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BA bowls over Edmund Burke
BAcolor


       
    Bulloch Academy quarterback Lanier Olliff threw four touchdown passes to lead the Gators to a 32-13 victory over Edmund Burke in GISA Region 2-AAA action Friday night.
    Olliff found favorite target Hunter Perry in the end zone twice and connected on scoring strikes to both Davis Childs and Nathan Rice. The senior was 8-of-11 for 123 yards
    “We knew we were going to have to throw the ball to score,” said head coach Terence Hennessy. “Edmund Burke is geared to stop the run. That is their M.O. But I was hard-headed early on and wanted to see how we would fair on the ground.”
    The Gator offensive line, which found it hard to open holes for the BA running backs, was able to provide Olliff with the time he needed to make the magic happen downfield.
    “Lanier did a great job,” said Hennessy. “On the second touchdown pass, there were four guys around Hunter and Lanier threw the ball hard and threaded the needle. I was impressed with the way we caught the ball too.”
    Olliff lofted a nine-yarder to Childs, who caught three balls for 79 yards, in the back of the end zone early in the second quarter. Then he drilled the ball to Perry, who had three catches for 31 yards, for a six-yard score midway through the quarter. With under a minute in the first half, he threw a jump ball to Perry just inside the promised land for the third score. The fourth was an eight-yard quick slant to Rice midway through the third.
    Bulloch (7-1, 1-0) stuffed the EBA offense, holding the squad to just 53 rushing yards in the first half. Senior linebacker Tyce Lovett and sophomore defensive tackles Seth Conner and Trevor Mason led the charge. “They had some plays on us and moved the football a little bit,” said Hennessy. But we did a very good job containing them in the first half and really in the whole game. They score their two touchdowns on our younger guys and I’m ok with that. Those guys need some playing time and we don’t want to keep our starters in the game any longer than we have to because of our injury issues.”
    The Gators took a 20-0 halftime lead and got the ball back in the third on a beautifully executed onside kick. Brian Marsh bounced the ball toward the BA sideline and speedster Don Aaron, who was the second man in from the sidelines on the kickoff formation, caught the ball on its third bounce while in a dead sprint. Eight plays later, Olliff hit Rice for the 26-0 lead.
    Bulloch went up 32-0 early in the fourth, scoring on an 11-play drive with junior fullback Lovett blasting over from four yards out.
    The region victory gives the Gators a leg up in the playoffs in the five-team region.
    “I told the kids before the game that if we won, it would punch our ticket to the playoffs,” said Hennessy. “That was our number one goal coming into the season. Now we just have to work on advancing our situation in the region standings.”
    Bulloch travels to St. Simons Island next Friday night to battle region foe Frederica Academy.