Goodwin gets win number 200 as Ira blasts Hermleigh, 48-0

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  • Ira’s Anthony Coy breaks away from Hermleigh defenders Bubba Digby (13) and Preston Carr during  Ira’s 48-0 win Friday. Ira finished the season 10-0 with the win and the Cardinals dropped to 3-7 on the year. The Bulldogs will face the Crowell Wildcats in Munday on Nov. 15 in the bi-district playoffs.
    Ira’s Anthony Coy breaks away from Hermleigh defenders Bubba Digby (13) and Preston Carr during Ira’s 48-0 win Friday. Ira finished the season 10-0 with the win and the Cardinals dropped to 3-7 on the year. The Bulldogs will face the Crowell Wildcats in Munday on Nov. 15 in the bi-district playoffs.
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The Ira Bulldogs held the Hermleigh Cardinals to just 77 yards of offense en route to a 48-0 win.
The  No.4 Bulldogs (10-0, 4-0) finished the regular season undefeated for the second straight year as they toppled their rivals, the Cardinals (3-7, 1-3).
As they have done several times this season, the Bulldogs got ahead early, scoring 40 points in the first half thanks to a pair of rushing touchdowns from senior Anthony Coy and three touchdowns from senior Karson Valentine.
Head coach Toby Goodwin, who secured his 200th career win at Ira with the win, said his team likes to put the pressure on its opponents early by being the first to get into the end zone.
“When you can put somebody in a hole early, it adds pressure,” he said. “We like to try and do that to our opponents.”
Valentine, one of the more versatile players on the Bulldogs’ roster, scored as a passer, receiver and a rusher for the second straight week. The senior hauled in an 18-yard pass from fellow senior Nathan Goodwin for his first score, broke loose for a 39-yard touchdown run on his second score and completed a 20-yard pass to sophomore Holden Rios for his third score.
In the second quarter, Coy ran for his third touchdown of the game, a 62-yard touchdown run and the Bulldogs closed out the game via the 45-point mercy rule for the eighth time this season.
“We’ve had a pretty emotional last couple of weeks and the kids re-focused and did what they always do,” Goodwin said. “Our kids do a good job of taking things week by week and starting games fast.”
Goodwin said the Bulldogs will take on the Crowell Wildcats (6-4, 3-1) from District 3-1A Division 1 in Munday on at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 15.  The Bulldogs and the Wildcats faced off in week one in the Jayton Gridiron Classic winning at the half with a 50-0 win. For the Cardinals, their 2019 season comes to a close. They finished the year 3-7 and are the fourth place team in Division 4-1A Division 1.