Staff Writer

The Bulldogs soccer team showed themselves to be a little rusty Monday in their season opener, when they faced off against the Red Devils of Loganville. Although the team held their own in the second half, a solid performance couldn’t cover the deficit from the first half.

With Morgan County’s defense slow out of the gates, Loganville put one in the back of the net early into the game. The Dogs replied, with Brent Utley taking it downfield to tie the game at 1-1. This was to be the team’s sole goal in the game. The Red Devils made it past the Dogs’ defense and keeper Jeremy Duff four more times in the twenty minutes that followed to gain a healthy lead.

Morgan County’s problem lay with its defense, which left Loganville unmolested in front of the net before strengthening as the game progressed. It was soon that the first near-fracas of the increasingly rough game occurred, with a Red Devil mouthing off to a referee after drawing a yellow card. Loganville continued to keep Duff moving, scoring two more goals before halftime for a score of 7-1.

The Dogs came out for the second half ready to take possession of the game— or at least the ball. The defense began to correct the habit of crossing it in front of their own goal and opened the field better. Supported by Duff’s saves and an outstanding performance from Utley, the team got off their heels for a while. Aggressive play from Adan Lopez, Kyle McGowan and Tyler Thomas picked up some momentum for the team and quickened the game’s pace, forcing another Loganville yellow card. However, the Dogs were unable to penetrate Loganville’s defense before game closed, and Morgan County took a 9-1 loss in the first game of the season.

"We got beaten on defense. They had two decent goals in the second half, but the first half was our fault," Head Coach Thomas Duff sai d, attributing the loss to fullback woes.

"We’ve just go to get better," he added.

The Dogs have their home opener Thursday against Apalachee as one of three straight home games. Kickoff against Apalachee is 4:30 p.m. at Heritage Park.