The Melbourne Bulldogs and Palm Bay Pirates did battle on Monday night in a Brevard Sports Network high school football special. It was a big night for the Bulldogs, who got their first win against the Pirates since 2007, and they did it in convincing fashion, winning 51-7 at Palm Bay.
Chase Smith was all over the field on both sides of the ball for the Bulldogs and was named the BSN Player of the Game. He had two touchdowns and made some big hits on defense.
Melbourne’s defense as a whole made some plays, including recovering a fumble on the first offensive play for the Pirates. The Bulldogs got on the board less than three minutes in when DeVarius (Buck) Mitchell took a pitch from quarterback Ty Englehart and carried the ball around the corner, good for a nine-yard touchdown.
Smith had two catches on the Bulldogs’ drive late in the quarter including a 12-yard catch from Englehart to make it 14-0. A 21-yard field goal made it 17-0 in the second quarter.
Palm Bay running back Markelle McKay scored the only touchdown of the night for the Pirates, but it was a memorable one. He used a stutter- step and the Melbourne defense just froze, and McKay kept going down the sideline, and 53-yards later it was 17-6 with 4:56 left in the half.
Tony Wright answered back for the Bulldogs reeling off a big run to the 10-yard line and a couple of plays later, capped the drive off with an eight-yard run, making it 23-6. Wright was limited for the rest of the game, as he appeared to be favoring his ankle.
The Bulldogs defense showed up again with 8:24 to go in the third quarter when Jafari Clarke scooped up a Palm Bay fumble and found the end zone, making it 30-6. Ty Englehart’s eight-yard run put Melbourne up 37-6 less than three minutes later.
After an interception gave Melbourne great field position Melbourne quarterback Hunter Turner found Smith, making it 44-6 and triggering a running clock. Turner wasn’t done. The icing on the cake was a 61-yard touchdown pass to Devin Alves, making it 51-6 and giving the Bulldogs (2-5) their second win in three days. Palm Bay fell to 0-6.