The Bulloch Academy Gators couldn’t have asked for a better start to their season.
    Playing in front of a packed Gator Alley, Bulloch Academy scored on all seven of its drives in a 45-0 romp over St. Andrew’s Thursday night. The Gators racked up 423 total yards and held the Lions to just 57 as the result was never in doubt.
    Bulloch went straight to work from the opening kickoff.
    Concerned about the departure of former quarterback Loy Waters — and with projected starter Lanier Oliff injured — Will Rushing made things look simple as he directed a six-play, 68 yard scoring drive. Rushing capped the drive with his first varsity touchdown pass as Davis Duggan hauled in a 26-yard strike.
    “Seeing that first drive definitely put my mind at ease,” Bulloch coach Ronnie Hodges said. “I thought Will did a fantastic job. He was confident and really played as well as we could have asked for.”
    Rushing was just as impressive with his feet, rushing for 86 yards on the night. In all, four Gators recorded 50 or more yards on the ground.
    Matt Sheppard led all rushers with 93 yards, including a pair of second half touchdowns to put the game well out of reach.
    The Bulloch Academy defense didn’t need much help at all.
    The Gators’ defensive line consistently broke through and caused all sorts of problems for Lions quarterback Thomas Shapard, forcing all eight of his passes to fall incomplete. Wright Wallace’s 43 rushing yards was the lone bright spot for St. Andrew’s, but much of that came in the final drive with a running clock and BA backups in the game.
    “(St. Andrew’s) was playing with some reserves up front,” Hodges said. “We were able to take advantage of that. But we also executed very well. I was concerned with our focus early in the week, but the players sorted that out in our team meeting and we came out strong.”
    Bulloch dominated from the start, but plenty of penalties — nine for 85 yards on the night — caused a pair of touchdown runs to be negated. Zach Sapp’s 10 yard run and a 27 yard field goal by John Paul Padilla stretched the advantage, but the Gators were up just 17-0 with two seconds to go in the first half, but Andrew Howell took a draw play right through a surprised Lions defense and went 26 yards for a 24-0 halftime lead.
    Sapp (11 rushes, 65 yards) sandwiched a touchdown run in between Sheppard’s second half scores to account for the rest of the Bulloch Academy’ offense.
    Bulloch will look to keep up its stellar Thursday night play next week as the Gators take on Bethesda.

    Mike Anthony may be reached at (912) 489-9404.