Jemison couldn't hold on to Dora on Friday as the visitors ran away with a 39-8 win.

By Brandon Sumrall | Special to the Advertiser

The Jemison Panthers (5-2 overall, 4-1 region) came into Friday night’s game in the middle of a region war that could see them finish anywhere from first to last.

The Dora Bulldogs (6-2 overall, 5-0 region and ranked No. 9 in Class 4A) earned a 39-8 victory.

The Bulldogs showed early in the game that they were more than ready for battle, driving 55 yards and 60 yards on their first two possessions to put the Panthers down 14-0.

The Panther defense would step up on Dora’s third possession with an interception by Cade Hatch, but the Bulldog defense would return the favor on the Panthers’ second play of their next possession, picking off quarterback Jacob Hatch on the Jemison 14-yard line. One play later and the Panthers would find them selves down 21-0. Dora was up 28-0 at halftime.

Things would get no better for the Panthers in the second, as they gave up a safety on their first possession of the half.

The Panthers would score their only points of the game on their next possession, driving 80 yards and capping off the drive with a 10-yard pass from Hatch to Kortlin Zeigler, the same combination that would connect on the 2-point conversion, making the score 30-8 early in the fourth quarter.

The Bulldogs added another touchdown and safety late.

“Give credit to Dora for playing a great football game” said coach Merritt Bowden. “We made a lot of mistakes and didn’t help ourselves very much, but I don’t want to take anything away from Dora. They played a great football game tonight.”

Raequane Jones finished the game with 18 tackles; Tyler Henderson had 11 tackles and an interception.