball at the 2:31 mark in the first half.

With 30 seconds to go in the first half, BC’s Matthew Black came up with a monstrous sack to force a fourth down and long for the Bulldogs. The Bobcats defense showed up and made a big stop, forcing the Bulldogs to turn the ball over on downs.

BC’s offense would just kneel the ball and go into the locker room with a 9-0 lead over the Hinds AHS Bulldogs.

In the third quarter, Hinds received the football since they deferred to the second half. Both teams defense did not miss a beat. The Bobcats’ defense made the Bulldogs turn the ball over on downs at the 10:12 mark, but the Bobcats gave the ball back to Hinds on a bad snap that was recovered by the Bulldogs.

At the 6:59 mark, the defense for the Bobcats came up big again to force Hinds to turn the ball over again. The last drives for both team ended up with either a punt or turnover-on-downs. The Bobcats still led the Bulldogs 9-0 going into the fourth quarter.

In the fourth quarter, both teams exchanged punts. After the Hinds punt, the Bobcats were able to get out of some tough spots when Roberts connected with Eli Holmes on a 61-yard pass, which set up a field goal attempt for the Bobcats. Cameron Price for the Bobcats was called on to add three more points to the scoreboard, but Price failed on the attempt at the 7:20 mark.

After a strong showing of BC defense, the Bobcats made Hinds punt the ball again. On offense, Bogue Chitto continued to move the ball to kill the clock.

Roberts hooked up Holmes on a 29-yard pass play to set up another field goal attempt for Price at the 4:00 mark. Coach Sartin called on his place kicker Cameron Price to kick a 21-yard field goal. The field goal was no good, but Bogue Chitto’s defense forced the Bulldogs to turn the ball over on downs at the 1:02 mark of the game.

The Bobcats ended the ballgame when Roberts kneeled the ball and ran the clock out.

Offensively, senior quarterback Brock Roberts led the Bobcats, completing nine passes out of 20 attempts for 184 yards. He also rushed 16 times for 22 yards.

Jermaine Blackwell paced the ground attack with eight carries for 41 yards.

Eli Holmes was the top receiver for BC with four catches for 122 yards. Dennis Rogers had four catches for 44 yards.

Defensively, Jeremy Blackwell directed the team with 16 tackles, and his brother Jermaine Blackwell had 15 tackles. Seth Hodges contributed 12 stops, and Devaris Bullock had 10 tackles. Kayin Perkins contributed seven tackles and a sack. Eli Holmes had an interception.

The Bobcats return home after a four-week road tour to host the Salem Wildcats next Friday for a big region 4-1A battle. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.