Photo by Doc Smith Bullard seventh grade running back Isaiah Burton runs around the corner in the Athens game this past Thursday. The Bullard Middle School football season kicked off this past Thursday afternoon with a twin, doubleheader at the old PAnther Stadium located on the Middle School campus.

The Middle School will be back in action on Thursday as they take to the road to play at Troup with the seventh grade games starting at 5 p.m. and the eighth grade set to play immediately following.

Eighth Grade Bullard 'A' 33, Athens 'A' 6

Panther running back, Corbin Howard opened up the eighth grade 'A' win with a 80 yard kickoff return, to set the pace for the 33-6 win. Howard also added 70 yards rushing and added another score.

Quarterback, Houston Alexander ran for 71 yards and one score, and threw a touchdown pass of 28 yards to Sal Juliano.

J.P. Hendrix had a good game on both sides of the ball, rushing for a 30-yard touchdown, and making seven tackles, two o those for losses.

Trevor Rumbelow added six tackles for Bullard and teammate, Holden Bryant made an interception.

Bullard 'B' 0, Athens 'B' 0

The battle of the 'B' squads turned into a deadlock as neither team could find the goalline.

The defensive standoff was led by Austin Gwartney, Austin Richardson, Jon Godfrey, and Colton Mebane with some key stops for the Panthers defensively. Wyatt Hunt also made a fumble recovery for the Panthers in the tie.

Seventh Grade

Athens 'A' 42, Bullard 'A' 0

Bullard running back, Marshall Griffin and Ty Pert had good efforts for Bullard but it was not enough to keep up with the potent running attack of the Hornets as Athens took a 20-0 halftime lead.

Jeremy Ray made a fumble recovery for Bullard in the second half but that would be all the Panther highlights as the Athens crew finished up with the 42-0, win.

Bullard 'B' 0, Athens 'B' 0

The 'B' team squads for both Bullard and Athens had a tough time holding on to the ball in the first game of the day.

Isaiah Burton and Brian White played well on both sides of the ball for Bullard in the 0- 0 tie.