By Griffin Pritchard | The Wetumpka Herald

The Holtville Bulldogs’ struggles continued Friday night, as they dropped a 56-6 decision to 4A Jemison in out-of-region action at Boykin Field.

Offensively, Holtville (0-5) opened the second half with something to prove.

Trailing 42-0 at intermission, the Bulldogs ­ who rushed for 216 yards ­drove down the field and scored their only touchdown of the game on a 10-yard Jarmal Kendrick run. The Panthers answered with two touchdowns to close out the game.

Holtville¹s defense had one strong stand to start the contest, shutting down the Jemison offense on successive plays and forcing a punt. All that did was spark the Panthers to a 42-0 first half run.

Jemison pushed ahead 6-0 on a Kevin King run with 6:28 left in the opening period. The two-point attempt was stopped.

Holtville was forced to punt, but the ball spun awkwardly out of bounds inside HHS territory.

On first-and-21, Jemison quarterback Jacob Hatch—who finished the night with 126 yards passing, all in the first half—connected with Kortlin Zeigler across the middle on a slant route.

The 6-foot-2 tight end outran a host of Holtville defenders for the Panthers touchdown.

Jemison lined up for a two-point try, but Hatch’s swing pass was tipped and nearly intercepted by a Bulldog defender.

Leading 12-0, with time to play in the first quarter, the visitors squibbed the ensuing kickoff and recovered.

Hatch, on second-and-15, again pressed Zeigler’s button and the two connected on a 23-yard scoring pass.

King took the handoff and sprinted into the end zone, converting the two-point attempt and giving Jemison a 20-0 lead.

The outcome wasn’t any better in the second quarter.

Hatch threw his third touchdown of the first half—this one a 12-yard pass to the corner of the end zone with 9:34 left to play before the break.

Trailing 28-0, Holtville (which was held to 46 yards passing) was again forced to punt.

Taylor Whitt’s boot was fielded by Randy Satterfield and returned 50-plus yards for the touchdown.

Jemison added another score to cap the first half and take a 42-0 lead into the intermission.

The Bulldogs came out of the locker room and rattled off a 62-yard drive, capped by Kendrick¹s 10-yard scamper into the end zone.

Corbit Bice scored from 9 yards out, and John Underwood sprang free on a 32-yard run to cap the game and the scoring.

Jemison finished the night with 370 yards of total offense ­ a balanced mix of the run (189 yards) and the pass (181 yards).