Bobcats Fall To Fannin In Home Opener

As the opening night of the 2018 season finally came, the Bobcat faithful were ready to put the past behind them and move forward.  The addition of several new coaches to Coach Wingard’s staff brought hopes for not only the team but for everyone who follows Bobcat Football.

As the Cats came to the field, you could see the desire to win in their eyes.  The Rebels won the coin toss and chose to receive the opening kick off placing Gilmer on defense.  The Rebel opening drive was stalled by a fired up defensive unit of the Bobcats which set the stage for a first quarter that ended with a 0-0 tie.

The Bobcat offense was unable to put points on the board but even though moral victories don’t show up in the win-loss categories, the Bobcats can definitely claim several in the game.  This team has gotten better than last year and will continue to do so through out the 2018 season. The Score in Fridays game at half time had Gilmer down by seven points going into the locker room.  Being in striking distance to a Fannin team that was not firing on all cylinders certainly had to boost the confidence of the Cats as a team.

In the second half a few turnovers and penalties hurt the Bobcats and in the end could not stop the Rebels from putting up 21 more on the board. David Smith and the Bobcat offense performed well with a few glitches that unfortunately kept them from getting in the end zone and putting points on the board.  Smith had 49 yards in the air and 18 on the ground as quarterback also on the defensive side had a big interception in the red zone to prevent Fannin from crossing the goal line. Top receiver on the night was Corbin Singleton who caught 2 passes for 38 yards and leading rusher was James Dover who had 6 carries for 28 yards(4.7 yrds per carry).  On the night the Gilmer offense had 138 yards of total offense.  These numbers will improve as these guys learn each other as they more have time together on the field both in practice and in games.

As a veteran coach once said ” Football season is a marathon not a sprint.” The 28-0 loss to the Rebels is just one game in that marathon. There is plenty of football ahead in the 2018 season for the Bobcats and as mentioned earlier, the Bobcats will get everything in sync and have a good season.

The Bobcats will travel to Rabun Gap on the 24th to play a Friday afternoon game.  Due to the Stadium light situation, this game will be a 4:30 PM kick off.