ALBANY — Too big, too strong and too many.
    Second-ranked Deerfield-Windsor Academy used its size, speed, strength and depth to overpower Bulloch Academy 27-6 in GISA Region 1-AAA action here Friday night.
    “I felt like tonight that they were the better football team,” said Bulloch Academy head football coach Ronnie Hodges. “We got beat physically. That’s not a good sign.”
    DWS senior tailback Quentin Heard had 223 all-purpose yards to lead the Knight attack. He rushed for 172 yards, including an 80-yard touchdown scamper in the third quarter, and caught two passes for 51 yards.
    The Knights used their offensive-line rotation and no-huddle game plan to push around and wear down the Gator defense. But the Bulloch defenders hung tough with the bigger squad, bending but not breaking. BA only gave up two first-half field goals and a short touchdown run by Gaught Ivey.
    On offense, the Gators had some successes. Quarterback Loy Waters completed six passes for 71 yards and had 59 hard yards on the ground. He also put up Bulloch’s only points on a 12-yard scramble late in the fourth quarter.
    Still, Hodges was not pleased.
    “We had too many mistakes on both sides of the ball,” he said. “You can’t make those mental and physical mistakes and expect to be in a ballgame, much less win it. Deerfield-Windsor found every weakness that we had, took advantage of it and exploited it.”
    Bulloch (3-1 overall and 1-1 in region play) went three-plays-and-out in its first two series of the game. On the other hand, Deerfield (3-1 overall and 3-0 in region play) got a 38-yard field goal from senior kicker Trey Puckett on its first possession and a five-yard TD plunge from Ivey on the second series.
    On BA’s third series, the Gators found a rhythm. Waters completed two passes to senior Jaylen Evans for 27 yards. Evans also had a 14-yard run. Waters found junior Matthew Blitch on a slant route for an eight-yard gain down to the DWS eight-yard line. But the Knights stopped the Gators in their tracks and took the ball over on downs when Evans was stopped on a fourth-and-two situation with 5:34 left in the second quarter.
    “If we had been able to score on that drive,” said Hodges, “it might have made a difference in the ball game.”
    In the third, Bulloch senior linebacker Dillan Finch recovered a fumble on the Knights’ opening drive. Three plays later, Waters connected with junior receiver Bailey Smith on a 23-yarder to the DWS 17. But a 15-yard penalty and three straight, three-yard gains only moved the ball to the Knight 23. John Paul Padilla’s 39-yard field goal attempt had the distance but was wide right.
    The Knights took over at their own 20-yard line. Heard, who had been bottled up for the majority of the night by the pursuit of the quick BA linebackers, took a pitch, bounced outside and raced down the home sidelines for an electrifying 80-yard score. Puckett’s extra point at the 5:47 mark seemed to break the visitor’s spirit.
    Bulloch returns to the friendly confines of Gator Alley next week for its Homecoming game but the task doesn’t get any easier as the third-ranked Westfield Hornets come to call.